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Home Free: An American Road Trip
Is there an America? If so, where is it? These questions form the subtext of Ethan Casey's 2013 book Home Free: An American Road Trip.
Over 3 1/2 months and more than 18,000 miles between Labor Day and Christmas 2012, during and just after the presidential election, Ethan drove clockwise through every region of the contiguous United States, starting and ending in his home city of Seattle. ("I wanted to get out of the liberal echo chamber," he tells audiences.) His purpose was to do what reporters and travel writers should do, and what he had done previously in books about Pakistan and Haiti: show up on the ground in person, seek out interesting and representative people, listen to their stories and points of view, take notes, then later sit down and stitch together a coherent narrative. His intention was to catch history on the fly, and to craft a nonfiction narrative account of America circa 2012 that will echo forward and remain relevant and readable for years to come. ...
“Ethan Casey listened hard and well in his books on Haiti and Pakistan. Now he’s listening to America.” - Paul Rogat Loeb
More at:
http://ethancasey.com/books/home-free...
Over 3 1/2 months and more than 18,000 miles between Labor Day and Christmas 2012, during and just after the presidential election, Ethan drove clockwise through every region of the contiguous United States, starting and ending in his home city of Seattle. ("I wanted to get out of the liberal echo chamber," he tells audiences.) His purpose was to do what reporters and travel writers should do, and what he had done previously in books about Pakistan and Haiti: show up on the ground in person, seek out interesting and representative people, listen to their stories and points of view, take notes, then later sit down and stitch together a coherent narrative. His intention was to catch history on the fly, and to craft a nonfiction narrative account of America circa 2012 that will echo forward and remain relevant and readable for years to come. ...
“Ethan Casey listened hard and well in his books on Haiti and Pakistan. Now he’s listening to America.” - Paul Rogat Loeb
More at:
http://ethancasey.com/books/home-free...
- GenresTravelNonfiction
380 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2013
About the author
Ethan Casey
10 books32 followersEthan Casey is a veteran journalist and author of books of topical narrative travel. His books include Home Free: An American Road Trip (2013), Bearing the Bruise: A Life Graced by Haiti (2012), and Alive and Well in Pakistan: A Human Journey in a Dangerous Time (updated 10th-anniversary edition, 2014). He lives in Seattle. Full bio and more at www.ethancasey.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
January 2, 2014
I recieved Home Free as part of a Goodreads giveaway.
Home Free is an account of the author's travels through the United States just before and after Barack Obama's reelection in 2012. Already a seasoned international journalist, Casey has spent extensive periods in Pakistan and Haiti (side note - I received a bonus copy of Bearing the Bruise: A Life Graced by Haiti along with Home Free - thanks to the Mr. Casey for the extra read!), and now turns his attention to his home country, beginning in his small Wisconsin town and road-tripping from Massachusetts to Arizona, Detroit to Miami.
I think it's clear that Casey is, at heart, a journalist. The book is a series of snapshots - most just 4 or 5 pages long - recounting conversations with people from all walks of life and all regions of the country. The conversations are generally political in nature, many revolving around the upcoming (or recent) 2012 election and other issues unique to that person's particular region or profession. In some ways, this is an interesting approach: it's hard to get bored and the variety of people . That said, in other ways, the less structured format detracts from the reading experience. If my attention began to wander, it was easy to brush it off with, "Eh, no big deal. I'll be reading a whole new account in a few pages." The accounts were interesting, but they didn't necessarily build up to any sort of conclusion.
That said, a good read that I'd recommend for anyone interested in the accounts and experiences of Americans during one of the most polarizing eras in our history.
Home Free is an account of the author's travels through the United States just before and after Barack Obama's reelection in 2012. Already a seasoned international journalist, Casey has spent extensive periods in Pakistan and Haiti (side note - I received a bonus copy of Bearing the Bruise: A Life Graced by Haiti along with Home Free - thanks to the Mr. Casey for the extra read!), and now turns his attention to his home country, beginning in his small Wisconsin town and road-tripping from Massachusetts to Arizona, Detroit to Miami.
