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The Ride of Our Lives [Paperback]

Mike Leonard (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (50 customer reviews)

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Book Description

May 29, 2007
The Ride of Our Lives is the humorous yet deeply moving account of NBC journalist Mike Leonard’s cross-country odyssey with his eccentric parents, three grown children, and a daughter-in-law. Full of ups and downs, laughs and tears, the month-long journey becomes a much larger tale of hope, persistence, and valuable lessons learned along the way. A celebration of the ties between parents and children, as well as the unforgettable community of people one can meet across America, The Ride of Our Lives is an inspiring narrative of self-discovery and self-fulfillment–and how one unique family found blessings and simple pleasures on the road called life.

“Touching, hilarious . . . should be required reading in every family.”
–Tom Brokaw

“Poignant moments of questions and discovery, of truth-telling and memories.”
–The Charlotte Observer

“Often laugh-out-loud funny and sometimes heartbreakingly sad.”
–St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“Delightful.”
–Chicago Tribune

“Heartfelt and whimsical . . . a cross-country trek through life’s lessons . . . Mike Leonard is a storyteller at heart, and each anecdote . . . punctuates the family’s love, struggles, and triumphs. In short, this is one ride worth taking.”
Rocky Mountain News

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Fans of NBC News correspondent Leonard's slice-of-life features for the Today show may enjoy this account of a month-long road trip he took with his parents, now in their 80s. But what works on screen doesn't translate to the printed page, and Leonard's attempt to merge a tribute to his parents with greater issues of life and death hits a dead end. As he drives from Chicago through the Southwest, up the East Coast and back to Chicago, Leonard intertwines his reflections with biographical stories by and about his somewhat eccentric parents. Their tales offer the book's most entertaining moments: phlegmatic Jack, who's "conversational 'off' button got jammed," likes to sing old songs, while gregarious Marge likes to drink and repeatedly spices her conversation with profanity ("Toora loora, my ass!" she yells during one of Jack's songs). Although Marge's behavior begins to seem more unnerving than unusual, Leonard's account of her brave childhood with an abusive father is the book's highlight. But Leonard keeps putting himself at the center of the story, detailing how charmed his life has been from his college prep high school days to lucking into his TV career, which makes for dull reading. Photos. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

“Mike Leonard is a national treasure and his touching, hilarious, instructive account of a loving road trip with his parents and children should be required reading in every family. I’m sending it to all my children so they can share the laughs and the tears.”
-Tom Brokaw, author of The Greatest Generation

“Mike Leonard has generously invited the rest of us along for a ride aboard his land yacht, the "S.S.Fiasco." And what a ride it is. Profound and profoundly funny, Leonard takes us on a journey deep into the heart of his family. He has been blessed with characters who are as bizarre, maddening, unpredictable and hilarious as any dreamt up by Hollywood -- and they are his real-life parents! "The Ride of Our Lives" reads like intimate dispatches from your funniest friend, and is as touching and whimsical as a series of home movies unspooling from an American childhood.”
-Amy Dickinson, syndicated advice columnist, "Ask Amy"


From the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 240 pages
  • Publisher: Ballantine Books (May 29, 2007)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0345481496
  • ISBN-13: 978-0345481498
  • Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.5 x 8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #331,362 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

50 Reviews
5 star:
 (36)
4 star:
 (8)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:
 (4)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.5 out of 5 stars (50 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Gorgeous @}->---, April 21, 2006
By 
As a fan of NBC Today, I've seen many segments that Mike Leonard has done. He is hilarious and unique and one story he did in particular, was a cross country journey with his parents and one of his daughters in an RV. I saw it and I loved it. His parents are adorable and funny too and they represent the kind of family you wished you belonged to (though I'm happy with my family). Apparently this story was one of their most memorable stories that's been done.
When you buy the book, it has the dvd along with it with the highlights of their vacation. They went through 18 States and were together throughout the whole time. It was an 8 thousand mile journey that ended with Mikes daughter giving birth (to Mikes parents first great-grandchild).
He wanted to write this book because it's relatable to so many families. And it is. It's funny and touching and heartwarming and so many other things in between.
I really recommend this book because as Mike thinks, it is relatable to so many people and it's interesting and entertaining and you'll really have a good laugh and enjoy it thoroughly. Great book.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Putting Family First!, July 19, 2007
This review is from: The Ride of Our Lives (Paperback)
I picked up The Ride of Our Lives by Mike Leonard on the recommendation of my mother-in-law, and I've got to remember to thank her! What a wonderful celebration of family, complete with love, tears, reminiscing, RVs, and lots and lots of laughter.

Mike Leonard, correspondent for the Today Show, decided a couple of years ago that he needed to take a month off and drive his elderly parents cross country to visit/revisit sites. Enlisting three of his four children to accompany them in two RVs, you immediately get a sense of the type of family they are: right off the bat, the daughter-in-law drives an RV over a concrete barrier, the trip is delayed, and the grandmother flips someone off. Over the course of the month, Mike tells the story of the trip and weaves in stories of his own upbringing and his parents' stories as well. These two octogenarians are both poignant and funny, and while in some respects it may seem as though nothing much is going on during this trip, the reality is that this is a family that knows how to celebrate itself. I found myself giggling over the antics of all the people involved, and tearing up when the realization is made that you really can't go home again.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It's a quick read, but one that will inch into your soul and stay there, making you take stock of your own family and its values. I can only hope that my own children will grow up feeling as blessed as Mike and his brothers did. You cannot ask for more out of life than that. Recommended!
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars ONE MAN'S FAMILY, WHAT A FAMILY! WHAT A BOOK & DVD., March 13, 2007
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My wife read this book and told me about it, then we watched the DVD which accompanies the book. Change of pace reading for me from history or westerns, and a very refreshing one indeed.

While the book and DVD have some poignant segments, it is equally balanced with some outright comical segments. Mike Leonard's parents and the entire Leonard clan are pleasant to meet and this inside look into a zany, lovable group of people is one the reader will not soon forget. Come on, read it. I didn't think I'd care for it, either; but I loved it.

This book should get an award for not only its great American family profile but for its inventiveness. There are still real people out there and the foundations of the real America still exits.

Hats off to one of the more enjoyable reads/views I've ever experienced.

Well recommended. This book will restore any doubts one may have about our country.

Semper Fi.
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Inside This Book (learn more)
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
The Ride of Our Lives, Mike Leonard, Holiday Rambler, Providence College, Breaux Bridge, New Jersey, New London, Mount Saint, Walkie Talkie, Wal Mart, Swamp Man, Marge Dad, Wiffle Ball, World War, Scottsdale Arizona, Tommy Touhy, Flaming Mom, San Antonio, New Orleans, Johnny Smith, Civil War, Lake Forest Academy, African American, Bayou Teche, New York City
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