- Paperback: 288 pages
- Publisher: Pocket Books; Original edition (Aug 1 1998)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0671568981
- ISBN-13: 978-0671568986
- Product Dimensions: 21.6 x 14.2 x 2.2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 272 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,763,370 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
Brian Newhouse begins his bicycle trek across America with a rear wheel dipped in the Pacific Ocean and three rules: no walking hills, no car rides, and no hangers-on. He knows the route--eastward from Anacortes, Washington to the coast of Maine--but doesn't know why he's going. It's only after some serious road time that A Crossing defines itself as the 28-year-old's spiritual and personal awakening. As Newhouse battles prairie headwinds, mountain climbs, and an incessantly sore butt, he slowly (after all, he has loads of time) confronts the depth and dynamics of his relationship with his noncommunicative, fundamentalist Christian father, an equally religious girlfriend, and finally, faith itself. By journey's end, Newhouse finds himself on a new route: the enlightening road to his own spirituality--with signs to his own future as a father. "My children," he writes, "will never have to wonder, never have to practically kill themselves to find out, if their old man loved them."
Although A Crossing often detours into self-absorption as Newhouse searches for spiritual truth, physical descriptions of America's northern tier and wily characters such as a member of the First Church of the Absurd--the most spiritual person the author has ever met--help lighten the route. And the monster journey's logistical details are enough to keep even the most ardent bike enthusiast interested. --Rob McDonald
Book Description
A travelogue in the tradition of "Blue Highways" and "On the Road", this book tells the extraordinary story of one man's solo bicycle adventure across America--and the spiritual and personal awakening he experienced on his journey.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
The four bike bags will each hang from their own racks, the two big red ones in the rear, the smaller black ones in front. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
The four bike bags will each hang from their own racks, the two big red ones in the rear, the smaller black ones in front. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars
No ring of truth,
By
This review is from: A Crossing: A Cyclist's Journey Home (Paperback)
I must admit to being quite disappointed with this book. I foundit to feel like a less than honest story, in both the tone and the details. I found myself doubting the story as the details didn't seem to ring true. The story of the Wheel Wizard using a hammer in the manner described to fix a wheel is either fabricated, or belies the author's cluelessness concerning bicycle repair and maintenance. The story of the war vet simply felt anachronistic, like it was a forced story made up to fill out an otherwise empty section of the book. These are just two of too many examples where I found my self doubting the story as told. It really doesn't matter if all the details are true, because if they are true the book has failed even more so to convey what is supposed to be a very personal experience of journey and learning. I was also surprised to find positive reviews of this book. For
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Crossing, A Cyclist's Journey Home by: Brian Newhouse,
By
This review is from: A Crossing: A Cyclist's Journey Home (Paperback)
I am an avid Bicycling and Touring book reader. "A Crossing" by Brian Newhouse was a treasure. I read the book in less than 24 hours. It has everything a book like this needs. Insight into crossing the United States by bicycle, a positive attitude, fun, amusing, and one of the best writers I have had the priviledge to read. Thank You Amazon.com, for without you I wouldn't have found this wonderful book. Connie McAyeal
1.0 out of 5 stars
Not really about the bike ride,
By A Customer
This review is from: A Crossing: A Cyclist's Journey Home (Paperback)
If you're wondering what a cross-country bike ride might be like and whether you might like to do it, don't bother reading this book. There are many other books that more accurately describe the experience, or at least make it seem more appealing. (Barbara Savage's book about her around-the-world journey is quiet entertaining) The author spends most of the book discussing his relationship with his emotionally distant Scandinavian father. Unfortunately, he doesn't really offer anything novel or insigntful on this topic. His musings on religion are equally annoying and sophmoric.
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