I think it's clear that Casey is, at heart, a journalist. The book is a series of snapshots - most just 4 or 5 pages long - recounting conversations with people from all walks of life and all regions of the country. The conversations are generally political in nature, many revolving around the upcoming (or recent) 2012 election and other issues unique to that person's particular region or profession. In some ways, this is an interesting approach: it's hard to get bored and the variety of people . That said, in other ways, the less structured format detracts from the reading experience. If my attention began to wander, it was easy to brush it off with, "Eh, no big deal. I'll be reading a whole new account in a few pages." The accounts were interesting, but they didn't necessarily build up to any sort of conclusion.
That said, a good read that I'd recommend for anyone interested in the accounts and experiences of Americans during one of the most polarizing eras in our history.
January 27, 2014
Ethan offers us a human portrait of a journey around America. A collection of verbal photographs of people and places as he saw them. It's ambitious, and it's a lot, but it is honest in its approach. Ethan doesn't pretend to be anyone other than exactly who he is, and he holds up the lens of his experience of being an expat abroad, looking at events, to looking at his own country.
I relate to his perspectives often, and then, not at all (ahem, baseball, sports, totally lost...) My favorite moments were the least expected, the unplanned, the boy who gives him a tour of his neighborhood. The meetings and appointments that stretched out somehow didn't give quite as much dimension as those serendipitous convergences.
By the end of the book, you feel as though you are in the passenger seat, driving through the desert. You are part of the road trip, you know his dad, his friends, and a little more of his country.
I hope that this book inspires everyone who reads it to look a little more deeply, past the headlines and into the real hearts where the stories live every day.
I relate to his perspectives often, and then, not at all (ahem, baseball, sports, totally lost...) My favorite moments were the least expected, the unplanned, the boy who gives him a tour of his neighborhood. The meetings and appointments that stretched out somehow didn't give quite as much dimension as those serendipitous convergences.
By the end of the book, you feel as though you are in the passenger seat, driving through the desert. You are part of the road trip, you know his dad, his friends, and a little more of his country.
I hope that this book inspires everyone who reads it to look a little more deeply, past the headlines and into the real hearts where the stories live every day.
January 3, 2014
I just received 'Home Free' today, along with 'Bearing the Bruise,' through the Goodreads Giveaway program. I'm looking forward to a journey across America with Ethan Casey. This will be my first encounter with his work. Thanks for the gift!
I completed the journey and loved the discussions along the way, the insights provided by so many people involved in the formation of our political landscape and the thoughts they provoked.
I completed the journey and loved the discussions along the way, the insights provided by so many people involved in the formation of our political landscape and the thoughts they provoked.
August 26, 2014
I really enjoyed reading this Book and found the people Ethan met varied in ideas and beliefs as is with the American people. Thanks to goodreads I won this book and will add it to my personal library. It is very interesting with a broad spectrum of individuals with a wide variation of beliefs.
December 19, 2016
This book made for an interesting read in the aftermath of the 2016 election debacle and the Elector College victory of Donald Trump. Casey was in search of the things that unite the country as well as the reasons for the divisions. He was able to find hope in the outcome of the 2012 re-election of President Obama and the dream of a less racist less hateful tone in our country. I'm not feeling the same way after Trump and his vision seem to be taking over Washington. But I think some of what he covered is educational in dealing with what our country is in danger of becoming.
January 3, 2014
I really liked this book! The author takes you on his travels in the US but he addresses issues of classism, politics, poverty and many others as he interviews people he meets. An interesting read even if I didn't agree with everything he wrote. It gave me lots to think about.
January 4, 2014
Waiting to receive this book from the Giveaway I won! Can't wait!
January 17, 2014
i liked that i got to learn about different opinions of people from all over while learning about the author..thanks hope to read more from you
August 28, 2014
Thank you for selecting me! I can't wait to start this book and will update my review when I've completed it.
February 4, 2014
When I was a kid my parents bought me Reader's Digest subscriptions to boost my Appalachian vocabulary. As a 7th grader I simply devoured everything I read, from Drama in Real Life (usually a train explosion) to I am Joe's Esophagus or some other purely objective human body part to the amusing "What is Behind Red China's Smile", or some other political tome. All that is preface to a memory of when I began to read critically, and a piece by a writer named Jenkins called "Walk Across America."
Of course this is a review of Ethan Casey's Home Free, but Jenkins and Casey have at least one similarity: using literature to convey human experience. I will cease the comparison at this point, noting only that while I did not manage to finish another book by the earlier author, I have pleasantly devoured everything Casey has written, including this most recent work.
