Old Bug: The Spiritual Quest of a Skeptical Guy on a Road Trip Across America with a Long Lost Friend in a Beat-Up Beetle [Paperback]

Dan Jackson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2008

Having barely seen each other in three decades, two friends impulsively decide to take a cross-country road trip. For one, the trip is a chance to take a few swats at a question that buzzes like an old bug in his postreligious soul, What do I believe? Not just about God, but about morality, mortality, meaning, and the whole so-called spiritual side of life? For the other, the journey is the culmination of a lifelong struggle to confront a buried demon and reunite with a family from whom he’s been estranged for his entire adult life. What begins as a mundane drive becomes a quest for what really matters; a soul-searching, thought-provoking, oddly mythic, often hilarious, always human odyssey, as these two very different people join forces to keep a 1969 Volkswagen Beetle alive long enough to reach the distant shores of home.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Winner of the 2008 Benjamin Franklin Award for Best New Voice: Nonfiction

"A great read that I just couldn't put down."  —bookpleasures.com

"About an hour after I finished reading Old Bug, I was talking to my boss, at a wedding reception, about work issues. He told me to make sure that I take the time to enjoy the journey because that is what life is about. I told him that I knew of the perfect book for him to read."  —reuters.com

"An oddly mythic, frequently hilarious, ultimately uplifting odyssey of two people in a 1969 VW Beetle crossing the nation to a place they once called home."  —Bookviews.com

"It will stick to your hands until you've finished, and stick to your mind long afterward."  —Dale McGowan, author, Parenting Beyond Belief

About the Author

Dan Jackson is a writer, producer, and director of documentary television. He was the series producer of Crash Files, Impact: Stories of Survival, Monster House, and Twister Sisters and wrote and produced Birth of the V-Rod, Inside America's Military Academies, and Legends: Stevie Ray Vaughan. He lives in Los Angeles.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: End Run Press / a division of Fire Light Inc. (April 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0979446309
• ISBN-13: 978-0979446306
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,469,890 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic read..., June 6, 2007

By 

batmandela (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Old Bug: The Spiritual Quest of a Skeptical Guy on a Road Trip Across America with a Long Lost Friend in a Beat-Up Beetle (Paperback)

It's "A Walk In The Woods" meets "Zen and The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance". Dry and wry as things go awry - Dan Jackson keeps us entertained and engaged from start to finish. As a former Beetle owner and a current human, I can honestly recommend it to others who fall into either category.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Give us more of same!, June 14, 2007

By 

noonereally "justaguy" (Leesburg, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Old Bug: The Spiritual Quest of a Skeptical Guy on a Road Trip Across America with a Long Lost Friend in a Beat-Up Beetle (Paperback)

This book is destined to be a classic. It made me laugh out loud, wonder, feel, think, almost cry and, most of all, appreciate the journey that is life. A story teller of poetic power and straight forward engaging phraseology, Dan Jackson exudes the strength of James Dickey and observes staid conventions with the honesty of Ken Kesey. He is at the same time light and serious, surface and complex - writing to learn as much as to offer his unique take on life. This is one of the top five books I have ever read.

5.0 out of 5 stars A gentle, thoughtful read of discovery and larger-than-life quandaries., February 6, 2008

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Old Bug: The Spiritual Quest of a Skeptical Guy on a Road Trip Across America with a Long Lost Friend in a Beat-Up Beetle (Paperback)

Old Bug: The Spiritual Quest of an Ex-Believer on a Road Across America with a Long Lost Friend in a Beat-Up Beetle lives up to its title and then some. Recounting a cross-country road trip between the author and a friend who have barely seen each other in thirty years, Old Bug is as much about a lingering question in the soul as it is about the journey, namely, "If I don't believe in traditional religion, then what do I believe in?" Pondering God, morality, mortality, meaning, and the mysteries of life itself, Old Bug recounts confronting inner demons long buried even as it mirthfully recounts the hassle of struggling to keep a '69 VW Beetle running smoothly in the twenty-first century. A gentle, thoughtful read of discovery and larger-than-life quandaries.