Bowman is better at travel than he is at fiction, and by the same token, the travel aspects of this novel about restless Alan Reed are the best parts of a no-better-than-average novel. From Princeton to South America, back to New York where the crash sets him on the skids, into a bum's life, then up the ladder to a selling job, round and about Mexico, another glimpse of success -- and another flop. Finally, it is an accident that saves his marriage, and a return to the old home town saves his sanity. A bit dull, much of the time -- with the travel material making it almost worthwhile.