I first met Alan Wilkinson in a pub. If you meet him and get to know him, you’ll understand that this is almost a truism. I don’t mean he’s an alcoholic, I mean he prefers to spend his life engaging people directly, and that kind of interpersonal connection is best done around the table of a pub. Or maybe that’s just my take on life.
Wilkinson’s genial, gently cynical, well-read and incisive approach to life comes shining through his latest tale of life across America. Part travelogue, part pilgrimage, part memoir, part US litfest, this is a grand farewell to a land he loves. There are tales of meetings with old friends, long-lost acquaintances and journeys through the glorious natural beauty of the American West.
The pioneering people and culture that built the American heartland are honoured through a scavenger hunt of sorts. Wilkinson’s book recounts three weeks spent searching out historical sites related to some of the greatest US authors on a journey from east to west coasts. You’ve heard of some of the big names like Kerouac and Twain, but our voyager is an expert in the writing that brought the struggles of life a hundred years ago. Thus, we are also exposed to lesser-known others, such as Willa Cather and Mari Sandoz. And the stories of those literary legacies, the glorious natural environments, and the folks Wilkinson interacts with along the way, are all a delight to read.
If Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath was based on true stories he bought from hobos, it’s clear that Alan Wilkinson’s A Measure of Success takes us beyond fiction. This is a mild ride, but in the very best possible sense. You will enjoy these tales.