What a great idea. Writer Gerry Evans and photographer Peter Bush team up to travel by train on a circuit pretty much right round the United States. Then they produce a book on their adventures.
Bush, of course, is one of ourmost famous photographers. Evans I don't know so much about but, as a former seaman who just loves writing, he's just the sort of chap to end the journey with a fund of fascinating anecdotes about people he met and places he saw.
I was nearly as excited about reading it as they were about heading off on such a fantastic expedition.
Unfortunately it doesn't quite work out as expected.
First, there are gaps in the rail system so they had to do the first leg, from LA to Tucson via Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon, by bus.
Secondly, no doubt in order to keep the price down, the book's format is a bit lacking, with Bush's delightful pictures in four blocks of pages rather than accompanying the text, and the only map is a black-and-white affair which is extremely difficult to follow.
Thirdly, I'm sorry, but by the end I really didn't want to travel with Gerry any further.
Yes, there were plenty of interesting anecdotes, and they met some delightful characters in buses, trains, pubs and lodging houses along the way, but somehow it seems to fall a bit flat.
Unlike, say, Graham Reid's stories about his car journey through the US in recent issues of Travel, Gerry fails to capture the energy and excitement, the vastness and variety, the weirdness and wonder of this huge country.
I also have to admit I got thoroughly sick of the constant repetition of his personal prejudices (such as railing against a capitalist system that doesn't pay people adequately ... and then going to eat at McDonald's because it's cheaper).
Still, all of that said, it sounds like a great trip and if you've got a hankering to make it, this book would be an excellent start point.