Home Free not only plays on the phrase "Home Free" but also seems to be a question of sorts, reminding us that freedom is relative to the community you live in. As Casey travels the US he trades in the "homespun" images of a vanishing America for a very different one--an America of potentials that are still working to live up to. This is pleasant in so many ways, even when much of what his interviewees are the equivalent of speed bumps and road closures on the American dream.
Alone the book stands comfortably with other "odyssey" stories such as Heat Moon's "Blue Highways" Kerouac's amusingly fictitious "On the Road," anything by Chatwin or even Stephens' classic, all-but-forgotten "Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas and Yucatan." But I suggest taking in--especially for critical purposes--Alive and Well in Pakistan or one of Casey's other works to fully understand his point view.
Unlike Jenkins, Casey seems to be practicing a form of "Eternal Vigilance" in Home Free, finding both incidents that should trouble us and lovely stories of mostly-quiet hope and perseverance. I don't always agree with his positions and even that has a pleasant feel to it, assuring me that the writer has not sacrificed transparency for other agendas.
Of course this is a review of Ethan Casey's Home Free, but Jenkins and Casey have at least one similarity: using literature to convey human experience. I will cease the comparison at this point, noting only that while I did not manage to finish another book by the earlier author, I have pleasantly devoured everything Casey has written, including this most recent work.
Home Free not only plays on the phrase "Home Free" but also seems to be a question of sorts, reminding us that freedom is relative to the community you live in. As Casey travels the US he trades in the "homespun" images of a vanishing America for a very different one--an America of potentials that are still working to live up to. This is pleasant in so many ways, even when much of what his interviewees are the equivalent of speed bumps and road closures on the American dream.
Alone the book stands comfortably with other "odyssey" stories such as Heat Moon's "Blue Highways" Kerouac's amusingly fictitious "On the Road," anything by Chatwin or even Stephens' classic, all-but-forgotten "Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas and Yucatan." But I suggest taking in--especially for critical purposes--Alive and Well in Pakistan or one of Casey's other works to fully understand his point view.
Unlike Jenkins, Casey seems to be practicing a form of "Eternal Vigilance" in Home Free, finding both incidents that should trouble us and lovely stories of mostly-quiet hope and perseverance. I don't always agree with his positions and even that has a pleasant feel to it, assuring me that the writer has not sacrificed transparency for other agendas.
August 28, 2014
During the fall of 2012, during the weeks leading up to and following the re-election of President Obama, Ethan Casey sets out to drive around the United States, in an effort to find out just how divided the people of the country really are and to see what common ground might exist. Along the way, he visits friends and interviews politicians, gets together with family, and discusses everything from the economy, to politics, to foreign policy and beyond. And while his personal views are clearly on display, he seems to be genuinely curious about those who hold contrary views, and presents those opposing positions with sympathy in his accounts of the conversations.
In some sense, this is a travel narrative, based on a months long drive around the country. But this is really more of a snapshot of a period in time, capturing the mood of the nation during the middle of the tenure of the first black President of the United States. The focus here is less about the places (though portions of the book are entirely dependent on the location, such as the stories from Detroit), but is instead on the people with their hopes, dreams, struggles, and frustrations. It provides a detailed record of who we were, as a nation, at that particular moment in time.
In some sense, this is a travel narrative, based on a months long drive around the country. But this is really more of a snapshot of a period in time, capturing the mood of the nation during the middle of the tenure of the first black President of the United States. The focus here is less about the places (though portions of the book are entirely dependent on the location, such as the stories from Detroit), but is instead on the people with their hopes, dreams, struggles, and frustrations. It provides a detailed record of who we were, as a nation, at that particular moment in time.
March 17, 2014
Fantastic read! A modern version of Studs Terkel's Working. Except Ethan Casey is a reporter who has traveled the world, often reporting from the "hot spots" and came home to travel the U.S. and determine if the U.S. was "different or separate" from the rest of the world. Perhaps he discovers more of himself through his U.S. travels because he ends them back home with his wife and cat. This is a book about the non-famous among us, those who just do their jobs effectively and keep the U.S. economy going. Casey is an accomplished writer and the words flow easily. One sits down to read for a few minutes and then an hour has gone by, surrounded by Casey's excellent reportage.
