From Publishers Weekly
This odyssey of long-haul trucking on the open highway is also a probing study of a complex father-son relationship. Jane Hawkins, 69, retired trucker from Birmingham, Ala., hasn't driven a big rig in three years. Proud, defiant Jake is an alcoholic, a hustler, a raconteur, full of shenanigans and memories of a better America. His son, Sonny, college lecturer in English Lit and frustrated novelist, is furious at his sister Phyllis for whisking their dad away to an alcoholic recovery center. Family tensions run high: Sonny hates Phyllis's smug blue-blooded Yankee husband, a wife-beater, while Mom, who has Alzheimer's disease, can't remember who's who. When Jake decides to take his 18-wheel rig, Dixie Redball, on one last ride, hauling cargo to Nevada, Jake joins him, believing he can rescue dad from himself and, in the process, draw closer to the old man. Their long, lonesome ride, marked by humorous touches, ends with a shocking finale. Hemphill ( Long Gone ) casts a satirical eye on the "New South." Author tour.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
A well-written tale of father-son parting, this is the account of Sonny Hawkins, middle-aged English teacher going nowhere, and his dad Jake, retired long-distance trucker, together again on a final haul across America. To reveal that King of the Road ends with Jake's death will not diminish the reader's pleasure. No other ending is either possible or desirable. Good descriptions of the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountain West, interesting major and minor characters, and Sonny and Jake's love of the open road highlight this picaresque yarn. By the author of the baseball novel Long Gone ( LJ 6/15/79), and dedicated to his trucker father, this sentimental, yet heartfelt paean to fathers and sons everywhere has much to recommend it.
- James B. Hemesath, Adams State Coll. Lib., Alamosa, Col.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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