Pilgrimage: Tales from the Open Road - Softcover

Patrick Pfister was born in Detroit and lives in San Francisco and Barcelona. He travels the world, writing essays about his experiences.

Spurred by restlessness, the young American Pfister traveled close to the ground in such places as Germany, Morocco, the Himalayas and his home country, compiling some well-told if disconnected anecdotes. In Malaysia, he fights an epic battle of "face" with a hotel proprietor; hitchhiking through the Mojave desert, he's picked up by a madly proud Marine; lounging in a Costa Brava village, he's embroiled in a world of expat Brits. Occasionally, Pfister's travels lead to insights, as when he observes of a cafe tableau that "If Greece is anything it is theater" or belatedly recognizes, after negotiating a stream of hustlers in Morocco, that his final guide was a genuine friend. But Pfister tells us too little about himself (Who is he?) and the cumulative meaning of his journeys to elevate this book to a memorable traveler's tale.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.