Pilgrimage: TALES FROM THE OPEN ROAD [Paperback]

Patrick Pfister PFISTER (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Spurred by restlessness, the young American Pfister traveled close to the ground in such places as Germany, Morocco, the Himalayas and his home country, compiling some well-told if disconnected anecdotes. In Malaysia, he fights an epic battle of "face" with a hotel proprietor; hitchhiking through the Mojave desert, he's picked up by a madly proud Marine; lounging in a Costa Brava village, he's embroiled in a world of expat Brits. Occasionally, Pfister's travels lead to insights, as when he observes of a cafe tableau that "If Greece is anything it is theater" or belatedly recognizes, after negotiating a stream of hustlers in Morocco, that his final guide was a genuine friend. But Pfister tells us too little about himself (Who is he?) and the cumulative meaning of his journeys to elevate this book to a memorable traveler's tale.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Pfister's arrestingly low-key style distinguishes these collected vignettes of chance encounters and stormy travails during journeys to far-flung locales. The author's reflective mode encourages readers to ruminate in a similar manner--upon their own spectacular sights and shattered illusions as well as characters they've met along the way. Pfister emerges from these tales as neither a confirmed cynic nor an impassioned dreamer but rather as the rare sort of pensive traveler who appreciates the experience of solitude that eludes most of us living in the Western world. Bearing no hint of a chronology but nevertheless possessing an invigorating clarity, Pfister's adventures fall into place as a complete entity; remote Himalayan treks are connected in the heart and mind to trips by car in North Africa and the Sahara. Alice Joyce --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 203 pages
• Publisher: Academy Chicago Publishers (August 30, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0897334728
• ISBN-13: 978-0897334723
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,338,571 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Journey Starts with that first step..., February 9, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Pilgrimage: TALES FROM THE OPEN ROAD (Paperback)

More than just a travel book, these Journeys take us into the territory of what it means to be human.

Pfister at his best makes you wish you could have been there with him... and met those people whose lives have touched his.

But he also dares achieve something few other travel books risk. He is quite willing to put you off going somewhere for ever. I crossed Morocco off my personal list of dream trips after reading Patrick's section on that country.

I hear rumours of Volume Two.... and look forward to learning more about this born traveller's particular inner and outer travels.