The Great Northern Express

Starred review from January 9, 2012
Just before he turned 65, acclaimed novelist Mosher (Walking to Gatlinburg) learned that he had prostate cancer. During the course of his radiation therapy, he decides to embark on a cross-country road trip that he and his long-deceased uncle had once dreamed of taking. A week after his final radiation treatment, which coincides with the publication of his new novel, Mosher sets out on the Great American Book Tour in his 20-year-old Chevy Celebrity (the Loser Cruiser), which has 280,000 miles on the odometer, stopping at America’s great independent bookstores in cities both large and small. Mosher colorfully weaves stories about his teaching in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont with his misadventures in the Loser Cruiser, cheap hotels, and at readings and book signings to create a brilliantly vibrant quilt that covers us with his warmth, humor, and love of discovery, reading, and writing. In 65 short installments, Mosher regales us with rollicking tales of his encounter with an angry mother moose in a motel parking lot, the high school principal (the Prof) he worked for who measured his days in quarts of beer (a two-quart day was a bad one), and his conversion to cross-country skiing. Mosher admits that there’s no place he’d rather hang out than a bookstore or a library, and he affectionately introduces us to some of America’s greatest bookstores, including Square Books in Oxford, Miss.; the Tattered Cover in Denver; and Politics and Prose in Washington, D.C., among others. With vivacious humor, Mosher carries readers along on this adventure that offers him a chance to gain a fresh perspective on what he loves enough to live for.

January 1, 2012
An acclaimed novelist's cross-country, "Great American Book Tour," woven with quaint recollections of teaching in northern Vermont as well as enthusiasm for trout fishing. Following radiation treatment for cancer, the then-65-year-old Mosher (Walking to Gatlinburg, 2010, etc.) embarked on a road trip inspired by a childhood promise that also coincided with the publication of a new novel. Forays in cities included stops at notable independent bookshops, from Prairie Lights to Powell's; near-escapes with wildlife; anecdotal encounters with Oliver Sacks as well as Harry Potter fans; musings on landscapes; and conversations with locals characterized by humorous, occasionally larger-than-life traits. In three sections ("Faith," "Hope" and "Love"), Mosher threads the uncertainty of his pre-novelist days with the foibles of now being an accomplished yet realistic, humble author. Rather than presenting a linear career story, he refreshingly alternates chapters between past and present. With equal aplomb, Mosher also looks back at challenges such as moving a piano, raucous motel patrons, rest-stop brawlers, limited audiences that included only the staff that organized the event and being mistaken for homeless. He also skillfully highlights memories that emphasize neighborly relationships. Chapters on Vermont are noteworthy for the recurrent theme of discovering simpler pleasures and searching for stories amid colorful lives. Fleeting conversations with imaginary characters may strike some readers as overly whimsical, and the digressive story about an inheritance is distracting. Still, Mosher provides a genial reminder that adventures are possible at any age. One man's appreciation for curious experiences, portrayed with self-effacing wit; best suited for fans of the author's work.

(COPYRIGHT (2012) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

February 15, 2012
Novelist Mosher (Walking to Gatlinburg) applies his gift of story spinning to his own personal odyssey, confronting the promise of his past, the reality of his present, and the uncertainty of his future during a rollicking adventure across the continent. After enduring intensive radiation treatments for prostate cancer, he embarked on an often grueling, always rewarding road trip/book tour, crisscrossing the country in his 20-year-old Chevy Celebrity, aka the Loser Cruiser. Never about the destinations, this 100-city adventure exquisitely details both the literal and the metaphorical journey; each of the 65 (representative of his age) brief chapters is a story in and of itself. The people he encountered, the new experiences he welcomed, and the reflections on his evolution into the writer he is today are all included. Hilarious, poignant, and honest, this bittersweet memoir is a sheer delight to read.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)