Customer Reviews

The Kindness of Strangers: Penniless Across America

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I have purchased numerous copies of this book to give to friends. After recently rediscovering book and reading for 5th time I was checking amazon to see if Mike McIntyre has any other titles. I felt compeled to write a review. In light of the recent World Trade center attack I really need something that confirmed my belief that good people are all around us. It really lifted me out of my gloom. A++++

This book reminds me a little of Scott Savage's book (A Plain Life: Walking My Belief), although the author is not a Quaker. Reading one chapter in another book was enough to draw me to this title.

At 37, Mike McIntyre was an established journalist, with a good job in San Francisco, a girlfriend, a nice apartment. His job enabled him to travel all over the world, but he felt moved to leave it all behind, and travel by the grace of others from the West Coast to Cape Fear, North Carolina. He feels he's a coward, that he's afraid to take a gamble with anything...neither of these being words that describe Quakers. But his feeling that an inner voice is telling him to do this, and his conviction to go ahead despite less than encouraging words from his family ("you'll get raped," his own grandmother tells him) are, to me, a spiritual calling. He says he will not take money, not even if he finds it on the road in front of him. He sets out, wary but determined to go. Like Scott Savage's need to turn over his already expired driver's license, McIntrye has picked his destination as a symbolic gesture. "If I make it to Cape Hope," he says, "it will be as a different man from the one who starts the journey. I am afraid."

Right out the door, he finds himself a fill-in guest house on a talk show ("Life in the Country") on a local radio station. He isn't alone as a guest - his new partner is a tall, blond with red lipstick and high heels, a firefighter named Diana, who used to be named Dennis. The book is full of strange encounters, and is an interesting read, to put it mildly.

I was in a trance from page one right through the epilogue. The author had the guts to do what so many of us are terrified of doing--to leave our lives for a couple of months, to step away and challenge our biggest fears. He describes his experience in a straightforward, no-punches-pulled manner that puts the reader right into his shoes. The reader sees "the real America"--a believable America, sees Life sliced right open, sees himself or herself vicariously exposed. The book shows heart, humor, whimsy, commitment, strength, vulnerability. A moving tale. A gift. I'd give it six stars if I could.

in light of recent events this book shed a ray of light on the dimming light of humanity in our world. A man leaves home with only identification and hitch hikes across the country relying only on the "kindness of strangers." Although he clearly points out that were he not male and caucasion the outcome could have been much different, the story is still heart warming. I have recommended this to sooo many friends and all have thanked me profusely for helping them search their hearts and souls with out being battered with questions of faith.

I began reading this book after being hooked by the concept of someone travelling so many miles without a dollar to his name. I set the bar high, expecting merely to be entertained. Immediately, it became apparent that I was in for so much more. The story is absolutely riveting and had few dry spots. It is truly a testament to the author's skill that he did not inundate us with needless rumination. He did, however, do an incredible job of opening up about his emotions. These candid moments lend the narrative a powerful emotional energy that carries the book throughout.

I can't believe I haven't reviewed this book yet. This is by far one of my favorites and one I will read over and over and have told many of my friends about it. This book will restore some of your faith in people and make you want to be a better person. If you haven't read this yet stop wasting time and read it! I could not put it down.

One of the best books I have had the pleasure to read. This is an amazingly talented writer. He is honest. Brutally honest. His words may not always be what you want to hear, but they are his real thoughts and feelings as they come to him. Once I started this book, I could not put it down, I was so sad when the end came.
Since I am disabled and cant travel much, this book traveled for me. He is such a talented writer that I felt I was there with him. This book has given me hope in the human spirit. It has renewed my faith in this country and has helped me to see' that people are not always what they seem.

Bravo!

Thank you for writing this book and taking us along will you.

There's very few books that will keep me reading into the night while losing sleep, but this was one of them. I looked forward to seeing what would happen next in Mike's journey across America. There's no reason for anyone to give it any less than five stars. Great book! Thanks!

I'm not at all the mushy, touchy-feely type. All the same, I found this book to be a great read, and a great story. The fact that someone had the cojones to actually set off across America with minimal resources instead of just talking about it is inspiring. Mike meets some very colorful characters along the way, and in the end finds that indeed there is probably more good than bad out there. Highly recommend this one.

I love all of the stories that Mike tells of his journey from the west to the east coast...He made me laugh and weep twice...I wonder where Mike McIntyre is now? Apparently this was his only book that he wrote. I wonder if he is now in middle America somewhere enjoying life...
Mike... you need to write a follow up on what happened to you after you came back to California. Did you give up your journalist job and settle down and find peace somewhere else?...Anyway, I really loved this book and after two week I can't get it out of my mind...Bravo!!!