Travels with Charley, John Steinbeck

I have a lot of love for John Steinbeck though have not read any of his non-fiction before. This book is very reliant on his personality as well as his ability to describe scenes and luckily his personality and the way he looks at his own country and it's people is not a disappointment. Unsurprisingly Steinbeck has an ability to read both situations and people and to draw out stories. This is a very beautiful and poignant portrait of America in 1960, though it also looks at solo travelling and growing older. It's refreshing to read a travel book by someone who is looking for something outside of themselves; who is secure with themselves and the things they have achieved, and is nearer the end of their working life than the beginning. It was a different perspective for me and is up there as one of my favourite travel books.