Travels with Charley.

The year is 1959. He's 58. He has just survived a non-fatal stroke. Charley dog the French Poodle probably is elder to him in dog-years, and is clearly showing the age. But Steinbeck has got the itch, and nothing is stopping him: "When the virus of restlessness begins to take possession of a wayward man, and the road away from Here seems broad and straight and sweet, the victim must first find in himself a good and sufficient reason for going. This to the practical bum is not difficult. He has a built-in garden of reasons to choose from."

( ... )