Rating: 
Summary: Decent travelogue, yet tedious and lacking in empathy
Review: GHOST RIDER is written by Neil Peart, drummer and lyricist for the legendary hard rock music trio Rush. In 1997-98, Peart suffered a double tragedy when his daughter and wife died within ten months of each other. Left suddenly alone, Peart hit the road for fourteen months to escape his grief, and his travels are chronicled here.Anyone wishing for profound emotional empathy for Peart will not find many nuggets here. The majority of this book is just a travelogue by a man who is seeking to put his tragedies on the road behind him ... and nothing more. I was very disappointed in the first half of the book, initially because it took less than ten pages for Peart to reduce the lives of his wife and daughter to what is essentially a prologue. Then, when Peart hits the road, his thoughts and efforts are enveloped by his travels, which he shares in prodigious detail. He documents page after page of flora and fauna, road and riding conditions, sights and situations, meals, books and accommodations, only to include perhaps a single, glib sentence on his mental state, such as, "...suddenly I was in tears. One step forward, one step back." I became increasingly frustrated and annoyed because he cared more about describing his travels than communicating his grief, and I felt he never justified this discrepancy. If this had been written purely as a travelogue, I may have rated this higher, and it might be enjoyable to follow along his path with a road atlas and be satisfied with the journey. Peart puts in a lot of miles and goes to interesting places that typical travel books never go. But even this work is harmed by his wide antisocial streak, his ungracious celebrity, and a tangible disdain for Americans. By the halfway point, I had already had enough of Peart's weighty travel journal and the dearth of emotional honesty, and I had to force myself to finish the book. I had reached a much greater understanding of Peart's affection for his jailed friend Brutus than for his own family, and I found that to be the book's saddest reality of all. I really wanted to care about his plight, but he wasn't giving me an excuse to. He was coming across quite unsympathetically, and that's an enormous feat considering the gravity of the subject matter. Fortunately, the book's second half was an improvement, but by then I just wanted it to be over as quickly as possible. Ironically, his journey and healing improve noticeably whenever he's NOT on the road. In the cabin by the lake, he must confront the memories of his wife and daughter honestly and directly, and he is actually more willing to share these situations with the reader. It is in these moments that Neil Peart finally comes across with humanity, and we see him surrounded by his former life, as the widower, and as the father who had to bury his child. But these moments are all too fleeting. His insecurities put him on the road twice more in the second half, mostly shared through his neverending letters to Brutus. I skimmed paragraphs, places became indistinct, and I just grew weary of traveling with him. I was tired of his letter writing style, his forced levity, and the callousness with which he regards Gabrielle (whom he dated briefly) as "that woman," without rhyme or reason. GHOST RIDER is three quarters travel journal and maybe one quarter emotional insight, but it fails to find a synergy of the physical (the journey) and the spiritual (the healing). In the end, Peart's travels come to a screeching halt with his hastily-written equivalent of "...and I lived happily ever after." As he completed his journey, any happiness I might have had for him was tempered by the relief I felt, knowing that my reading journey was finally at an end. GHOST RIDER was my first exposure to Mr. Peart's books, but unless he writes a Rush biography, it will also be my last. Two and a half stars.
Rating:
Summary: You'll like it, but my opinion is mixed.
Review: Let's be honest... the only people buying and reading this book are Rush fans, like myself. As a Rush fan, you'll probably like this book; most fans within the online Rush community did. But me? Well... As a travel book, it's a little boring. Reading descriptions of birds and trees and roads isn't very exciting. As a story detailing the grieving process, it's a little incomplete. Neil Peart rode and rode on his motorcycle to heal his personal losses. He was ultimately successful... but how? Peart doesn't describe his inner grieving process clearly enough for the reader to understand exactly HOW his healing occured. There's also a "rush" to an ending in the last chapter; Peart goes from still depressed and still grieving to happiness, joy, and a second marriage in a the space of a few pages without explanation of how he arrived there. It's also incomplete as the memoir of a talented rock musician. It didn't satisfy my jones for personal information about Neil Peart. In fact, I learned more personal information about Neil in a newspaper article he wrote called "A Port Boy's Story" than I did in this entire book. I don't want to be a spoilsport, but I daresay that Rush fans wouldn't find this book "an exciting read" if it were written by anybody else. I'll say it again... if you're a Rush fan you'll probably love the book, since most Rush fans did. But for those fans who aren't blinded in their book criticism by the name "Neil Peart" on the cover, please join me in saying "I was a little disappointed."
