He didn’t just reaffirm his faith in America to withstand the long train of abuse from Washington and Wall Street, however. Despite the Great Recession and national headlines dripping with gloom and doom, Steigerwald discovered an America along the Steinbeck Highway that was big, empty, rich, safe, clean, prosperous and friendly. Chasing and fact-checking Steinbeck’s ghost for 11,276 miles and 43 days, meeting hundreds of ordinary Americans, often sleeping in the back of his car in Wal-Mart parking lots, he drove from Maine to California to Texas. Steigerwald made his own road trip exactly 50 years after Steinbeck did. It was a deceptive and dishonest account of the great novelist’s actual road trip. “Travels With Charley” was not just full of fiction. Steinbeck’s iconic nonfiction book was a fraud. But when the intrepid ex-newspaperman from Pittsburgh started researching Steinbeck’s trip he uncovered a shocking literary scoop. He’d simply retrace the 10,000-mile route John Steinbeck took around the USA in 1960 for his beloved bestseller “Travels With Charley.” Then he’d compare the America he saw with the country Steinbeck described in his classic road book. Thanks.Bill Steigerwald had a brilliant plan for showing how much America has changed in the last half century - or so he thought. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. If you could change one thing in America, what would it be? What is Steinbeck's attitude toward immigration and idea of America as a "melting-pot"? What did it mean to be an American in the 1960's vs. Talk about Lonesome Harry and what he represents.ħ. What regional attitudes did Steinbeck encounter? Are they different or similar today.Ħ. To what extent does geography reflect (or cause?) Americans' attitudes then.and now. chain motels and restaurants, country roads v. How has car travel changed over the past 50 years? (Think local vs. What are the impacts, in his day and ours? Are they similar or different good or harmful?Ĥ. Compare Steinbeck's assessment of technology in the 1960's with new technologies of today. Fifty years later, was he right? And is this good or badt?ģ. Steinbeck considers that radio and teen popular music will minimize regional differences. What anxieties do people express to Steinbeck, and how do those fears affect the political atmosphere? Are there similarities between that time and ours-the nuclear vs. Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)Īlso consider these LitLovers talking points to help get a discussion started for Travels with Charley:ġ.Generic Discussion Questions-Fiction and Nonfiction.How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips).Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources they can help with discussions for any book:
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