The writer gives us a travelogue but along the way he gets into conversations with ordinary people and discoverers their beliefs, their fears, their successes.
It is a book for everyone. Thoughtful, insightful, careful. And a good read!
I received a review copy of this book from Goodreads.
The writer gives us a travelogue but along the way he gets into conversations with ordinary people and discoverers their beliefs, their fears, their successes.
It is a book for everyone. Thoughtful, insightful, careful. And a good read!
I received a review copy of this book from Goodreads.
January 5, 2014
This was a first reads book but the book I received was "Bearing the Bruise" by the same author.
I did read the book I received and will try to find out how to write a review for it.
I received this book from Ethan.
I enjoyed especially the personal anecdotes.
I had just finished reading "AMERICA DIVIDED" by Maurice Isserman and Michael Kazin about the 1960's. I was struck by the similarities between then and now eg.the Madison Capitol occupation and sit ins.
The time frame of Home Free: An American Road Trip follows shortly before Obama's re-election until just after it and seems to have a mostly Democratic spin, although there are other opinions included.
It seems to re-iterate historic cycles repeating.
There were several interviews that interested me particularly that with Bill Steigerwald about "TRAVELS WITH CHARLEY".
All in all a nice slice of the problems we face here today.
I did read the book I received and will try to find out how to write a review for it.
I received this book from Ethan.
I enjoyed especially the personal anecdotes.
I had just finished reading "AMERICA DIVIDED" by Maurice Isserman and Michael Kazin about the 1960's. I was struck by the similarities between then and now eg.the Madison Capitol occupation and sit ins.
The time frame of Home Free: An American Road Trip follows shortly before Obama's re-election until just after it and seems to have a mostly Democratic spin, although there are other opinions included.
It seems to re-iterate historic cycles repeating.
There were several interviews that interested me particularly that with Bill Steigerwald about "TRAVELS WITH CHARLEY".
All in all a nice slice of the problems we face here today.
January 14, 2014
I originally entered to win this book when I saw that the author is from Seattle. I write this review from SODO, so it gave me an initial connection.
Seattle is absolutely a liberal city. Not to say I don't know any republicans personally, but none that could form a valid argument as to WHY they choose the right wing.
This book finally gave me a look at smart, good republicans. Carolyn, Ethan's cousin-in-law, specifically.
Rather than people spewing the same old arguments (pro-life, guns, blablabla) I actually got to hear intelligent argument FOR the republican party.
Can I say I've been converted? No. but now I feel much more informed and understanding.
Great book, so glad I got a chance to read it!
Seattle is absolutely a liberal city. Not to say I don't know any republicans personally, but none that could form a valid argument as to WHY they choose the right wing.
This book finally gave me a look at smart, good republicans. Carolyn, Ethan's cousin-in-law, specifically.
Rather than people spewing the same old arguments (pro-life, guns, blablabla) I actually got to hear intelligent argument FOR the republican party.
Can I say I've been converted? No. but now I feel much more informed and understanding.
Great book, so glad I got a chance to read it!
January 5, 2014
This book was a give-away from Goodreads. I knew nothing about it except that it sounded interesting. Once I started it, however, I found it to be fascinating. It took me awhile to read it because there is so much in the 380 pages that I couldn't just fly through it. I had to stop and look at maps or read large sections to my husband or consider the stories about the places being discussed. It was also interesting to think back to the same time about which the author was writing and to try to remember my feelings and thoughts then. Mr. Casey truly is a good listener, a good editor, and an excellent writer.
January 17, 2014
In this book Ethan Casey, a journalist takes you on a road trip across America. He talks to many people on this journey encompassing many subjects such as farming, hurricanes, politics, homelessness, poverty and much more. He interviews not only friends and colleagues but people he meets along the way. I learned a lot of interesting facts from this book and at times I felt like I was riding along as an invisible guest on this interesting trip. I received the book for free along with a copy of Bearing the Bruise a Life Graced by Haiti also by Ethan Casey through Goodreads First Reads.
Did Not Finish
October 8, 2016I got this through a GoodReads giveaway. I started the book but couldn't finish it.
