Wanderlost [Perfect Paperback]

Ben Olson (Author), Zach Hagadone (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 6, 2007

WANDERLOST captures the essence of that strange period of life after college and before looming adulthood; when idealism is still a good thing, when one must choose to embrace the often mediocre task of mundane existence, or burn free and live according to the principles of our hearts. It is a coming-of-age tale, a humorous road narrative and an acerbically accurate portrayal of modern America Life in all its beauty and futility, written in a personal uninhibited style of journalistic prose. Ben Olson says, "The book is a backlash to this dumb culture taken over by a crassness of people who are all passionately apathetic. This is a truthful account of a common man s struggle... and that is why it has merit. Sure it s fiction, but I only write fiction because I have to. I need the protection that it provides. Every writer knows that there is no real fiction, for what we put on the page stems from our experiences. I believe in something that will never die the notion that you can still live free in America." One desolate north Idaho winter, as Max s mailbox slowly fills with rejection slips and he nurses yet another hangover, he s overcome by a feeling of entrapment. Haunted by fears that his life is wasting away and lured by dreams of one day understanding, he decides to break with the comfort of his home and re-discover a sense of meaning. He escapes. With an Amtrak USA Rail Pass and a pack on his back, Max sets out to find America again, armed with the bitterness of his past and the yearning to find something pure again. He travels around the country, stopping and going from the train as he pleased, hitchhiking and sharing rides with drug runners, gigolos and other strangers of the American road. Wanderlost captures the essence of that strange period of life after college and before looming adulthood; when idealism is still a good thing, when one must choose to embrace the often mediocre task of mundane existence, or burn free and live according to the principles of our hearts. It is a coming-of-age tale, a humorous road narrative and an acerbically accurate portrayal of modern America Life in all its beauty and futility, written in a personal uninhibited style of journalistic prose.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"WANDERLOST" by non-generation author BEN OLSON is a fast journey across America, on the rails, which records what happens beneath the cracks. Here is a straight shooting voice who speaks to those disenchanted readers under twenty-five, and who is destined for an impact in American literary circles. "The book is a backlash to this dumb culture taken over by a crassness of people who are all passionately apathetic," says Ben, a young prophet howling at the American landscape. "Stealing a handful of napkins and a pen from the cocktail waitress when inspiration hits is more real, more organic, therefore more important...." Finding himself flat broke, ten miles from the nearest town, at 1:30 a.m., after bailing on the truckers, it was time to go home. "I knew that was the climax. It was the weirdest it could get, and the best it could get." During his trip, he found old friends, partied like only someone in their twenties can, and moved on. "There's something about the motion that gets my mind in gear. It never matters where I'm going, or what for, it's just the idea that I'm on the move. It helps because it quiets down the restless urge I always get when bored and jaded in one place." Ben Olson has an unerring eye and penetrating gaze, but also has too tight a hold on story, and a disdain for romance... perhaps even for modern human relationship. --MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW, August, 2007

What form of inspiration will Olson use to write his next book spend a month on the streets with the homeless, infiltrate the mob, live with cannibals? - --Writer's Market, 2008

The journey takes the reader not just through evocative descriptions of the changing landscape, but through the highly charged and personal musings of a young writer as he grapples with which direction he wants to go. Gritty and at times graphically intense, it is also a witty, insightful and humorous exploration of how to balance freedom with obligation and what it means to be a young American in the 21st century. - --The Sandpoint Reader

From the Publisher

This is an email from the publisher to Olson. It pretty much sums things up:

"For our part, we have recognized your part as straight shooter and find your behavior in the vein of a vain booze-sotten genius living brief moments of clarity... but your self-confidence encourages us to continue promoting you despite your self-destructive tendencies and outrageous betrayals... I am not going to suggest that another staff member take over your account because they do not want to deal with your aggravation." --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Perfect Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Alphar Publishing; 2nd edition (August 6, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0978602412
• ISBN-13: 978-0978602413
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,022,754 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Corner Booth, July 17, 2006

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Nate (Colorado) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Wanderlost (Hardcover)

I cracked this open last night at 8:30 p.m. and didn't stop reading until I reached the end of the line at 3:30 in the morning. "Wanderlost" will grip your attention for a number of reasons...one: like the "corner booth" he writes about in the novel, where philosophical ponderings and beer and stories and poetic meanderings are traded amongst friends in his hometown of "Northsaint" at the local watering hole called the "The 419", the novel comes across as an adventure tale told amongst friends, the author unafraid to bare his soul to the reader like an old friend would do; two: as the protagonist "Max" rides the rails across America, the train becomes more than a fitting metaphor, it becomes the rythym, tempo, and feel of the novel itself, with rushing scenes and strange interactions intertwined with pauses and stops, there is spontaneous prosody mixed with deliberate, punctual phrasing; three: there is an examination of the soul and an examination of America that is not the pining of a young man blaming everyone for the ills of society, but an honest beating of the chest and a search for meaning in a world that seems meaningless. This is an extraordinary effort for a first novel and I expect more from Mr. Olson, and eagerly so.

In the same vein of Jack Kerouac and Hunter S. Thompson, here is a writer howling at the American landscape and destined to become an American writer of significance. The torch has been passed...