Rating: 
Summary: Good but not Horwitz' best
Review: After reading all Hortwitz' books, I can say that his first is far from his best. Frankly, the Australian outback doesn't offer him enough to go on. It's a whole lotta nothing, although he does his best with what he has. The book would be helped by an amusing sidekick, or at least a more interesting part of the world to visit. That said, it's still a pretty good -- and short -- travelogue of Australia and its people.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Adventure/Coming of Age story
Review: Great book, fast and fun read. If you've read Horwitz's later books (Confederates in the Attic and Baghdad Without a Map), you can see his writing progressing from near greatness to greatness. This, as are all his books, is lucid, compelling, insightful and witty and just plain fun to read. A 27-year-old traversing the Australian outback is bound to be a hilarious experience. Indeed, it is. If you're looking for a great coming of age book and cultural experience, I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Young Horwitz
Review: Having greatly enjoyed "Confederates in the Attic" and "Blue Latitudes," as well as "Baghdad Without A Map", I am a Horwitz fan. This book, "One For The Road" was his first book, written as a 27 year old and about his hitchhiking journey across Australia. The book is thin and narrowly focused in comparison with Horwitz's later work, particularly "Confederates" and "Blue". While these books combine the road trip with the local history and background of related topics, "One for the Road" is all about the trip. The basics of the book can be summed up as follows: wait in the hot sun for a ride, get picked up by an Aussie (transplant or Aborigine), drive with the Aussie as they consume tinnies of beer as fast as they can pour it down their gullets, get off at the first pub in the next town to drink, find a place to sleep (often the dirt beside the road). Repeat 57 times as you wind your way around the continent. While Horwitz's wit and descriptive skills are evident, this is a drinking and travel book. The people he meets are all pretty much cut out of the same cloth. Part of the problem is that he often travels to two or three places in each day, leaving little time to reflect or penetrate the continent beyond the confines of the nearest roadside tavern. There are exceptions. He writes well of Ayer's Rock and the Aborigines who live in it's shadow. A day spent on a lobster boat in rough seas is also a diversion for both author and reader. His attempt to find one Jewish person in Broom with whom to share Passover introduces a few Australians whose existence can be described more broadly than by the number of beers they can quaff. But for the most part, this book plods on as relentlessly as the roads over which he travels. Bill Bryson's journey book of Australia is a much better read, with more varied characters and much more of Australia's interesting history and peccadilloes. This is not a bad book, but I am glad I read Horwitz's latter books first before trying this.
Rating:
Summary: Young Horwitz
Review: Having greatly enjoyed "Confederates in the Attic" and "Blue Latitudes," as well as "Baghdad Without A Map", I am a Horwitz fan. This book, "One For The Road" was his first book, written as a 27 year old and about his hitchhiking journey across Australia. The book is thin and narrowly focused in comparison with Horwitz's later work, particularly "Confederates" and "Blue". While these books combine the road trip with the local history and background of related topics, "One for the Road" is all about the trip. The basics of the book can be summed up as follows: wait in the hot sun for a ride, get picked up by an Aussie (transplant or Aborigine), drive with the Aussie as they consume tinnies of beer as fast as they can pour it down their gullets, get off at the first pub in the next town to drink, find a place to sleep (often the dirt beside the road). Repeat 57 times as you wind your way around the continent. While Horwitz's wit and descriptive skills are evident, this is a drinking and travel book. The people he meets are all pretty much cut out of the same cloth. Part of the problem is that he often travels to two or three places in each day, leaving little time to reflect or penetrate the continent beyond the confines of the nearest roadside tavern. There are exceptions. He writes well of Ayer's Rock and the Aborigines who live in it's shadow. A day spent on a lobster boat in rough seas is also a diversion for both author and reader. His attempt to find one Jewish person in Broom with whom to share Passover introduces a few Australians whose existence can be described more broadly than by the number of beers they can quaff. But for the most part, this book plods on as relentlessly as the roads over which he travels. Bill Bryson's journey book of Australia is a much better read, with more varied characters and much more of Australia's interesting history and peccadilloes. This is not a bad book, but I am glad I read Horwitz's latter books first before trying this.