September 8, 2019
I live in a small town and don't travel much. So you could say I'm stuck in my ways and don't honestly understand some people's point of view from different states or different areas.
This book opened my eyes to that every place has it's own hardships and issues. Not every place has the same issue but many places may have similar issues. In reading this is really had me thinking that with the amount of technology there is we should be more in touch with people all over the US and what is truly going on but sadly we don't. The only time we seem to know what is going on is when something tragic happens and then we only see what the media wants us to see.
The section in the book about New Orleans and Katrina was not what I was expecting. The things we were led to believe by the news was not exactly what happened. This book really makes you think more about the issues and what the root of the problem is.
There are lots of light hearted moments, as well as sad moments. and moments where you could tell how much passion people had for what they were talking about. We need more passionate people in this world to help bridge the gaps and bring people together again.
I'm not hugely political but I can say this book does heavily follow the election for Obama's second term. Pretty much everyone is asked about it and it is refreshing to see what people's honest views were on the election.
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading about traveling, current events(now history), and finding out what real people have to say.
This book opened my eyes to that every place has it's own hardships and issues. Not every place has the same issue but many places may have similar issues. In reading this is really had me thinking that with the amount of technology there is we should be more in touch with people all over the US and what is truly going on but sadly we don't. The only time we seem to know what is going on is when something tragic happens and then we only see what the media wants us to see.
The section in the book about New Orleans and Katrina was not what I was expecting. The things we were led to believe by the news was not exactly what happened. This book really makes you think more about the issues and what the root of the problem is.
There are lots of light hearted moments, as well as sad moments. and moments where you could tell how much passion people had for what they were talking about. We need more passionate people in this world to help bridge the gaps and bring people together again.
I'm not hugely political but I can say this book does heavily follow the election for Obama's second term. Pretty much everyone is asked about it and it is refreshing to see what people's honest views were on the election.
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading about traveling, current events(now history), and finding out what real people have to say.
October 9, 2020
The author takes a counterclockwise tour of the United States in late 2012, starting a few weeks before the general election, and ending a few weeks after. He goes to some spots that aren't typically included in such travelogues (i.e. Detroit, Oconowomac, WI, Colorado Springs) and basically just talks to people.
While the book definitely leans left, Casey does make time for some of those ever-disappearing "sane Republicans" (I would be curious for a 2020 remake).
I guess my only objection is the amount of references to other trips. He's been to Pakistan and Haiti. I get it!
While the book definitely leans left, Casey does make time for some of those ever-disappearing "sane Republicans" (I would be curious for a 2020 remake).
I guess my only objection is the amount of references to other trips. He's been to Pakistan and Haiti. I get it!
March 24, 2019
If you are made of wanderlust like i am, you will enjoy this book. Great stories from Americana.
August 27, 2014
I realize that I read this almost a year ago...for this review, I'll use primarily my notes that I made when I'd update my reading status. They capture my opinion best.
-Engaging in it's own way. The fact that it's just snapshot conversations about American politics with a wide variety of people from different walks of life from our last election season 4 years ago, makes it eerily retrospective. History repeats itself.
-Unfortunately this book bugs me--in the sense that it just confirms the sad truth that a lot of good, nice people are politically ignorant or brainwashed. So many Obama supporters...and many of their reasons for supporting them are because he's black. (Oh jeeze...) or because the opposition are "rich, fat white guys". C'mon, America!
-I didn't know much about Sherron Watkins beyond the Enron thing, but hearing her prattle about the Bible scriptures and molding them to her political philosophy. Ugh! Stop...this book is spiraling downward
-"Knowing so many people in so many far-flung places was a treasure one acquired by traveling as much as I had done. But, like any treasure, it had a cost. My world has expanded greatly, and by the same token it had become attenuated. No matter who I was with, I felt the pain of someone else's absence. No matter where I was, I missed home."
-I still respect his work here. He ventured out to find the political "heartbeat" of Americans. But my favorite thing of all is the respect for his preacher father than he very subtly wove into these last few pages I've read. I'm nearing the end of his book and I was beginning to be annoyed with it...but I take it back. Casey is still good.
-DUMBEST THING I'VE READ ALL YEAR: "...Palestinians have been nonviolently resisting for years..." -Kathy Sheetz (interviewed by Ethan Casey).
