TRAVELS WITH CHARLEY

he find He has doubts himself. But in the quest through 40 states, John Steinberg learned something of the vast changes that have come over his country, something of its , its variety, its magic and the ugliness of its towns and cities. Something as well of the wealth of its agricultural reaches, and the mystery of its deserts. But most of all he learned a good many of the basic values that make Americans American. He found to his sorrow that folk ways and folk speech were lost in the uniformity imposed by today's channels of communication. He learned that there were still areas that held their character and fell in love with Montana. He sensed the state of mind that is Texas. He the melodrama that distorted the South in the desegregation crisis. And at last after the long trek, in the specially built truck with a miniature ship's cabin aboard and with Charley, his French , he came home to New York only to lose himself in his own city. It is a unique American travelogue and brings John Steinbeck into close relationship with his readers.