The Last Hobo: A Clueless Detroit Kid Hitchhikes Across America the Summer the Seventies Ran Out of Gas

by Dan Grajek

IT'S FOURTH-OF-JULY WEEK 1979. America is a psychological mess! Prices are sky-high because of the energy crisis. There’s been a nuclear mishap at Three Mile Island. President Jimmy Carter had mysteriously “vanished.” What a time for 19-year old Ted Granger to act out his dream of being a hobo! Seeking thrills, adventure, and freedom, he set out to hitchhike across the U.S. The Last Hobo captures the fun, hilarity, and anxiety of a fantasy-fueled road trip colliding with reality. Based on a true story, the book is a colorful portrait of America and its people during a weird time: the tumultuous transition from the 70s to the 80s. An older-and-wiser Ted narrates the tale with a unique perspective: He’s from Detroit, the very icon of America’s highest dreams and its worst nightmares.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction

342 pages, Paperback

First published July 4, 2016

About the author

Author Dan Grajek lives in Dearborn, Michigan, Henry Ford's hometown. He grew up on Detroit's northwest side. By age 20, he had hitchhiked to New York once and California twice. Throughout his life, he's been a graphic designer, a marketing coordinator, and a high school English teacher. Dan considers marrying Lori Wunderlich, a violin-maker's daughter, his greatest accomplishment. He has three sons, Andy, Justin, and Ben.

Reviews

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It has so many funny adventures and also helps me to see America in a new light. It's a bit of a time warp too. I remember the things that were happening at that time (1979) and how naive and idealistic I was then.

[Evelina | AvalinahsBooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

How I read this: Free ebook copy received through NetGalley

2.5 stars, rounded down because of some really tone-deaf things (for example, joking about Apartheid) and the abrupt ending

I had trouble getting into this book, particularly because my review copy was formatted in a really bad way (most of the gaps between words were missing and some words even overlapped, so I had to really concentrate to read). But I'm sure that issue probably isn't present in the finished copy (but do check Amazon's "look inside" feature to make sure.)

What also made it harder to get into it was how it was not one of those memoirs that have plot. Memoirs with a plot are easier to read. Even though our lives don't technically have a plot, when writing a memoir, most authors contrive it or at least layer it all with an undercurrent of a theme or something like that. The Last Hobo didn't seem to have one, at least for most of the book - it's just a tale of travels, and maybe a little bit of a coming of age story. It's quite naive, certainly at first. But it did get rolling eventually.

There were a few things that bothered me though. For example, it's a tale of things that happened in 1979, but there is no reason to use the word "Indians", because even though that may have been the word most in use in 1979, but the book wasn't released in 1979, it was released much later (2016), when more respectful terms were already in circulation. I suppose the author didn't know this? (Although it's hard to say whether that's true, cause he did use "Native Americans" a couple of times too, so it's fairly odd how he keeps interchanging it with a term that is now deemed disrespectful and ends up using it more often even.) He uses the word "Indians" throughout the entire book, with very few exceptions. And even though he does mention that he believed America had commited grave sins to the "Indians" and the Black people, he still did not look into how to speak more respectfully about them.

I also didn't like how naively the author kept labeling people, for example saying things like "shallow people and deep people don't mix", shallow people being the tourists, and the deep people being them, the hitch-hikers, of course. I remember thinking like that when I was 16 too, but now I think that's just purely offensive. Some mindsets are best left in your teenage years, like cast off clothes, because they're seriously not good anymore when you grow up and out of them. You simply can't label people like that. And I couldn't figure out whether the author is actually being serious, or just poking fun at himself for being 19 back then and thinking like that. I honestly can't believe someone who was 19 in 1979 and published this book in like 2016 could actually still think that kind of labeling is fine? There were a lot of things in the book that came across as naive in the same way. But I honestly don't know if the author meant it seriously. I couldn't work it out. Maybe I was just grossly misreading it or something.

Oh, and yeah, and the author finishes that phrase with "shallow and deep people don't mix, it's like Apartheid" and I'm SERIOUSLY not even going there. I can't believe he said THAT. Maybe the author doesn't actually know what Apartheid was like for the people going through it..? Imagine joking about that. Just IMAGINE. Do people maybe also joke about concentration camps..? (Oh God, they do, don't they...)

I do hope though that it was some kind of weird humor on the author's part, and I'm just not getting it. It is still awfully tone-deaf to use Apartheid, the actual horrible historical tragedy which cost people their lives and families (not to talk about their quality of life or their dignity), as some sort of joke (seriously, who's being deep and who's being shallow here, man?) But at least if he was being jokey, he didn't mean to offend anyone. I'd always rather think the better about someone than the worst.

Despite the simplicity, tone-deafness and the mock-or-maybe-not judgemental attitudes, the travels were kind of interesting to read about. I have a few friends who hitchhiked around Europe and Asia, so I've heard some of these stories and thought they were cool. So it was interesting to hear more about adventures in the same vein. It being 1979, there were also some pretty cool musical references, and it kind of felt like the author was still trying to make it into the rapidly departing train of being a hippie. I am fascinated by the 60's and early 70's and the subculture of those days, so it was interesting to read in that way as well. I just wish it was a little bit less like reading someone's teenage, judgemental diary. I also can't quite believe there is a book two AND a book three?! (Or at least they were planned.) I felt like book one was a little bit long for just one hitchhiking trip... And yet, it just kind of abruptly ends mid-trip. It's pretty unsatisfying.

