One for the Road: Revised Edition

But I don't think his only purpose is entertain us. I think he also wants to show us the character of the Australian people. He succeeds. We discover a tough, independent, hard drinking, hard fighting, and hard laughing people. He tells his stories so well that we are left changed. We are left with a fresh new look at the what Australia is about.

Read this book. You'll look forward to every new page and when you are done, you are left a little changed. What more could you want in a book?


Good but not Horwitz' best   January 5, 2003
 3 out of 4 found this review helpful

After reading all Hortwitz' books, I can say that his first is far from his best. Frankly, the Australian outback doesn't offer him enough to go on. It's a whole lotta nothing, although he does his best with what he has. The book would be helped by an amusing sidekick, or at least a more interesting part of the world to visit. That said, it's still a pretty good -- and short -- travelogue of Australia and its people.


"You may find yourself . . . "   December 2, 2002
 4 out of 4 found this review helpful

There are some constraints to Australian road travel - the chief one being that the cities, hence, the roads, hug the coasts. There are dangers, desolation, loneliness, above all, heat. And flies. It takes some courage to face these conditions alone, even in modern times. Tony Horwitz faced them alone and on foot - some of the time. The result was a fantastic voyage and a superb account.

Horwitz is an unlikely prospect for an Australian adventurer. A transplanted Yank [Washington, DC to Sydney], urban [New York City to, again, Sydney] and Jewish [novel in the Outback]. These conditions might fatally impair the less adventurous, but Horwitz can "boldly go" [as he did in a later book] and so he does. With singular dedication, he even starts his trek heading West from Sydney past Dubbo to the Alice. With no direct Sydney to Alice route, the journey is circuitous, a fine introduction to the later expedition. Here, Horwitz encounters people and displays his talent at recording them. The limited number of roads implies limited options and few rides. It's a closed world and he becomes "the crazy Yank we heard about back in Nevertire."

Constricted view doesn't inhibit Horwitz' abilities. He has an advantage over many travel writers - he's a journalist first and a traveller after. A perceptive eye and a talented pen record his reaction to the land of Australia. And the people he encounters, which become the focus of his attention. He's good with people, drawing them out - fulfilling the image of the chatty Yank, entertaining, but somehow provocative. The drivers, pub keepers and drinkers respond to his novelty. He records them with lively asides, keeping your interest with every page. 'Surely, these can't be real people,' you may think. No worries - Horwitz has captured them intimately, intruding only lightly as they respond to his queries.

A poignant chapter, describing his search for a Jewish family in Broome with whom to celebrate Passover, is the highlight of the book. Noting the town's multiracial population, he observes: "Australians . . . seem uncomfortable when the subject of Judaism is raised." He attributes the feeling purely to ignorance, not prejudice, a welcome change from attitudes toward the "Abos." Horowitz, although claiming atheism, remains drawn to the family assemblage of the seder. Alone in Broome, he discovers a new level of solitude - in this polyglot community, Jews are rarer than jewels. He pores over the telephone directory which only displays "an Anglo-Saxon litany of Browns, Harrisons and Smiths." A solution beckons in the guise of a local priest. "It is a common sort of misconception. If there's no rabbi about, well, try a priest. One religious ratbag's as good as another." The solution, however, lies elsewhere. The situation amply portrays Horwitz' humanity, absolving him of any stigma of the detached, unfeeling journalist. His roots are a significant element in his life, one that gently, but insistently, haunts him. This book can haunt you - as it does me.


One of Many   September 14, 2002
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

This is the fourth travel narrative I've read about Australia. It is hard to compare them with each other, because each has a different focus and they travel by different means. Horwitz has quite a deal of humor, though not quite as much as Bryson. This book is similar to "Cold Beer and Crocodiles", since Horwitz also spent many nights out in the bush. Probably the best part of "One For the Road" is the variety of Australians he meets, either as they give him a lift or as he wanders around each new location. He is very eager to get to know people in the various regions of New South Wales, Queensland, Northern Territory, South Australia, and West Australia. This book is not quite the laugh out loud as his "Confederates in the Attic", but it has its moments, especially when he grows weary of the laid back, no worries, attitude of Australians, which is, from personal experience frustrating to americans, who are used to everything happening on time and in some kind of predictable order (usually)
It would be easy to infer, that drinking is big in Australia, especially the way in some parts, Hortwitz is given distance between places, based on how many beers a driver would put away before reaching the next pub. It's hilarious since I can't think of too many other places that do this, but it is serious too. He doesn't really get into the number of accidents and so on from all these drunk people, but it isn't too hard to drive, when many Australian roads are straight for hundreds of miles. Still, I would recommend "One for the Road"; to anyone interested in Australia or likes a good travel narrative.


Interesting, but have read better   July 31, 2001
 4 out of 6 found this review helpful

This was an interesting book, but nowhere near as good as the reviews I've read here seemed to indicate. For all of his travels, Horwitz doesn't say much, literally and figuratively. In my opinion, a much better book was Greater Nowhere (1988), by Dave Finkelstein and Jack London. It also is the story of Americans setting out to explore "the other" Australia, but its written in a more engaging and informative style, and covers more of the country. If you are interested in the off beat Oz, read it.