This book was gifted to me by my dad, and the author is from the Sonoma area.
The book introduces us to a subculture of the USA: the railroad riding hobo. The story starts off quickly and mainly deals with two people who meet on the rails – the veteran “professional” called The Duke, and his new friend (and budding hobo) who goes by the name of Frisco.
I didn’t have much background info on the life of the hobo, and this book packages that information into a simple story that was fun to read. I thought the dialogue between characters was a little unnatural, and some of the plot points were far-fetched, but overall this was a decent book.
One thing that surprised me was how dangerous that lifestyle was. There are lots of wild situations described within these pages – so many that I wondered what the good points of the lifestyle happened to be. The characters didn’t seem to focus much on the enjoying their lives. One important theme in this book is the addictive nature of the hobo life, but most of the story focuses on the dangers and drawbacks.
The writer did a good job of introducing this world. I don’t think I’ll ever have the chance to hitch a ride on a freight train, so this book was a good way to see what I am missing out on.
The next book I am reading is Millionaire Teacher by Andrew Hallam.
