American Nomads: Travels with Lost Conquistadors, Mountain Men, Cowboys, Indians, Hoboes, Truckers, and Bullriders

The British version of this book is titled, “Ghost Riders: Travels with American Nomads.” The skill, beauty, humor and insight with which it is written belie the fact that it was Grant’s first book. His history of writing for various British publications, including The Guardian and Telegraph before launching his 15-year unplanned journey across America, makes me think how lucky these papers were to have such a talented contributor. Besides introducing the reader to a variety of characters and misfits he met along the way, “Ghost Riders” explores philosophical, social and personality issues, specific to the United States—especially the open spaces of the “Wild West” and settled societies. Not in a pedantic way, but with a sense of wonder as Grant contemplates his own feelings and experiences with wider current and historical realities. A joy to read and to reflect upon!

Ok, I got Ghost Riders, In English, In good time. Thanks, Happy with this, Jeff.

An excellent book but be advised that it is the same book as Grant's 'American Nomads.' One published in the USA, the other in the UK.

American Nomads was part of my summer reading list, a little lighter reading than my usual fare I thought. While Grant's book delivered as an enjoyable and swift read that was not too heavy, it also surprised me with its grasp of Western history and valuable insights. Richard Grant is a Brit with an inclination to ramble. He fell in love with the wide-open spaces and endless road of the American West, and began a life of rambling all over the West at will. When he ran out of money, he returned to England and sold articles about his adventures until he raise another stake to come back and repeat the process. This book, his first, is the logical outcome of that process. Grant artfully blends his own adventures on the road with historical examples illustrating the nomadic instinct that the open spaces of the West seem to draw out from those who live there. His chapters on conquistador Cabeza de Vaca, mountain man Joe Walker, and the Comanche tribe are particularly well researched and written. (His writing on the conquistador has inspired me to read Cabeza de Vaca's own Adventures in the Unknown Interior of America.)These subjects are well chosen, both as dynamic interesting stories, and for their instructiveness to Grant's theme. Along side of these historical set-pieces, Grant tells of his own adventures on the road with psychotic hitchhikers, old school hobos, the drunken dregs of the Rainbow family, and methed-out crazy rodeo bull riders, among others. He ponders on how so many of the nomads that he meets in the West tend to be societies walking wounded , and notes the hardships and misunderstandings of being a nomad in a largely sedentary culture. But this is no whining treatise. Grant's joy in and love for a wandering life in the beautiful empty spaces of the West is palpable, and if you feel any inclination in that direction, possibly contagious. If you love road books and well-done history, consider American Nomads a must read. Theo Logos

Inspired by Kerouac et al, and their tales of the open road, Richard Grant left rain-blighted London in the mid-eighties to travel around the Ameican west. In American Nomads he describes his fellow travellers; hoboes, retirees in winnebagos, the rainbow tribe, as well as the travellers who preceeded them; the cowboys, mountain men, and conquistadors. While never failing to tell a good tale he comes to examine his own restlessness, and the restlessness at the core of the American pysche. Part-travelogue, part-history, Grant's book reads like an adventure.

The beginning of this book sucked me right in. Grant, at the time a recent escapee of dreary London life, tells of his first awestruck days in the American West. As a lifelong resident of the West, I loved hearing the author's outsider appreciation for this land. Grant's tales kept me up late into the nights, unwilling to get off the road with him. His amazing command of language makes the stories come to life in the most vibrant possible way. I particularly like the way he weaves American history in with his travels, and includes fascinating characters, historical and contemporary. There's also a love story with interesting twists.Have a seat on the passenger's side, roll down the window, and enjoy the ride. I sure did.