Description
In May, 2001, Chris Benjamin hitchhiked across Canada and volunteered on organic farms in British Columbia. He was in search of a good home, love and community, and perhaps a source of income to pay off his student loans.
In Northern Ontario, Benjamin writes, “Big Al was my first encounter with what turned out to be a hitchhiking trope, the kind and generous – to his own kind at least – racist.” The trope got worse after September 11, which happened as Benjamin was leaving Prince Rupert, BC, hitching south toward the USA.
This memoir is based on the detailed journals he kept at that time, hitching and Greyhounding his way across Canada and the USA, winding up in the Louisiana State Penitentiary. The journals consisted mainly of what people said to him: those who picked him up and the bus riders he encountered — including soldiers and kids fresh from jail.
Travelling in post 9/11 United States, the author tried not to succumb to the anger of those who wished for a vengeful global comeuppance. Throughout his journey, our shy young narrator falls in and out of love with place and soul, remaining ever-watchful for signs of a peaceful pocket to call home.
What he finds instead is an unexpected sort of homecoming, and surprising joy in a sense of purpose. He writes of the oddities of organic food production, walking through the grotesque aftermath of a massive clear-cut forest, and drop-ins at artist hippie communes. Chasing Paradise is both an engrossing road memoir and a treatise from the generation stuck somewhere between corporate greed and hippie disillusionment.
Customer Review –
Amazing book! Written more than 65 years ago, Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road” remains the gold standard of the road trip genre. But enter Benjamin’s “Chasing Paradise” which masterfully meets the bar set by Kerouac – thoughtful, entertaining, humorous, insightful, engaging.
Eschewing so many of the pitfalls of road trip stories, Benjamin balances a young man’s search for place in the wider world with a complex handling of the many contradictions of that very world.
Some highlights:
– When he summarizes the day’s headlines, for those of us who remember those same news stories, he is inviting us into the journey with him. It also sets up that each moment exists within the larger moments.
– Over and again he is disciplined in withholding judgment and contempt, even when faced with some of the most outrageous people. But this never comes off as cowardice but instead challenges the reader to wonder how s/he/they would handle the same situation and what they think about what’s shared.
– The encounters with people and the circumstances of his journey remind the reader of the diversity and wonder of the wider world but without feeling like it’s inaccessible or available only to the wealthy and privileged. You can go with so little and learn so much.
I highly recommend this book to anyone, everyone.
Customer Review –
Feels like you’re on the road with him! Absolutely fabulous read! You feel the push and pull of every fleeting conversation/relationship as he hitchhikes all over North America. The unease as he is grateful for the ride but is listening to someone’s abhorrent racist views. So amazing!