-"But you can't go everywhere, and you almost always end up somewhere other than where you planned or expected . That's the way life is."
-"At the end of the road, after the whole story has been told, all the leaving and returning on which I spent so much time and energy is nothing new under the sun, no more than the latest paragraph in the long and inconclusive picaresque tale of a restless species. So be it."
-"I discovered that establishing a garden is a lot like writing a book, in the sense that there's only so much you can accomplish on any given day, and to get the whole thing done you have to be both assiduous and patient and use the passage of time to your advantage."
-"One of the motivating premises of my project had been that America was not separate or different from the rest of the world. I had proven that, at least to my own satisfaction. And I had seen for myself that while the United States, plural, might be in some sense a single country, they are also an archipelago of disparate communities. Whether the center would hold was an open question."
***I received a copy of this book as part of the Goodreads First Reads Giveaway***
-Engaging in it's own way. The fact that it's just snapshot conversations about American politics with a wide variety of people from different walks of life from our last election season 4 years ago, makes it eerily retrospective. History repeats itself.
-Unfortunately this book bugs me--in the sense that it just confirms the sad truth that a lot of good, nice people are politically ignorant or brainwashed. So many Obama supporters...and many of their reasons for supporting them are because he's black. (Oh jeeze...) or because the opposition are "rich, fat white guys". C'mon, America!
-I didn't know much about Sherron Watkins beyond the Enron thing, but hearing her prattle about the Bible scriptures and molding them to her political philosophy. Ugh! Stop...this book is spiraling downward
-"Knowing so many people in so many far-flung places was a treasure one acquired by traveling as much as I had done. But, like any treasure, it had a cost. My world has expanded greatly, and by the same token it had become attenuated. No matter who I was with, I felt the pain of someone else's absence. No matter where I was, I missed home."
-I still respect his work here. He ventured out to find the political "heartbeat" of Americans. But my favorite thing of all is the respect for his preacher father than he very subtly wove into these last few pages I've read. I'm nearing the end of his book and I was beginning to be annoyed with it...but I take it back. Casey is still good.
-DUMBEST THING I'VE READ ALL YEAR: "...Palestinians have been nonviolently resisting for years..." -Kathy Sheetz (interviewed by Ethan Casey).
-"But you can't go everywhere, and you almost always end up somewhere other than where you planned or expected . That's the way life is."
-"At the end of the road, after the whole story has been told, all the leaving and returning on which I spent so much time and energy is nothing new under the sun, no more than the latest paragraph in the long and inconclusive picaresque tale of a restless species. So be it."
-"I discovered that establishing a garden is a lot like writing a book, in the sense that there's only so much you can accomplish on any given day, and to get the whole thing done you have to be both assiduous and patient and use the passage of time to your advantage."
-"One of the motivating premises of my project had been that America was not separate or different from the rest of the world. I had proven that, at least to my own satisfaction. And I had seen for myself that while the United States, plural, might be in some sense a single country, they are also an archipelago of disparate communities. Whether the center would hold was an open question."
***I received a copy of this book as part of the Goodreads First Reads Giveaway***
January 19, 2014
I received this book as part of a Goodreads giveaway and I have not been compensated in any other way for this review.
Home Free: An American Road Trip is another one of the mountain of books where the author attempts to find America by traveling and talking to people. The book is fatally flawed, though, because the author is rarely talking to people from outside of his comfort zone. With only two exceptions that I can remember, the people that Mr. Casey talks to are either liberal intellectuals or poor, downtrodden, and minority. Mr. Casey went out looking for a particular side of America and found it while only giving a token representation of viewpoints that he would find contrary to his political views. Instead of avoiding those he disagreed with, Mr. Casey should have sought them out. It would have made a more interesting read than the mutual backpatting that fills these pages.
The most egregious example of Mr. Casey's personal beliefs overwhelming his writing, however, is one of the two times he talks with people who are on the conservative side of the political spectrum. Throughout the book, Mr. Casey seems to have rewritten his interviewee's speech into standard, academic English. One of the few times he doesn't is when he appears to be trying to shine an unflattering light on conservative people that he goes to a college football game with. The section doesn't mesh with the rest of his book and can make the reader wonder how much of the rest of the book has been distorted by Mr. Casey's world view.
