Rating: 
Summary: How could they not like it
Review: First of all, the read is wonderful. This is not a book that you have to read for class, it is not a story, it is more like a small annotation of an autobiography. Here we get to see what it is like to be one of the greatest American Writers of the Twentieth Century. Alone in his thoughts, it is not a drawn out - chronological book on his life. It is almost a journal, but written in a style that makes you feel like a close and personal friend.It is not only a look at America, it takes you inside yourself. It inspires you to take a deeper look inside of you and the life that goes on around you. I give this book the highest rating, please treat yourself and read this one!
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Summary: the book that many of us dream of writing
Review: As with many of the readers listed here, this is my favorite Steinbeck story. I had this book with me when I moved from Michigan to Arizona(and back),thinking I was making a feeble attempt and his story. Any American with a car and a wanderlust should read this, on the road of course! It was hard not to feel envious of the author during this tale of route '66-ing.
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Summary: It is one of Steinbeck's less famous books.
Review: Travels with Charley provides a glimpse of 1960s America. Steinbeck with his poodle Charley started from his home in New York, drove to Maine, went westward to the Pacific Northwest and his birth state of California, and returned to New York via Texas and the Deep South. His goal was to rediscover America, which had undergone considerable changes since he first traversed across the continent twenty-five years earlier. Throughout the journey, Steinbeck provided his opinions on people he met and places he visited. Steinbeck noted several transformations about his country and countrymen. Foremost is the extensive urbanization and spread of suburbia. Although Steinbeck drove mostly on back streets to view the scenery and encounter more people, when he drove on highways there were considerably more commercial traffic than twenty-five years before. Steinbeck also noticed that the population had increased and that more Americans were moving from the inner cities to the surrounding countryside. In his birth town of Salinas, California what were once vast fields became populated with houses. Steinbeck also recorded an inner urge to travel. Even before he left New York, people told him of their desire to accompany him. Throughout his journey, he frequently encountered this reaction. He attributed this restlessness to the nation's vast expanse and the increasing availability of automobiles and mobile homes. If a person loses his job or if there is a better job elsewhere, he can move his family to a new location. Sectionalism isn't a strong force in twentieth century America. Steinbeck, like Turner, believed that the desire to move sets Americans apart from Europeans. The positive aspect of sectionalism had also diminished. The celebrated author incognito noticed that American speech had become more uniform. There were fewer places where people speak with accents, and even the Deep South had begun to lose its southern drawl. Steinbeck attributed this standardization of American speech to the effects of television and radio. Travels with Charley, in conclusion, is food for thought. At times humorous and serious, it is a record of the thoughts and lives of ordinary Americans. Although every American is distinct, nevertheless it did not deter Steinbeck from searching for the American character.
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Summary: A Treasure To Revisit Often
Review: A treasure of a book to read again and again. You'll laugh out loud every time (if you have a dog, you MUST read this!). It's amazing how much a man can see and learn about himself and his surroundings if he keeps his eyes and ears open. Better yet if he can write like Steinbeck. On my top 10 list of all-time favorites. A great gift to new Americans.
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Summary: A fine performance
Review: "Travels With Charley" is wonderful to read, as is testified to by other reviewers, but having it read to me by Gary Sinise, a serious actor who loves Steinbeck and reads accordingly, elevates the experience. Steinbeck's values are reflected in his portraits and anecdotes, and the book generates wanderlust, if you're ready or not.
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Summary: Excellent book
Review: I've always been a Steinbeck fan, but had never read this book until just now. I picked it up a few weeks ago, and started reading. I almost feel I know Steinbeck personally now. I would definantly reccomend it to anyone.
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Summary: One of the best books on discovering America
Review: John Steinbeck left from my hometown, Sag Harbor, in September 1960 shortly after the big hurricane, I remember. I lived three blocks from him and saw him around town alot. This is probably my favorite book of all time. I too, yearn to go on such a journey someday to rediscover America. Have reread the book at least 50 times since it was published in 1962!
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Summary: Steinbeck's Bittersweet Journey
Review: I began John Steinbeck's "Travels With Charley" with great interest and expectation. It struck me as interesting that the author made this journey, at least partly, over concern that he had written himself out. Indeed, he compares his journey to Don Quiote tilting at windmills. If anything, this book proves that idea wrong. However, this is a bittersweet journey for Mr. Steinbeck, perhaps epitomized by "You can't go home again." He seems to be a little disconcerted from the start. He had traveled a great deal in Europe and now found how much American had changed; Steinbeck found himself ill at ease with what he found, as we all would when change erases what we grew up with. This book gives us a close one-on-one relationship with the author in this book, since he is directly addressing the reader with his thoughts. I must confess at being a little at odds with some of his atitudes. This came most strongly with his encounter with two coyotes. He wants to shoot them both, but stops himself and lets them go. To him they are varmints, something to be exterminated, and this knee-jerk reaction is reactionary rather than a more thoughtful encounter with two fellow creatures that inhabit this earth. Over the years, coyotes have been, and still are, mercilessly hunted. I disagree with Steinbeck in that coyotes have the same right to exist as we do, and humans are, in truth, more trouble than we are worth. The bittersweet quality is most apparent when Mr. Steinbeck returns to Monterey, the setting of so many of his books, and when meeting his friends he finds things have changed too much. Charley, also, gives him reason to worry with urinary problems that eventually do get cured. The book is most interesting when Mr. Steinbeck is among people he does not know and asks them questions about themselves and their lives. So, I find this an interesting book that raises many issues about what America was and is today, and is important to understanding John Steinbeck as he grew old. I was never so thrilled when I saw Rocinante, the truck he drove on this journey, at the National Steinbeck Center. One almost expected to see the author seated in the cabin slotted in the bed of the truck. This is a journey I highly recommend.
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Summary: It's not the best book I've read, but it wasn't that bad!
Review: At first I thought this book was a snooze and couldn't wait to finish it. It seemed like he went into every single detail he could have possibly done, but when I got towards the end of the book, my whole view of this book changed at New Orleans, and it turned out to be a wonderful book. It was so interesting and believe it or not, I couldn't put it down! John Steinbeck is a wonderful author, and I wouldn't miss this book.
Rating: 
Summary: This book deserves less than one star
Review: This is the most boring book I have ever read in my entire life, and I have read quite a few books. How Steinbeck could say soooooooo much about soooooooo little makes my head hurt. It is very good if you are an insomniac, though.
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