A Walk Across America

by Peter Jenkins and Alan Jenkins

Book Overview

"Reading Jenkins' book is the next best thing to having actually walked along beside him." Associated Press With his own feelings echoing the disillusionment of his whole generation, Peter Jenkins set out with his dog Cooper to walk across America and find out what his country was really about. Along the way, Jenkins' faith and pride in his country -- and himself -- were tested and ultimately restored. Yours will be too as you read his amazing story...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0688034276
• ISBN13: 9780688034276
• Release Date: January 1979
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.36 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.4" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

Excellent book

An amazing story! A book that l suggest to everyone when talking about what books to read.

One of my favorite books.

I remember reading parts of this story in back issues of National Geographic, and when I finally found the book (over 30 years ago),I could not put it down. Peter does a great job of immersing the reader in his story. The stories of the people he met and dealt with were fascinating. That was the best part of the book, it shows a great side of American people and is a very inspiring read to say the least. His follow up, "The Walk West", is the perfect end to the story. If you get this one, get the second as well. You won't be disappointed.

Inspiring read

I found this book when I was walking around our local library book sale. It caught my eye because I have been lacking motivation and thought an inspiring story might just get me to kick it in gear, needless to say I read this book in about three days. I do love how Peter writes through his struggles in this book and talks about how many times he wanted to quit like most of do at some point in our lives but he keeps on going. The only thing I did not like was his care of his dog like sometimes he was proud that his dog got into dog fights, being a vet tech it was hard to read those sections. If you like this book I highly recommend the Foxfire books.

How old is this book??

I believe i read the original back about 30 years ago . It was good and got it by me into his next book when he walked with his girl friend who died in calif. hit by a car.Then he walked China if i am not mistaken. Good stuff!

Where do these ... reviewers come from

...I am a professor at a well known, highly ranked college and before that for ten years a high school teacher. For all the years I have been using A WALK ACROSS AMERICA in my classes, no book I have ever used has been so beloved and accessable and taught so much in Peter Jenkins' ever so subtle way to my students. That means, no book, including several classics. Of course, Jenkins book having been a best seller since 1979 and having had over 100 printings is no considered a classic...There is no travel book, and for that matter almost no other book, published in the last twenty years that can match the sales and reaction performance of A WALK ACROSS AMERICA. Obviously no book appeals to everyone but A WALK ACROSS AMERICA comes close based on reactions over my fifteen years of teaching thousands of very opinionated students...

Instructional Tool

I have been using A Walk Across America, by Peter Jenkins as a required reading for over ten years, in The Lifestyle Enhancement class I instruct at Southeast Missouri State University. I also require: Tuesday's With Maurie. These two exemplary accounts of life and its meaning and purpose, serve as a primary source of motivation for the seventy five behavior change projects each student must engage in each semester.At the conclusion of each semester I ask the over 100 students enrolled in all three sections, if I should reduce the required readings, by eliminating either book? The answer is an emphatic, no! I have included some comments from students presently enrolled in the class."This book definitely affected me in a positive way. I believe that I always look for the deeper meaning in things, and this book had a pretty obvious one. In a time period where everything is getting ready to change for me (I am graduating in May, moving, and starting a career), it made me realize that other people are scared too, and that you can be successful even if you are afraid and unsure now"."Reading this book has made me think more about the decisions I've made in the past and now. I believe that my life is somewhat like Peter's life was before he decided to "walk". I have done, and still do a lot of things that other people expect of me. Don't get me wrong they are all beneficial things, but they are done for the wrong reasons. Things I do, choices I make should be for me, not for one that wishes they could've live their own life in a different way. I admire the fact that peter just decided that he was going to "walk" his life out. He now could have some control over the problems he faced and how he would, himself, solve them".The words and tales Peter Jenkins described helped move my students out of their comfort zone, and created an amenability and impetus for change. A Walk Across America is an outstanding tool to create insight and pride in our country and most importantly the book serves as the motivation for students to walk out of the ordinary and into an extraordinary lifestyle.Additionally, students are assigned a take home midterm and are asked to answer four questions about the book and must summarize each in two pages. I have included some student responses, which document the progress students have made in both intra and interpersonal growth. I am aware of no better way to get students to examine their lifestyle."I think that I will grow from this book, because it has showed me that I can do anything that I put my mind to. There is nothing that is impossible it is just a matter of me getting out there and doing it. This man trained himself, put his body through hell, and still was victorious in what he wanted to do. This also showed me that there is a great world out there and many great people. Sometimes it seems that when things are not going so well in my life that I want to blame it on other people. I now realize that I a

One of my Top 5 Favorite Books of All Time!

Peter Jenkins story of his 1973-1975 walk from New York to New Orleans is one of those books that you just can not put done once you have started. You will find yourself thinking about the book when you should be doing other things and you can't wait to pick it up again. When I finished reading the book I wanted more. I even purchased the old April 1977 National Geographic Magazine to read his article that he wrote for them and see even more of the pictures of his journey. Luckly, Jenkins journey does not stop in New Orleans, his walk continues and so do his books: The Walk West, The Road Unseen, Close Friends, and Across China.Peter Jenkins says, "I started out searching for myself and my country and found both." The story would have been good enough just hearing about the trip, the things that he saw, how he survived, and the companionship of his faithful dog; but what make the book great is the people. The people that he meets, how they accept him, and in some cases don't. It is the sociology as well as the adventure that make this one of the best books I ever read for pleasure.

The story that continually inspires me

When I was 18 and my great-grandmother was 78, she gave me this paperback, saying, "I loved this book! Full of laughter -- and tears." Almost twenty years later, I still consider it to be the best story I have ever read. It has inspired me to read more, write more, and especially, love my country and the people in it more. Peter Jenkins' printed words are so richly descriptive and heartfelt, the reader will know each character as a close friend and each location as if the Keds were his/her own! This is a timeless classic.