That's not to say that the whole book is worthless. In fact, early sections of Home Free are successful in finding interesting people. Particularly of note is the section about a group of people maintaining the remains of Tiger Stadium's baseball field in Detroit. Detroit itself is one of the most realized depictions in the book.
However, somewhere around the halfway point, it seems that Mr. Casey either begins to have trouble finding the unusual or interesting people in the areas he visits or he gives up and just finds the people he knows and the people they know, resulting in less of an investigation into what America really is like and more of Mr. Casey telling us what he thinks America is like.
Home Free: An American Road Trip is another one of the mountain of books where the author attempts to find America by traveling and talking to people. The book is fatally flawed, though, because the author is rarely talking to people from outside of his comfort zone. With only two exceptions that I can remember, the people that Mr. Casey talks to are either liberal intellectuals or poor, downtrodden, and minority. Mr. Casey went out looking for a particular side of America and found it while only giving a token representation of viewpoints that he would find contrary to his political views. Instead of avoiding those he disagreed with, Mr. Casey should have sought them out. It would have made a more interesting read than the mutual backpatting that fills these pages.
The most egregious example of Mr. Casey's personal beliefs overwhelming his writing, however, is one of the two times he talks with people who are on the conservative side of the political spectrum. Throughout the book, Mr. Casey seems to have rewritten his interviewee's speech into standard, academic English. One of the few times he doesn't is when he appears to be trying to shine an unflattering light on conservative people that he goes to a college football game with. The section doesn't mesh with the rest of his book and can make the reader wonder how much of the rest of the book has been distorted by Mr. Casey's world view.
That's not to say that the whole book is worthless. In fact, early sections of Home Free are successful in finding interesting people. Particularly of note is the section about a group of people maintaining the remains of Tiger Stadium's baseball field in Detroit. Detroit itself is one of the most realized depictions in the book.
However, somewhere around the halfway point, it seems that Mr. Casey either begins to have trouble finding the unusual or interesting people in the areas he visits or he gives up and just finds the people he knows and the people they know, resulting in less of an investigation into what America really is like and more of Mr. Casey telling us what he thinks America is like.
April 23, 2014
Per FTC regulations, I received this book as part of the GoodReads First Reads giveaway program.
"But you can't go everywhere, and you almost always end up somewhere other than where you planned or expected." I truly believe that Mr. Casey set out to write a great road trip book that was honest and exciting and part of the American ethos. And, he did a pretty good job. It should be noted that I am a huge fan of Steinbeck's Travels with Charley and while I appreciate Casey's and Mr. Steigerwald's efforts to portray Steinbeck's work as fictional prose, that does not lessen, for me, its charm and power. But, Casey's Home Free is, in a way, a different sort of book. It sets out to find America, not to experience it as Steinbeck does, in my opinion. And, by and large, Casey does a fairly decent job, though it strays from its political thrusts and finds more nostalgia than anything else. So, the quote that I began this review with is fairly descriptive of the book itself. I think Casey wanted to write a book about how America feels, and he found himself not being able to accomplish that and ended up with a book that doesn't quite get there either. Still and all, this is a great book because it does examine America in a car which is something I've always wanted to do and I enjoy books that do that. It's a good read, I just don't think it's what the author expected or planned.
"But you can't go everywhere, and you almost always end up somewhere other than where you planned or expected." I truly believe that Mr. Casey set out to write a great road trip book that was honest and exciting and part of the American ethos. And, he did a pretty good job. It should be noted that I am a huge fan of Steinbeck's Travels with Charley and while I appreciate Casey's and Mr. Steigerwald's efforts to portray Steinbeck's work as fictional prose, that does not lessen, for me, its charm and power. But, Casey's Home Free is, in a way, a different sort of book. It sets out to find America, not to experience it as Steinbeck does, in my opinion. And, by and large, Casey does a fairly decent job, though it strays from its political thrusts and finds more nostalgia than anything else. So, the quote that I began this review with is fairly descriptive of the book itself. I think Casey wanted to write a book about how America feels, and he found himself not being able to accomplish that and ended up with a book that doesn't quite get there either. Still and all, this is a great book because it does examine America in a car which is something I've always wanted to do and I enjoy books that do that. It's a good read, I just don't think it's what the author expected or planned.
