M Sarki

https://msarki.tumblr.com/post/169347258418/travels-with-vamper-a-graybeards-journey-by

The title of this book attracted me, as well as the writer being a retiree roughly the same age as I. The author decides to take off traveling in a RV as a way to reexamine his working life, raising a family, not to mention revisiting places he had been in his youth and places yet unseen. His objective for hitting the road felt parallel to my own targeted future. Early on George states he is astounded that Donald J. Trump could become our forty-fifth president and the text segues into the impetus behind his sporadic interviews of fellow citizens encountered along the way. The soundtrack behind this literary excursion centers on the Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, and Joni Mitchell to name just three. George’s taste in music is broader than my own but nonetheless adds to his engaging story as he rolls into the present while digressively looking back honestly at what got him there.

George courageously attacks our current politics head-on. He candidly examines religion and other ingrained and flawed belief systems. What might have been considered foolhardy in the past while he was engaged in getting a living as a professional in a suit, George Critchlow as a recent retiree now openly takes on these topics eagerly. It is refreshing to witness his indifference to what others might think. George does have something to say. Whether it be an anecdote describing his playing Santa in a Penny’s department store while still coming down on acid, or any number of forays into his past depicting conscious revolts against perceived wrongs being promoted and conducted in this country, Critchlow never flinches. His journey becomes a profile in courage and is refreshingly consistent with reminders of what is still good in our land but what still must be changed. A much better book than first imagined, and one needed for these troubled times. Too bad the Trump Voters won’t read it. But perhaps there is just enough camping and drinking in it to entice just a few. And as far as our perception of lawyers go, Critchlow does much to restore their good name.