Trucking Through Timeby Charles E. Harris
(My Silly) Blurb:
In the middle of what they believe will be just another job hauling cargo, trucking duo Chad and Dale end up having the adventure of a lifetime. This isn't a simple trip across the country: Chad and Dale are... trucking through time!
My Reaction:
Wow. Another great selection by the 372 Pages We'll Never Get Back podcast book club. (As always, this was a shared read-aloud with Donald.)
In the immortal words of Dale Rhea (*ahem*), this is indeed a stirring tale of "mystery, drama, excitement, compassion, horror, and romance along with many, many other words that could never explain the trip [they] took"!
Truly.
Look, there's no way I can fully explain this book. Just know that it's bizarre and unintentionally hilarious, but there are also some sections that are boring and/or repetitious. (Fellow podcast-listeners, by no means is this a 64-Squares situation, though! Rest assured on that count!) Harris had a tendency towards preachiness on his pet subjects, too, and there will be times when you'll shift uncomfortably in your seat and reflect that sometimes a book reveals a bit too much about its author...
The humor (again, completely unintentional) is wonderful, but the writing is bad (thus my rating). If you're going to read it, I recommend giving the 372-Pages podcast a listen.
(However, I must say I'm surprised that Mike and Conor didn't notice/mention the fact that Harris obviously "borrowed" his idea of the white girl adopted by Indians from Dances with Wolves, which incidentally was also about the Sioux and had a character-- the titular wolf-- named "Two Socks", which Harris one-upped with his own richly-developed character named "Three Socks"!)
One final note: I can't help but wonder who designed the cover art. I can't find any credit for it. Did Harris create it himself?
