The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters [Hardcover]

Robert Lewis Taylor (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1991

Enjoyed by millions since its first publication in 1959, The Travels Of Jaimie McPheeters is the lively story of a 13-year-old boy's adventures on a journey across America in 1849. This million-copy Pulitzer Prize-winning classic details the journey of Jaimie and his father from Kentucky to gold-rush California.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

If Huck Finn had gone West during the Gold Rush and lived to tell about it, he might have sounded much like Jaimie McPheeters in describing his incredibly hazardous trek by wagon train to California in 1849. Jaimie shares the storytelling with his father, an intelligent Scottish doctor whose ebullient personality is only slightly undermined by a weakness for gambling and strong drink. Reader Michael Lee is totally convincing as he reproduces, first, the thick Scottish brogue of the father; and then, the excited innocence of 14-year-old Jaimie. This audiobook's appended afterword, citing the author's impeccable research, makes it clear why the book won the Pulitzer Prize in 1959. Like Lonesome Dove (Audio Reviews, LJ 2/15/93), another Pulitzer Prize winner, it transforms history into breathtaking adventure. Highly recommended.
- Jo Carr, Sarasota, Fla.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From AudioFile

The story of America has many tellers but few as edifying, humorous and dispassionate as Taylor in his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. This story follows Jaimie and his father, Sardius, on the long trek to California's El Dorado. We experience the world of the '49ers through the boy's clear-eyed, if somewhat judgmental, attitudes, aided by erudite commentary from his feckless pa. Lee gives each voice individual character and reads with assurance and enthusiasm. Regional dialects and gender are unfailingly clear. His narration of such a range of characters is a triumph. Thorndike is to be commended for bringing this adventure of American life to the audio format. S.B.S. An AUDIOFILE Earphones Award winner (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Buccaneer Books (December 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0899668356
• ISBN-13: 978-0899668352
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,668,145 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It is a tragedy this book is out of print., February 28, 1999

By 

Miles D. Moore (Alexandria, VA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Travels of Jaimie McPheeters (Hardcover)

Some enterprising publisher of lapsed titles--perhaps Dalkey Archives or someplace similar--should publish a new edition posthaste. "The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters" is a walloping good read, full of excitement, humor, and vivid characters. In places it reads as if Mark Twain and Henry Fielding had put their heads together for a collaboration. Robert Lewis Taylor wrote several books about teenage boys coming of age on the frontier, but "Jaimie McPheeters" was the first and by far the best.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best fiction since Twain, May 18, 2007

By 

Blackbird Crow Raven "Blackbird Crow Raven" (Oconomowoc, WI USA (but my heart is in the gold rush country of Northern California)) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters (Arbor House Library of Contemporary Americana) (Paperback)

This is quite possibly the most enjoyable work of fiction since "Huck Finn." Reading it was a pure delight--it is very well written, the story is gripping, and I was simultaneously satisfied and sad when I finished the last page.

I think of the best nonfiction as "brain candy." This novel is more, shall I say, "soul candy" or perhaps (without sounding smarmy, I hope) I can call it "heart candy."

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best researched piece of fiction about this era I ever read., October 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Travels of Jaimie McPheeters (Hardcover)

As several others have noted, I also read this book as a teenager (actually pre-teen) when it was first released. It was my first experience with a book annotated with references to research concerning the period.

It is every bit as well written as classics such as Tom Sawyer, Oliver Twist, or Treasure Island. I really cannot imagine such a wonderful piece of literature being lost to other generations.