Rating:
Summary: Written for Neil and Neil only
Review: Very, very,touching at moments, impales his sadness on you, but take it for what it is, a stolen diary of a man's comeback from oblivion. I really felt his loss, but the sense that he did not request nor need nor apreciate,my simpaty made me feel detached from the story, like i was reading something never intended for me, but to be kept under a bed somewhere by the author. Either way artists are always crazy, and i feel happy for him and for his reconstructed soul.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Writing, Bad Letters
Review: Neil Peart is a great writer. He is capable of sustaining the coherence of his lyrical talent to book writing. Ghost Rider is an excellent book especially for people planning their great "once in a life time" road trips. Unfortunately, I found Peart's book began to drag unbearably when he allows his letters to Brutus and other friends take over the book. I almost stopped reading it. He also crams a lot of exciting happenings in a few pages at the end that I would have loved to have had expanded into their own chapters instead of reading repetative letters. Overall, the book is worth reading for Peart's numerous book recommendations.
Rating: 
Summary: Travels on the Self-Pitying Road
Review: I agree with what many have said: good at first, then boring, then good for a while, then- "What? The End? That's it?" I would have liked to hear more details about the months prior to marrying his new wife (when the actual "healing" took place). Within a few pages it literally went from "my life sucks, but it might get better some day" to " I've been married for a year and life is GREAT!". Although there was a gradual feeling of lightened spirits as the book went on (more humor and increasing enjoyment of events), the actual "healing" was barely documented; it was more like "Travels on the Self-Pitying Road .... then I got better." He left out part of the title: the HEALING!. Overall, he comes off as a self-pitying whiner asking, "why me?" Well Neil, I'm truely sorry about your luck, but you're not the first guy to lose two family members within a year, and you're not the last. And after a tragedy, the rest of us have to deal with going back to work and paying bills, not drifting around aimlessly on a BMW motorcycle. From what I gathered, the only reason his life is better is because he found a "replacement wife." He says in the book that she's the reason he got back with Rush and got his life back together. I also think he could have shaved 150 or 200 pages off the book. Endless letters to his friends discussing things that only they can relate to shared nothing about healing. After a while I was just like, "I don't care what you had for dinner. Get on with the story." To someone that has suffered loss, this book gives a feeling of someone saying, "I've been there too, and believe it or not, it can get better." It also shows that bad things happen to all of us; grief doesn't look at your checkbook or read the paper. But it didn't take 450+ pages to say that. As far as a self-help book? No. Nothing ground-breaking here. A look into the Mind of Neil Peart? Yes, but nothing that makes you sympathize for him. After reading what a self-absorbed jerk he can be, you almost want to say, "so smart guy, how's it feel to be like everyone else?" Overall, on a 1 to 10 scale I would give it a 4½.
Rating: 
Summary: Perfect Writing.
