Nevermore: Don't Make Me Pull Over, Portrait of a Murderer, Bonesetter's Daughter, Victoria, A Brief History of Everyone, No Friends but the Mountains,

Reported by Ambrea

Nevermore decided to kick things off with Don’t Make Me Pull Over!:  an Informal History of the Family Road Trip by Richard Ratay.  In his book, Ratay examines the family road trip from beginning to end, starting with the birth of America’s first interstate highways in the 1950s and the proliferation of vehicles.  Our reader said Ratay’s book was an interesting foray into the niche history of America; however, “it wasn’t as funny as I thought it was going to be.”  Although she found a handful of funny stories scattered throughout the book, she said it was comprised mostly of interesting history and, occasionally, a boring anecdote.  She didn’t think I was a bad book, merely one that wasn’t as amazing as it could have been.

Next, Nevermore explored Portrait of a Murderer by Anne Meredith.  A reissue of the classic mystery, Portrait of a Murderer explores the death of Adrian Gray during the Christmas of 1931—and the murderer who committed the dark deed.  Our reader said Meredith’s psychological mystery was dated, but very interesting.  It follows the process of uncovering a murderer, specifically how one family reacts to the murder of the family patriarch and what happens after the discovery.  Overall, our reader said she enjoyed the book immensely and she highly recommended it to her fellow Nevermore members, especially those who enjoy a good mystery or psychological thriller.

Nevermore also took a look at Victoria:  An Intimate Biography by Stanley Weintraub, which highlights the life and times of Queen Victoria, starting with her birth in 1819 to her death in 1901.  Our reader said Weintraub’s biography weighed in at a whopping 700 pages.  “I feel as if I have had a graduate program on British history,” she told her fellow readers.  Although it was very interesting, very in-depth, she found the pace dragged along and made reading difficult.  She didn’t recommend it, except as a possible sleep aid.

Shifting gears to take a look a more scientific perspective of history, Nevermore reviewed A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived:  The Stories in Our Genes by Adam Rutherford.  According to the inside cover, “This is a story about you.  It is the history of who you are and how you came to be…[but] it is also our collective story, because in each of our genomes we carry the history of our whole species.”  A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived takes readers on a journey through genetics, examining how genes can tell our history and, possibly, even predict our future.  Our reader said she really liked reading Rutherford’s book.  Although it takes an extended look at very difficult, very complicated subjects, it offers insights that are understandable and provides explanations that are easy to digest.  Our reader enjoyed A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived and she highly recommended it to the rest of Nevermore.

Next, Nevermore shared No Friend But the Mountains:  Writing from Manus Prison by Behrouz Boochani, translated by Omid Tofighian.  In 2013, Kurdish journalist Behrouz Boochani was illegally detained on Manus Island, an island in northern Papua New Guinea, and he’s been there ever since.  Typed out on a mobile phone, his memoir is a vivid and heart-wrenching look at incarceration, exile, and survival.  Our reader said Boochani’s writing is absolutely beautiful, even bordering on poetic.  No Friend But the Mountains is a fascinating look at one man’s experiences, as well as a vivid portrayal of injustice that affects a broad swathe of people.  Although our reader has only finished half of the book, she highly recommends it.

Last, Nevermore explored Amy Tan’s novel, The Bonesetter’s Daughter.  LuLing Young and her daughter, Ruth, have always shared a difficult relationship; however, as Ruth uncovers more about her other’s tumultuous life in China, she discovers more than she ever expected—secrets and terrible curses and profound hope.  Our reader said she was thrilled to simply sit and read The Bonesetter’s Daughter.  “If you’ve ever read Amy Tan,” she told the rest of Nevermore, “you fall in love with her.”  Like all of her writing, The Bonesetter’s Daughter captures a portrait of Chinese culture, human failings, and immigration experience.  Tan creates an involved, immersive story that’s “very, very good,” our reader continued.  She took a week to read Tan’s novel and she delighted in every minute.

Don’t Make Me Pull Over! An Informal History of the Family Road Trip by Richard Ratay

Reviewed by Kristin

Richard Ratay sets out to take readers on a trip across the United States and through his childhood memories, and he succeeds admirably.  Part memoir of growing up in the 1970s, part Technicolor history lesson, this book provides a nostalgic look back at the author’s own experiences when the interstate system was new, the station wagons were wood-paneled, and the seatbelts were optional.

Richard was the youngest of four children and often ended up wedged in between his teenage brothers Mark and Bruce in the backseat while his prone-to-carsickness-sister Leslie took refuge up front between their parents.  Of course, staying in your seat was not exactly required in that decade.  Richard would often end up lying on the shelf in the back window waving to state troopers as they passed, and often getting a friendly wave in return.

The elder Mr. Ratay was a very economical man, constantly trying to save time by leaving their home in Wisconsin at 3:30 am (thereby missing the Chicago morning rush hour) and trying to save money by skipping meals on the road.  Dad often encouraged the kids to take a nap shortly before their hunger kicked in, therefore giving him a chance to eat up the miles and avoid spending money on lunch for six.  When the family did drive through a McDonald’s, they performed a speed drill worthy of the Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote, or perhaps The Three Stooges.

Between all of the family anecdotes, Richard provides quite a history of United States transportation.  Did you know that the construction of better roads was strongly influenced by bicycling clubs in the late 1890s?  Another proponent of smooth roads were health professionals who were big fans of riding bicycles and later driving the horseless carriage, simply because of the health problems that piles of manure created on city passageways.  An overview of popular destinations such as amusement parks and the world’s largest ball of twine—also all included in this book.  Billboards, motels, CB radios, videogames—all are discussed with gentle humor that took me back a few decades as well.

I remember well my family’s 1976 bronze Chevrolet cargo van.  The shimmery metallic interior was soon covered by custom installed wall-to-wall shag carpeting.  A bench seat which folded down into a bed (and may or may not have had seatbelts—I don’t remember!) provided a place to lounge whether on our way across town or on our way to visit family in Arkansas.  Behind the bench seat and accessible from the back doors was a storage compartment with a flat top, allowing for one child or another to lie against the back windows.  Between the backseat and the storage compartment was a small gap which my little brothers dubbed “the basement,” always a good place to hide away.

We had a citizens’ band radio and CB nicknames for everyone in the family as well.  Perhaps we were caravanning with friends or perhaps my dad was chatting with the truck drivers, but I can remember him using his handle of “Third Baseman” on the radio.  My mother was “Mayflower,” I was “Woodstock,” my middle brother was “Pickle Jar,” and my baby brother was “Fuzzy Bug.”

As for the golden age of family road trips, all good things eventually end or at least undergo significant transformations.  The Airline Deregulation Act of October 1978 (Thanks, Carter!) triggered changes in the air travel industry.  Fares, routes, and schedules were no longer set by the government, allowing the free market to push prices downward and to open new transportation possibilities for the average American family.  No longer were airplanes filled with only the upper class and business people with hefty travel allowances.  With less time spent together in the car, family vacations necessarily changed.  For the better?  Maybe.  Maybe not.  A hundred years ago there were surely people arguing that it was much better to ride in horse-drawn buggies instead of those infernal motorcars.

I recommend this well-researched and nostalgia filled social commentary/memoir to anyone with fond memories of family road trips.