Bowling Across America: 50 States in Rented Shoes
By Mike Walsh
3.5/5
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About this ebook
Bowling Across America is the story of the author's unique road trip across America with a single-minded purpose: to bowl a round in each of the 50 states.
Inspired by his father's unexpected passing, Mike Walsh, a 27 year-old Chicago advertising executive, quits his job to embark on a one-of-a-kind quest. The destination: bowling alleys in each of the 50 states. Though dubbed "career suicide" by colleagues, the endeavor soon touches a nerve among many people--from frustrated middle managers to radio talk show hosts to a woman who merely identifies herself as "Bowling Spice" in an innuendo-laden email.
Conversations and adventures with the people he finds in bowling alleys at all hours of the day and night--retired Maine lobstermen, saucy European nannies, recovering addicts, former bowling champions, college students, World War II vets and lingerie saleswomen, to name a few--combine to form a picture of what America looks like while standing in a pair of rented shoes.
Hilarious, insightful and at times moving, Bowling Across America is an epic journey that will enthrall readers everywhere.
Mike Walsh
MIKE WALSH is one of the world’s leading authorities on the geographic nuances of rented footwear. A graduate of Miami University, he grew up in a family of six children in Upper Arlington, Ohio. He and his wife Amy reside in Chicago within walking distance of four bowling alleys. He is the author of Bowling Across America.
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Reviews for Bowling Across America
8 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Finally picked this up again after reading the first few pages after the book release party. Which was held at a bowling alley, of course.It hasn't bowled me over yet (*ahem*). But I feel obligated to finish it, since the author is the husband of a friend of a friend.LATER: I give up. I got through the introduction and the beginning of his cross-country trip, but I'm not engaged. He's approaching his trip -- which in theory is a memorial to his father -- as a marketing event: press releases, interviews by Eric & Kathy (hideously annoying radio hosts), flashbacks to his days as a driver of the Oscar Mayer wienermobile... no thanks.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5It took a month to read this, not because it wasn't good, but because I had to set it down due to life. A fun, light and quick read despite the circumstances of Walsh's trip.I'd love to visit all 50 states - let alone have something to do in each of those states. It was great to see how Walsh changed, or rather how he didn't throughout his trip. Some of his first bowling alleys could well have been his last and vice versa. Bowling in Alaska and Hawaii in the same day reminded me of my trip to Hawaii where I arrived before I left - vagaries of travel indeed.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5An enjoyable and amusing book about the author's road trip to bowl in all 50 states, inspired by his recently-deceased father's goal to play handball in all 50 states. Written in a very funny, conversational style, we tag along on visits to bowling alleys ranging from a classy Manhattan one with a $20 cover charge and a bouncer, to dark, smoky dumps in seedy neighborhoods. At each alley, we are introduced to the characters who work there, and the colorful patrons Walsh engages in conversation. En route, he stays with just about any acquaintance who can provide him with a bed (or floor) for the night, from former bosses and classmates to friends of friends. His hosts for the night can be as quirky as the bowlers he meets, and plenty of partying and beer consumption occur. Walsh quit his job as an advertising executive to take this trip and write about it, and I hope that he has found a new calling as an author--it would be a shame not to read more from him.