One thing though, I have to cut the illustrator some slack. The drawings were amazing.

I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy of the ebook in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.

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[Richard Mactough · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is novel is vibrant in telling the story of a hitchhiker with a well described time of the Jimmy Carter Era. Grajek gives a comprehensive narrative into the life of a young adult's journey during the gas crisis of the seventies. The story is well paced, however, it starts to lose a progressing story. At times I feel it was stuck in the beginning from how much the protagonist brings it up. It is a good read I must admit, and would recommend it to though's who like historical fiction.

[Joan Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really wish I could have been on this trip. Most of us who grew up in the sixties and seventies dreamed about hitchhiking across the country and we got to do it vicariously with this book. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this. I recommend to anyone who is a hippie, vagabond or young at heart. I received this book from Goodreads for free.

[James Muglia · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Last Hobo" by Dan Grajek, is an enjoyable trek through 1979 Americana. Based on a true story of the author, the thread is a 19 year old Ted Granger and his cohort(s) hitchiking and hopping trains to get from place to place as part of a Great Experiment, to see what they encounter, and what new insights they will discover along the journey. All mixed together with the new "freedoms" and carefreeness of the time. Along the trek are interesting characters, events and anecdotal stories, from meeting a real life Brady Bunch couple, to looking down at the traintracks between two boxcars after latching on to a moving train. What I appreciated most about the book were the elaborations on historical items such as Detroit, President Carter, the railroads, and the mindset of native Americans in the Mount Rushmore area. If you grew up in the era of Springsteen, Jackson Browne, and Bob Dylan, then I strongly recommend this book as it is an engaging trip down memory lane, to a transitional year in American history. It sheds light on the people and events of the time, and provides a lot of good character analyses. It goes down good on weekend mornings and American holiday mornings, as the carefreeness of those days helps you relate to the carefree spirit of the adventure. Four and a half stars out of five for me!

[Jessica Cartwright · Rating 5 out of 5]

** I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review**

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and was excited to read about the journey that was entailed within the pages. Being one who has traveled for the majority of my life, I loved reading about another adventure, especially one that happened in the 70's. By reading this book, I was able to see another perspective of America and how it has evolved in the past 30 years.

[Nicole Korczyk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part biography, part coming of age story, The Last Hobo tells the story of a week in the life of 19-year-old Ted Granger (aka Dan Grajek) as he and a random friend hitchhike across America. The book is sometimes exciting, sometimes introspective, and always too pleased with itself, which is fitting for a tale filled with self-obsessed teenagers who have just discovered philosophy. Ted and his friends spend much of the time bemoaning the loss of the sixties while I spent much of my own time pleased that I inherited the music and literature without having to experience it while surrounded by unbathed stoners with acoustic guitars. Actually, I'm underplaying how interesting the historical aspects of this book are. Part biography, part bildungsroman, part American history, part rock history, I guess.

The author is very skilled at writing humor but very terrible at writing metaphors. That is to say, he turns every one into an unnecessary simile. “It happened quickly like what occurred after Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit," yuck yuck yuck. Also at one point I'm pretty sure he compared hobos vs normies to Apartheid. "It was like Apartheid," he said. Reader, it wasn't.

I'm going to read the next book though. "Ted" joins a CULT and I cannot wait.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good read. Nice balance of weaving between adventure travel and introspection, present and past, tension and drama, with amusing and insightful descriptions of America's heartland.

It's a 1970s re-boot of the the ultimate road trip saga: "On the Road" by Jack Kerouac. It's thin in comparison but will satisfy your craving for a bit of wanderlust.

Excerpt: "Detroit taught the world that freedom and happiness are all about *mobility*, driving where you want, going sixty with the wind in your face, car radio blasting, and a McDonald’s shake in your hand. The formula was the perfect tonic for a restless young soul …"

[Clint · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun tale about hitchhiking across the U.S. The tales are from the authors personal diary and read just like a person reflecting on their entries. There were a few times there were song references that I didn't quite get (although that's a generational thing), but other than that I enjoyed my time reading it.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Traveling through the Seventies w. Dan Grajek was a interesting trip.

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book through a Goodreads contest. It took me a while to get into it, but I thought it was pretty good... the main character grew on me and I found myself wishing for a cross-country trip.

[Denise]

The lost art of hitchhiking. Definitely shows the attraction of this freedom. Not too wordy, but still philosophical. I wonder if others of the time felt and did all of these same things.

[Eileen Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

A typical "on the road" novel. Part American portrait, part travelogue, it is a witty account of life on the road during the summer of 1979.
I was given a digital copy of this book by the publisher Round Barn Media via Netgalley in return for an honest unbiased review.

[Esther Nussbaum · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book, and it was a surprisingly funny and enjoyable read!