SHAKING THE NICKEL BUSH
By
On-the-road-Americans, set in 1918-19, this memoir of Ralph Moody's is chock full of charm. Having been diagnosed a diabetic, Moody goes back West to his early campfire (of Little Britches), meets Vet Lonnie, and in an old flivver of a Ford they cavort across country. They get to know pawnshops, bedrolls, frying pans; they share Xmas Eve under the stars; Lonnie swipes horses, hens, women; Moody makes profitable busts of bankers. Through a misunderstanding these staggering adventures end, but Moody knows they'll meet again. Warm, funny and touching. Young people will enjoy these picaresque escapades.