Review: This book was one that nearly left me in tears. It was both tearjerking and funny at the same time. It was beautifully written and left me sitting for 20 minutes pondering life. If a book can do that, you know it's good. You don't need to be a fan of Rush just to enjoy this book. It's about the fragility of life and how it is still good even through tragedy. I have never seen a book quite like this one and Mr. Peart has been very generous to share his thoughts with us. I notice that my respect for this man gows every day, even if just a little.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting external and internal journeys by Peart
Review: In addition to this book, I also recommend Neil Peart's first novel, "Mask Rider" along with the Rush cds "Test for Echo" and "Vapor Trails." I enjoyed Peart's first novel, "Masked Rider," but "Ghost Rider" is even more compelling. The man has lost his daughter and with withi a year of each other, and has embarked on a solo motorcycle trip across Canada to Alaska as part of the healing process. This book will appeal to travelers, motorcycle enthusiasts, Rush fans, those dealing with loss in their lives, and anyone interested in a fascinating journey. The story unfolds on journeys of several levels, as Mr. Peart attempts to piece together his life while traveling across North America. There are beautiful descriptions of nature, insights into locations visited, and travelogue details. Yet this story is deeper and more personal than just a travel account. We learn about Peart's family and friends. Along his route, he learns that his dog has died and best friend, Brutus, has gone to prison. We're right there with him when he crosses the arctic circle, when he dumps his bike on a bridge in Mexico, and when he's trying to get out of LA but can't resist turning around to go see a certain person. Peart lets us inside his head, and life, with details of his life as a drummer, lyricist, writer, bicyclist, motorcyclist, birder, art lover, and avid reader. The writing style includes prose narrative, letters to friends, and journal entries, as well as song excerpts appropriate to the writer's emotions at various stages of his journey. I learned what was important to this man, as he rediscovered little by little what he still liked about his life, such as bird watching, reading, etc. At times I was frustrated for him, but I cheered at his triumphs. Peart holds nothing back, exposing his deepest challenges, unafraid to bear his soul, and we experience an entire range of character arc. I know I'm enjoying travel essays when I get out a pencil and begin making stars in the margins by places the author visits that sound appealing to me. I made a lot of marks in this book. There were sidebars about personalities, such as Sam Hill and Jack London, that also merit further exploration. That's another thing I like, if the author makes me want to learn more about something he/she has mentioned. The narrative begins to drag a bit in part two, when the letters begin to overtake the prose and there is some repetition, but things pick up once the Ghost Rider hits the road again. I won't spoil the ending, but I recommend this book, especially to those who have purchased "Vapor Trails" and want to get a better understanding to the thoughts behind the songs.
Rating:
Summary: The Road Less Traveled
Review: Drummers and rock music fans know Neil Peart as the rhythmic and intellectual force behind the Canadian trio Rush. Few people outside these circles realize Peart is also a skilled prose writer; this is his second travel-based work, his first covering a cycling trip in West Africa in the mid-1980s. Ghost Rider, while definitely a travelogue, is a travel book of quite a different nature. Where most travel is undertaken as a leisure activity or in search of adventure, Peart's journey is one of work - in this case grief-work - and a search for peace. Within the span of ten months in 1997 and 1998, he suffered the loss of both his only child and his wife. Faced with a choice of withdrawal and possible self-destruction, Peart chooses instead to, "just keep moving;" he loads up his motorcycle and leaves his home in the Laurentien Mountains of Quebec. Along the way, he records his experiences, thoughts, feelings and correspondences in a highly interwoven fashion. Peart followers will recognize the same straightforward, uncompromising attitude his lyrics and drumming portray. It sometimes makes for difficult, uncomfortable reading, which will leave less sympathetic readers quite unhappy. However, if the reader makes the effort to put him or herself in Peart's place, or reflect on the pain of loss as part of a life lived fully, he or she may find some solace in the fact that there is beauty, even if there is no peace.
Rating:
Summary: Window on how someone deals with death in their own fashion
Review: Read the book and enjoyed it. Was it self pity ? Not really. Had deaths to deal with and as Neil mentions there are specific stages you go through. Would loved to have done what he did but, got bills to pay. Such is his lot in life and such is mine. Not all of us have the luxury of being able to take a year off but, he earned it. Really like the description of the travelling, what he saw and did. Interesting the focus on the food from place to place. Was important to Neil for some reason. Made notes of the authors he mentioned and will be reading some of those ones. In that respect got even more out of the book than I expected. Would like to have seen a list of all the books he read. Where did he keep them all ? Must have just left some behind. Would have been a really good candidate for http://www.....com/ I wish NEP well with his healing.
Rating:
Summary: An amazing book by Neil PeartÉ
Review: Ghost Rider is an excellent read and Peart, as always, writes astoundingly well (as a side note, on Rush's latest album, Vapor Trails, there is a song Ghost Rider that is just as moving, if not more, than the book; it is a nice supplement). He seems to dive into his personal life and thoughts more than he would normally care to share, and I respect that. It is beautifully written, and the read of his travels is very enjoyable. He gives his fans a chance to understand him a bit more, and this read is good for the soul, as we realize how lucky we, the "armchair travelers" (as Neil puts it) actually are.
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