I loved this collection of autobiographical essays. James Nolan travels from New Orleans around the world and back to New Orleans discovering himself and his place in the world. He writes about his family history in New Orleans, his adventures in San Fransisco, his travels and his return to New Orleans. The book begins as he is committed to a New Orleans asylum by his parents for his radical thinking. He runs away to San Francisco to be a hippie poet/journalist. It is obvious that the author is a poet. The writing is lyrical and the author takes you along on his journey. This is a book meant to be savored not rushed through. Enjoy

It should be acknowledged that experientially I do not feel qualified to question the accuracy of the content of the book, nor from a personal perspective am I able to empathise with the experiences therein. As such, the review can only focus on its structure and coherence.

The majority of the book, as you would expect, is a reflection on the author’s past. This is quite anecdotal but very atmospheric. Great care is made to contextualise who he is now with his background and particularly his family history. As such the writing is episodic and at times suffers from repetition. Historical references are personalised and are drawn from factual evidence but largely from family memory.

Particularly in the first half of the book there is quite a bit of jumping around the timeline and without familiarity of American history it is not always easy to follow. There also seem to be gaps in the personal history that make it harder for the reader to view his life as a whole. An example of this is where it remains unclear how and when the relationship with his parents was repaired following his commitment.

His life experiences are a heady mix that I guess are very much of the time. To say that he has had a rich and varied life would be a major understatement. However I found empathy with the author to be difficult, perhaps this is because his life is very different; his experiences are dotted around the world in turbulent times, whilst living on the edge.

It is difficult to know when his life settled, but it seems that it must have, because the latter part of the book is less about experience and more about reflection on how the world has changed. Here the writing becomes more critical and philosophical. One example of this type of writing spirals out of how his city has changed, into a wider discussion of modern life and travel. Indicative of this are the following abstracted sentences: ‘Real travel, of course, changes the traveller, who conforms to the contours of a new location. Tourism, on the other hand, modifies the place visited, which must adapt to the tourist expectation that every experience be translated into familiar terms.’ Finally the book centres on the ending of things and food. This brings the philosophical discussion back down to intimate and personal things.

This was a fascinating read but, as with many things, not what I thought it would be when I started.