August 28, 2014
I received a copy of this book as part of a Goodreads First Reads giveaway.
I liked Ethan Casey's 'Bearing the Bruise' and this is a less dense, more anecdotal storyline that I enjoyed. It was nice to hear stories from across the US and Casey touches on little pockets of politics like immigration, oil, and the economy during the 2012 election without making it a political book. By recounting what people shared on this trip and introducing people he met it isn't a biography or a story and the reader is carried through the encounters with a common thread of living in America. It reads in some places like something you'd hear on NPR, which I found to be a nice pace. It's definitely more fluffy stories and less political commentary than it could be, but the writing style mimics Casey's journey as it quickly comes to a close when he returns to Seattle.
Definitely a good read and worth checking out.
I liked Ethan Casey's 'Bearing the Bruise' and this is a less dense, more anecdotal storyline that I enjoyed. It was nice to hear stories from across the US and Casey touches on little pockets of politics like immigration, oil, and the economy during the 2012 election without making it a political book. By recounting what people shared on this trip and introducing people he met it isn't a biography or a story and the reader is carried through the encounters with a common thread of living in America. It reads in some places like something you'd hear on NPR, which I found to be a nice pace. It's definitely more fluffy stories and less political commentary than it could be, but the writing style mimics Casey's journey as it quickly comes to a close when he returns to Seattle.
Definitely a good read and worth checking out.
March 30, 2023
Ethan Casey is a type of journalist I like, down to earth, sees and writes with compassion and truth.
I read "Bearing the Bruise - A Life Graced by Haiti". That book was an eye opener about the plights and struggles, customs of the strong Haitian people and their way of life that I hadn't known before. Casey describes it all as the way a conscious journalist should.
This book does the same for the Americans of our wonderful country. The conversations, observations and stories he heard and wrote makes for the real America I love.
I plan to read his other book "Alive and Well in Pakistan: A Human Journey".
I read "Bearing the Bruise - A Life Graced by Haiti". That book was an eye opener about the plights and struggles, customs of the strong Haitian people and their way of life that I hadn't known before. Casey describes it all as the way a conscious journalist should.
This book does the same for the Americans of our wonderful country. The conversations, observations and stories he heard and wrote makes for the real America I love.
I plan to read his other book "Alive and Well in Pakistan: A Human Journey".
July 29, 2014
I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
This book is not at all what I thought it would be. I didn’t realize it would be all political opinions. I thought it would be more a collection of life experiences from people living in the United States. I found the writing a little awkward for a book making it a rather slow read. It also seemed to me more akin to a combined autobiography and soapbox for his personal beliefs. A lot of the interviews were with people he already knew and shared his opinions.
This book is not at all what I thought it would be. I didn’t realize it would be all political opinions. I thought it would be more a collection of life experiences from people living in the United States. I found the writing a little awkward for a book making it a rather slow read. It also seemed to me more akin to a combined autobiography and soapbox for his personal beliefs. A lot of the interviews were with people he already knew and shared his opinions.
June 11, 2015
This was my second Ethan Casey book, the first being "Alive and Well in Pakistan...". I found this book to be much like that one in the sense that it is a travel log of his journey throughout the United States. I could follow along with him as my wife and I have traveled to all 50 states as well as to Haiti. He mentions his Haiti connections frequently throughout this book. If you want to get a slow placed look at many places in the US, as well as get a feel for the political climate at the time, I certainly would recommend this book.
August 27, 2014
Not what I was looking for. I thought it was a travel book, like "The Walk West". I am not sorry I read it, nor would I have missed it if I had never picked it up. The author travels the USA and researches the political climate. It was disjointed in parts, but when he went to more lengthy interviews, such as those in post-Katrina New Orleans, his writing held my interest. Casey also had some original passages of brilliant writing.
January 4, 2014
I won this book from GoodReads. I was disappointed that this is a political book. I got the impression that it was all about travel and people along the way, not their political views. Some of the people and locations were interesting but I just couldn't get past the fact that it was mostly a book about politics. I would not have read it if I had known.
January 18, 2014
Utterly bored after five pages,had it been just interviews with people in the US, fine;but he goes yammering off at the mouth about politics and name dropping about who he knows.
I hate politics and detest name droppers!
I hate politics and detest name droppers!
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