Oregon Trail (Buck)

Book Reviews
Absorbing.... The many layers in The Oregon Trail are linked by Mr. Buck’s voice, which is alert and unpretentious in a manner that put me in mind of Bill Bryson’s comic tone in A Walk in the Woods.... He’s good company on the page, and you root for him.... He’s particularly winning on how, as he puts it, "the vaudeville of American life was acted out on the trail." ... This shaggy pilgrimage describes a form of happiness sought, and happiness found.
Dwight Garner - New York Times


Enchanting.... Interspersed with the story of his westward journey, Mr. Buck entertains and enlightens with discourses on American history and culture.... He has delivered us a book filled with so much love—for mules, for his brother, for America itself.... Long before Oregon, Rinker Buck has convinced us that the best way to see America is from the seat of a covered wagon.
Gregory Crouch - Wall Street Journal


Awe-inspiring.... Charming, big-hearted, impassioned, and a lot of fun to read.... If Buck doesn’t quite make you want to hitch up your own wagon, his rapturous account will still leave you daydreaming and hungry to see this land.
Boston Globe


Interwoven in Buck’s adventure tale is a fascinating history of the development of the trail, its heyday, and the colorful characters that made the journey.... Whether their primary interest is American history, adventure travel or a captivating memoir, readers are sure to be delighted by this humorous and entertaining story that allows us to believe that Walter Mitty–like fantasies can indeed come true.
Associated Press


A quintessential American story.... The Oregon Trail attains its considerable narrative power by interweaving pioneer history with Rinker-and-Nick-and-mules interpersonal strife with poignant memories of the author’s father, who took his own family on a covered wagon journey through New Jersey and Pennsylvania in 1958.... This makes The Oregon Trail a rare and effective work of history—the trail stories of the Buck brothers bring humor and drama, and the pioneer biographies supply a context that makes every other aspect of the book snap into sharp relief.... The experience of The Oregon Trail stands squarely opposite much of what is modern—it’s slow travel with poor communication, it places struggle before comfort, and it represents a connection with history rather than a search for the newest of the new. In that sense, you’d think the book would be slow-paced and fusty, but it’s really something else: raw, visceral, and often laugh-out-loud funny. For anyone who has ever dreamed of seeing America slowly from the back of a wagon, The Oregon Trail is a vicarious thrill.
James Norton - Christian Science Monitor


A trip back in time.... Buck brings the land to life in a richly researched book that draws heavily from journals kept by the pioneers and their memoirs.... His exploration of America and himself is a joy to read. (4 out of 4 stars)
USA Today


What a way to spend a summer! Rinker Buck lived the dream of countless red-blooded Americans.... The Oregon Trail is must reading for anyone in love with the West.”
Jules Wagman - Cleveland Plain Dealer


This book is a keeper.... The straight-ahead title scarcely does justice to this rollicking good read, a book that’s as much fun as the Brothers Buck seem to be as they travel from Missouri to Oregon by covered wagon.... Observant, conversational, and often funny, The Oregon Trail makes for a satisfying trip.
Seattle Times


An incredible true story.... Weaving a tale somewhere between a travelogue and a history lesson, Buck traces the iconic path literally and figuratively as he re-creates the great migration with his brother and a Jack Russell terrier.
Entertainment Weekly


Laugh-out-loud masterpiece.... Alternately harrowing and exhilarating.... The book is an unremitting delight.
Willamette Week


An entertaining and enlightening account of one of America’s most legendary migrations. Even readers who don’t know a horse from a mule will find themselves swept up in this inspiring and masterful tale of perseverance and the pioneer spirit.
Publishers Weekly


Romantic.... Compelling.... The Oregon trip is fraught with mishaps, near-death experiences, and plain bad luck. But there were also angels along the way helping them get through.
Library Journal


(Starred review.) Astonishing.... By turns frankly hilarious, historically elucidating, emotionally touching, and deeply informative.... A crazy whim of a trip on a covered wagon turns into an inspired exploration of American identity.
Kirkus Reviews