I got a notice from Kent Nerburn’s email list that he’s got the first chapter of his new book up on his site, tentatively titled, Road Angels: Driving on the Edge of the American Dream. It’s evidently the new version of a book he never published, titled Left Coast Odyssey: Dispatches from America’s Coast of Dreams which I found listed (but not available) on both Amazon.com and Half.com.
I’ve read most of his books and linked to one of them (Make Me An Instrument of Your Peace) in my prayer piece that I wrote in August. I also wrote a review for his book Letters to My Son way back in 1993 when I worked at Utne Reader magazine. A short blurb from that review ultimately ended up on the cover of the paperback edition: “Clear and gentle guidance about the big issues in life… Nerburn delivers an eloquent spiritual philosophy to fathers in a way that men can easily hear.”
A few years later, the book was boiled down into a smaller version, with the title adapted from my review: Simple Truths: Clear & Gentle Guidance on the Big Issues in Life. I got a kick out of that and ultimately met Kent when he did an author’s reading/signing at bookstore in the Twin Cities. He was quite appreciative.
Nerburn’s books are part of what inspired me to start Real Joe. He’s one of the few guys writing about spiritual stuff using plain language and his own life experiences.
I read the chapter (online) last night and am looking forward to the rest of it. I took a solo trip to the mountains in an old pickup truck (’50 Ford) when I was in college, back in the summer of ’68 but haven’t done anything like it since. A mid-life one like this one of his would definitely be interesting, though I don’t really feel the itch for it like he evidently did.