Rating:
Summary: Seen better on the subject
Review: I agree with some of the other reviewers regarding Horwitz's other works. He has certainly served up much better fare with his other works. The story is very formulaic and lacks the cooky characters you'd think you might encounter on a journey like this. Don't get me wrong, there are a few odd and interesting people we meet here and there, but much of the book feels rushed. Get picked up, drive X amount of miles, get dropped off, wait in the sun, till get picked up and repeat cycle. There are some classic Horwitz one liners and oberservations but I'm not sure it warrants reading this book. He has a car accident in the middle of his journey, ironically as he's driving himself not hitchhiking, and I wonder if this affected the whole story arc. That's what was lacking here; a sort of purpose to the whole thing. "Confederates in the Attic" for instance is a brilliant mix of history and social studies. They are both handled in A+ fashion. With "One for the Road," there is some history and even less social study. The history that is discussed is handled quite well as I learned many things. The whole CIA/Alice Springs connection is very interesting. The description of the towns and various climates, terrain, and settings he comes across is also handled very well. It is probably the best feature of the book. But, the one thing missing is the people. His interaction with people was not written about very well and in many cases felt forced (i.e. hunting down another Jew so he could celebrate Passover). Simply put, nothing really interesting happens. It's okay Tony, I forgive you. You've gotten to be a much better writer : )
Rating:
Summary: Seen better on the subject
Review: I agree with some of the other reviewers regarding Horwitz's other works. He has certainly served up much better fare with his other works. The story is very formulaic and lacks the cooky characters you'd think you might encounter on a journey like this. Don't get me wrong, there are a few odd and interesting people we meet here and there, but much of the book feels rushed. Get picked up, drive X amount of miles, get dropped off, wait in the sun, till get picked up and repeat cycle. There are some classic Horwitz one liners and oberservations but I'm not sure it warrants reading this book. He has a car accident in the middle of his journey, ironically as he's driving himself not hitchhiking, and I wonder if this affected the whole story arc. That's what was lacking here; a sort of purpose to the whole thing. "Confederates in the Attic" for instance is a brilliant mix of history and social studies. They are both handled in A+ fashion. With "One for the Road," there is some history and even less social study. The history that is discussed is handled quite well as I learned many things. The whole CIA/Alice Springs connection is very interesting. The description of the towns and various climates, terrain, and settings he comes across is also handled very well. It is probably the best feature of the book. But, the one thing missing is the people. His interaction with people was not written about very well and in many cases felt forced (i.e. hunting down another Jew so he could celebrate Passover). Simply put, nothing really interesting happens. It's okay Tony, I forgive you. You've gotten to be a much better writer : )
Rating:
Summary: on the road again with Horwitz
Review: No book by Horwitz can be categorized easily. Rather than a "travel" book, it reads more like an existential narrative in which the author immerses himself in the Australian outback and studies the persons he encounters as well as the places. In the process, he seems to take a journey inward, and discovers some things about himself. I learned some about the outback from this book; Horwitz addresses racial tensions (though without the depth of understanding that he later shows in "Confederates"). He is terrifically funny, with just a thin edge of cynicism. To me, however, this book's real draw is what it teaches about humans who choose to live in the "bush", i.e., far from civilization. Those who do so often gravitate to one of two extremes. Either they become gregarious and extroverted (read: constantly ready and able to tell fabulous whoppers in which they are cast in the starring role), or they eventually see interaction with other humans a frightful chore (read: a thousand yard stare in a ten foot room). The characters vignetted by Horwitz portray this accurately, as I daily see the same two extremes, living in "bush" Alaska for 7 years. It's just colder here. Read this book if you're interested in people who choose to live outside the lines. I recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: Funny and lucid travel writing
Review: The author, an American ex-pat living and working as a newspaper reporter in Australia, gets the wanderlust and decides to hitch around Australia. He circumnavigates the continent, nearly, and travels deep into the Northern Territory and South Australia. (He wisely avoids the utter emptiness of Western Australia.) He meets a variety of Australians: truckies, anti-environmental loggers and tourists, racists, Aborigines in beat-up "utes" (utility vehicles, like pickup trucks), and professional wanderers. He hunkers down in a ditch during a cyclone, wonders at the oddities of Australian cartography ("rivers" and "lakes" are plentiful in name, but dry as dust in reality), and watches as his chauffeurs down dozens of beers per hour. It seems that the Outback, for all its barren aridity, is dotted with pubs. Horwitz is an excellent writer. He descibes the heat and the flies with great detail, finds poingnacy in meeting one of the only other Jews in Broome at Passover, and draws humor from the most aggrieving situations, such as the publican who hates serving food or letting rooms. This book is a page-turner, but more than that, it introduces a great part of Australian culture with wit and skill. Great reading.
Rating:
Summary: Funny and lucid travel writing
Review: The author, an American ex-pat living and working as a newspaper reporter in Australia, gets the wanderlust and decides to hitch around Australia. He circumnavigates the continent, nearly, and travels deep into the Northern Territory and South Australia. (He wisely avoids the utter emptiness of Western Australia.) He meets a variety of Australians: truckies, anti-environmental loggers and tourists, racists, Aborigines in beat-up "utes" (utility vehicles, like pickup trucks), and professional wanderers. He hunkers down in a ditch during a cyclone, wonders at the oddities of Australian cartography ("rivers" and "lakes" are plentiful in name, but dry as dust in reality), and watches as his chauffeurs down dozens of beers per hour. It seems that the Outback, for all its barren aridity, is dotted with pubs. Horwitz is an excellent writer. He descibes the heat and the flies with great detail, finds poingnacy in meeting one of the only other Jews in Broome at Passover, and draws humor from the most aggrieving situations, such as the publican who hates serving food or letting rooms. This book is a page-turner, but more than that, it introduces a great part of Australian culture with wit and skill. Great reading.
Rating:
Summary: Find out what Australia is about
Review: The best kind of book - a non-fiction page turner. Horwitz writes about his slow grinding hitchhiking tour through the expanse and heat of the Australian outback. He does so with constant wit and determined irreverance. It is just plain fun to be along for the ride. But I don't think his only purpose is entertain us. I think he also wants to show us the character of the Australian people. He succeeds. We discover a tough, independent, hard drinking, hard fighting, and hard laughing people. He tells his stories so well that we are left changed. We are left with a fresh new look at the what Australia is about. Read this book. You'll look forward to every new page and when you are done, you are left a little changed. What more could you want in a book?
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