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Zephyr: Tracking a Dream Across America
 
 
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Zephyr: Tracking a Dream Across America [Paperback]

Henry Kisor (Author)
3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)


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Book Description

March 1995
A journalist recounts his experiences and the people he met on a trip aboard Amtrak's California Zephyr as it traveled across America's most storied transcontinental rail route. 20,000 first printing. $20,000 ad/promo.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.


Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Chicago Sun-Times book editor Kisor offers an absorbing look at life aboard a transcontinental train.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Kisor, the book editor for the Chicago Sun-Times and author of What's That Pig Outdoors? ( LJ 4/15/90), is intimately familiar with the California Zephyr , a popular Amtrak run from Chicago to Oakland. He uses a run to Oakland to point out the stunning beauty along the route and highlight its rich history. He also explains well the special appeal of long-distance train travel--the sense of community that develops on the train, the local newspapers available from big and small towns along the way, and the relaxing atmosphere of the coach car. Particularly strong are the stories about the crew that makes these long runs possible. Stories and interviews with the engineer, stewards, chef, conductor, and other Amtrakers and their "trains-from-hell" stories make this a superb piece on railroad travel in the United States. An excellent choice for most public libraries, especially those along the route of the Zephyr .
- David Schau, Kanawha Cty. P.L., Charleston, W.Va.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 338 pages
  • Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers (March 1995)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 155850477X
  • ISBN-13: 978-1558504776
  • Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,122,938 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Henry Kisor is the retired book editor of the Chicago Sun-Times as well as the author of three nonfiction books and three mystery novels. He is also the co-author of one children's book.

He is the author of a series of mystery novels set in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Season's Revenge (2003), A Venture into Murder (2005) and Cache of Corpses (2007). A fourth novel, Hang Fire, is forthcoming.

His nonfiction works are What's That Pig Outdoors?: A Memoir of Deafness (1990 and 2010), Zephyr: Tracking a Dream Across America (1994) and Flight of the Gin Fizz: Midlife at 4,500 Feet (1997).

His books have been published abroad in German, Dutch and United Kingdom editions.

He writes two blogs, The Reluctant Blogger and The Whodunit Photographer.
He was the book editor of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1978 to his retirement in 2006, after five years in the same position with the old Chicago Daily News.

His reviews and articles have appeared in the New York Times Book Review, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post and on MSNBC.com. Between 1977 and 1982 he was an adjunct instructor at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. From 1983 to 1986 he wrote a weekly syndicated column on personal computers that appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times, Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, Orlando Sentinel, Seattle Times and other newspapers.

He was named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1981. The Friends of Literature awarded him the first James Friend Memorial Critic Award in 1988 and the Chicago Foundation for Literature Award for Nonfiction in 1991 for What's That Pig Outdoors? In 1991 Trinity College awarded him a honorary Doctor of Letters degree. In 2001 he was inducted into the Chicago Journalism Hall of Fame.

Educated at Trinity College (B.A., 1962) in Hartford, Conn., and at Northwestern University (M.S.J., 1964) in Evanston, Ill., Kisor began his newspaper career in 1964 with the Evening Journal in Wilmington, Del.

He winters in Evanston, Illinois, and summers in Ontonagon, Michigan, with his wife, Deborah Abbott. They have two grown sons, Colin, an attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice (m. Melody Pershyn), and Conan, a corporate communications editor and writer for the Boeing Company (m. Annie Tully). They also have two grandsons, William Henry Kisor and Conan Emmet Kisor; two granddaughters, Elizabeth Maria Kisor and Alice Flynn Kisor.

 

Customer Reviews

6 Reviews
5 star:
 (3)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.8 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars excelent, September 24, 1998
This review is from: Zephyr: Tracking a Dream Across America (Paperback)
This book is a wonderful look into the travels of the people who ride Amtraks California Zephyr. This is a wonderful human intrest book that will facinate you wether you are a railroad fan or not. The stories of the peoples lives, and the reasons that brought them to the train, are facinating. It is a must have for anyone who has ever experienced, or wanted to experience the thrill of riding the rails!
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars great train story on the zephyr, July 9, 1999
By 
Eric Aros (Las Vegas, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Zephyr: Tracking a Dream Across America (Paperback)
I could imagine myself riding in the Zephyr as I read the book. Great vivid pictures that I could play out in my own mind. Only negative was that he and another passenger spoke about some mystery novel for a chapter. Other than that, I would suggest this book to any railfan.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A delightful travel narrative, January 18, 1999
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This review is from: Zephyr: Tracking a Dream Across America (Paperback)
Kisor clearly enjoys train travel, and while he loves trains he wisely refrains from burying the reader in the sort of minutia that rail buffs feed on. Seldom does the story drag.

The style is open and friendly, and it's clear that Kisor has respect and affection for the staff and passangers he meets on the train.

The narrative style reminds me a little of John McPhee; Kisor has the same talent for fading into the background and letting the story tell itself.

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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
At 10:30 on a frosty morning in early April I arrived at the cinder-block "crew base" in Amtrak's sprawling 14th Street yards four-fifths of a mile south of Chicago Union Station. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
sleeper attendant, economy bedroom, sleeper passengers, dorm car, lounge car, train chief, third cook, crew base, extra board, first seating, meal checks, operating crews, revenue items
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Rio Grande, California Zephyr, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, New York, Southern Pacific, Glenwood Springs, Union Station, Los Angeles, United States, Central Pacific, Colorado River, World War, Civil War, Desert Wind, John Davis, Reggie Howard, Front Range, Number Five, Union Pacific, Virginia City, Grand Central, Moffat Tunnel, Sierra Nevada, Air Force
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