The Great American Bus Ride: An Intrepid Woman's Cross-Country Adventure

by Irma Kurtz

Book Overview

After living abroad for thirty years, the author of Mantalk returns to her native America for an unforgettable, insightful journey across the country by Greyhound bus. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0671775642
• Release Date: January 1993
• Publisher: Poseidon Pr
• Length: 314 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.8" x 1.3" x 5.8"

Customer Reviews

The Journey's the thing!

Irma Kurtz takes a few months to ride around the US on a Greyhound bus. She shares her experiences with us in her book. Although generally thought the province of down-and-outers of one type or another, the Greyhound buses can also be a symbol of hope (leaving a bad relationship, looking for a new job), or freedom to travel about the country cheaply, or a learning experience (near the end of the book, Ms. Kurtz muses that everyone should me made to take a similar bus trip upon becoming 18). Of course, it is just plain basic transportation to some (in parts of Ohio, the buses are described as being almost like a local transit system at times. Indeed, some buses in rural Texas were fitted with jury-rigged fareboxes to accommodate those passengers riding for short distances). Occasionally, one must get off the bus, and Ms. Kurtz does so, perhaps to visit an old friend, or find traces of family history in one corner of the United States or another. But the most interesting experiences are the ones where she gets off the bus in the middle of nowhere, and finds that she must deal with (hey, read the book!)....Her observations of and interactions with, other people on the bus, in the stations, and elsewhere, are also fun to read. Ms. Kurtz does tend to have a bit of disdain for US cities other than New York (Seattle gets poor marks, and she doesn't even bother to leave the station in Los Angeles and New Orleans). She bashes shopping malls pretty regularly too (to be fair, malls tend to be located some distance away from Greyhound bus stops, and have attracted stores away from downtown areas where most bus stations are). And as an occasional Greyhound bus rider myself, it was sometimes necessary to mentally put myself in her position in order to appreciate why she did what she did in a given situation. But even with the Greyhound horror stories that are passed around today, the idea of just hopping on a bus, riding across country, and taking in the sights and sounds of parts of the US that most Americans may never bother to see, is still intriguing to me. Therefore, I recommend this book.

Get on Board for one Helluva Ride

After 30 years living in England, American Irma Kurtz returns home to explore her native country. Americans she meets feel sure that she is not American whilst Brits are absolutely certain that she is not British. Fellow travel writer Bill Bryson had the same experience. This is an epic travelogue by Kurz who traverses the continent four times in an east west direction, closing the loop along the entire Atlantic coast and half the Pacific coast. Irma is not your average American. As she says "America is a road country. To be without wheels is to be lame. The truth is I am a hussy of low appetites who always yearns shamelessly for rough travel, and I grab the chance whenever I can to arrive at my destination exhausted, knowing I've earned my goal the hard way. Greyhound and I were made for each other." Irma learned to drive late in life, never learned to enjoy it and as her mother so eloquently puts it "Irma is anti cars."Thus begins her huge journey, one of epic proportions. The book colourfully describes the passing scenery, geography, topography, climate and people of the country. Lots of history is thrown in along the way, some of it landmark stuff in over 200 years of American settlement, whilst plenty of it is local, irrelevant in the wider scheme of things but overwhelmingly fascinating. We also learn of the human dynamics of Greyhound Bus travel, the unwritten protocol of who sits where, back, front or mid-section, near the toilet, near the exits, far from the driver or wherever: the protocol of avoiding eye contact with oncoming passengers if discretely trying to preserve the free seat alongside yourself. Then there are the passengers with whom Irma strikes up friendly and promising relationships which come to an end all too soon as one new friend after another finishes their relatively brief journey. Many of her fellow passengers she describes as she observes them from across the aisle or across the waiting hall in the bus terminals. It is such a truism that the key conversation topic with the elderly is their state of health, and if the Greyhound environment can be a factor so much the better. "Last time I went on the bus" one old lady told the other "I got spasms. I hadda go lay across those three seats at the back." "My tooth was calcified to the bone" came the reply. "They hadda drill a hole so the infection could run out." Then there are the young ones she befriends, girls running away from failed love affairs back to the comfort of their home state, or girls traveling forever onwards into the hopefully awaiting arms of their lovers. A young model is traveling from Reno to "Dez Moynees" for her mother's wedding. "I hope she'll be very happy" says Irma. "She'd better be. It's her fourth time" is the response.The story telling style is not dissimilar to that of the previously mentioned Bill Bryson. Her tale links the many places she visits with the people she meets along the way and the anticipation of the sort of establishmen

after reading this, I was tempted to . . .

spend a few months touring America by Greyhound myself. This book was witty and charming and fun to read. I have ridden Greyhound a lot, but never for more than 6 or 7 hours at a time, so my experience cannot compare to hers. Only quibbles: she tends to run into more strange and unlikable people than I do, perhaps because she sought them out more than I do, perhaps because such people are more interesting to write about.