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Old Glory : A Voyage Down the Mississippi Paperback – May 26, 1998

by Jonathan Raban (Author)
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 152 ratings
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The bestselling, award-winning author of Bad Land realizes a lifelong dream as he navigates the waters of the Mississippi River in a sixteen-foot motorboat, producing yet another masterpiece of contemporary American travel writing. 

"Stunning." —The New York Times Book Review

In the course of his voyage, Raban records the mercurial caprices of the river and the astonishingly varied lives of the people who live along its banks.  Whether he is fishing for walleye or hunting coon, discussing theology in Prairie Du Chien or race relations in Memphis, he is an expert observer of the heartyland's estrangement from America's capitals ot power and culture, and its helpless nostalgia for its lost past.  Witty, elegaic, and magnificently erudite, Old Glory is as filled with strong currents as the Mississippi itself.
Previous page
  1. Print length
    416 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Vintage
  4. Publication date
    May 26, 1998
  5. Dimensions
    5.24 x 0.93 x 7.96 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0375701001
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0375701009
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"It is as big and depthless as the sky itself. You can see the curve of the earth on its surface as it stretches away for miles to the far shore." So begins Old Glory, in which Jonathan Raban recounts his eye-opening descent of the Mississippi River in a 16-foot aluminum motorboat. As the English author explains, his obsession with the subject began with Huckleberry Finn, which he first read as a 7-year-old. And in fact, his opening sentences refer as much to the imaginary river as to the real one, which turns out to be less bucolic than Raban expected. Three miles upstream from Oquawka, Illinois, he's nearly pulverized by a towboat. Later on, the intrepid voyager only just manages to escape a treacherous whirlpool near St. Louis, calming himself afterwards with a generous dose of tobacco and Valium.

True, when Raban isn't cheating death he encounters some stunning terrain, which he describes in no-less-stunning prose. Yet Old Glory is much, much more than a travelogue. It is also a brilliant interrogation of the American psyche, in the tradition of De Tocqueville and Crevecoeur. And ultimately, Raban tells us a great deal about the very phenomenon of travel, with all its rigors and rewards, and its peculiar, metaphysical dislocations: "Riding the river, I had seen myself as a sincere traveler, thinking of my voyage not as a holiday but as a scale model of a life. It was different from life in one essential: I would survive it to give an account of its end."

Review

"Stunning...more successful than 99 percent of the books about America since de Tocqueville." —The New York Times Book Review

"He can skewer life in an anecdote and evoke a river scene in a few brushstrokes." —The Nation
 
"Wonderful…Mr. Raban…is excellent company. He is a popcorn-popper of opinions, and they are unpredictable." —The New York Times Book Review
 
"Throughout his epic journey he struggles to reconcile the real, treacherous, protean river with the shimmering dream-waters of his boyhood. This is what gives his book its remarkable power, elevating it close to the level of myth." —Salman Rushdie

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Vintage; Reprint edition (May 26, 1998)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 416 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0375701001
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0375701009
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.4 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.24 x 0.93 x 7.96 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 152 ratings

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Jonathan Raban

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Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
152 global ratings
Agonizingly negative
2 Stars
Agonizingly negative
A few chapters in...and so far it is, as others indicate, agonizingly negative. Life is short, don't waste it looking at a glass that's never seen a drop. Steer clear and give this one a wide berth.
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Top reviews from the United States

Fire Boy
5.0 out of 5 stars A moody, swilling Englishman musing on a moody river
Reviewed in the United States on September 26, 2015
Verified Purchase
The vision and the voyage of the author intrigued me geographically and culturally. Written by an unhappy man and who, unfortunately, seeks out and illuminates the darker sides of other unhappy people to focus upon their bigoted worldviews. The writing was interesting as his consistency in viewing peoples' darker sides indicated an undercurrent of American xenophobia most likely amplified by his own fears of being an alien in America.

I believe, he now lives in Seattle. The weather should perfectly fit his mood.

I am currently reading "Hunting Mr. Heartbreak," by Raban (you really should read this one). That would be my fifth book that he has written. He may be an alien, but he is a most reflective writer that describes personal and American issues with insight, humor and unabashed candor.
6 people found this helpful
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Heartland
4.0 out of 5 stars Good book..But....
Reviewed in the United States on July 25, 2013
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I enjoyed this book a lot. I am a midwesterner and have always liked river towns and this book takes you there. Also, I know some of this country first hand...the northern portions especially. And this book takes you there and one feels that one is on the river with him... and learning much about it all the way.

However, the book is almost spoiled by the author's very-English and bitterly anti-American mentality. He seems obsessed with portraying Americans as racist. (Would he point out tribal flaws of the English or other peoples?) Perhaps the real problem is that he does not seem to be the happiest person.
5 people found this helpful
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John Williams
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book!
Reviewed in the United States on July 26, 2013
Verified Purchase
This book, written in 1979, is a great narative of a trip down the Mississippi River in a 16 foot boat. I have read most of Raban's books and find his curiosity and ability to get people to open up to him amazing. I read this 1979 tour alongside the 2010 guide, 'Great River Road' and compared the stops along the way with the 30-year gap, although Raban's descriptions were much more detailed. A great read!
One person found this helpful
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Sara Castelli
5.0 out of 5 stars A fabulous read!!!!!!!
Reviewed in the United States on September 24, 1998
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This book is simply wonderful....it speaks to that part of us that wants an adventure and for what ever reason, we don't do it. As Raban said in the book, the first thing people said was "you're crazy" and the next thing they said "I envy you". How true. This is a new way of looking at our Americanism.....the trip down the river is spell binding....all the more so because the boat is not what you would have expected....16 feet and a 15hp motor!!!!! How daring. I enjoyed every stop along the way and at times surely felt "better you than me!" Armchair traveler or real time adventurer, I'd recommend this book highly as a keeper.
5 people found this helpful
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dave.lima
4.0 out of 5 stars Old Glory: A voyage down the Mississipppi
Reviewed in the United States on November 10, 2012
Verified Purchase
In 1979, at the age of 37, Jonahan Raban realised a boyhood dream, inspired by reading 'Hucklebery Finn', of traveling alone by small boat down the Mississippi. 'Old Glory' is the story of that voyage, but on another level, it is a series of snapshots of the American South as it emerged from racial segregation. Like Paul Theroux, Raban is a master at evoking lndscapes and places. There are also many characers in the book, presumably real people, and if I have a criticism, it is that at times the book reads like a novel; I felt that the boundary between reporting and fiction (or reconstructed memory) became blurred in a few passages.

Raban has a sure touch with language and anyone who likes good travel writing will enjoy this book, and others by the same author.
4 people found this helpful
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Old TJD
5.0 out of 5 stars He is wise, smart, but never really lost being a kid
Reviewed in the United States on April 16, 2019
Verified Purchase
Typical Rabat. Personal, knowledgeable and a great travel raconteur. I think I liked Passage to Juneau better both both very good
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Great adventure on the Mississippi.
Reviewed in the United States on September 9, 2019
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I loved this story, and savored every chapter.
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Top reviews from other countries

Nick S
5.0 out of 5 stars Inspirational
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 19, 2023
Verified Purchase
Raban made the voyage back in 1980, as a novice boatman and a relative novice to America. I guess a lot may have changed along the river and to the country since then, certainly by ten years afterwards he had relocated to Seattle, where he died earlier this year.
As an inland boating person (in France) I found the descriptions of life and passages on the waterway very familiar, creating an inspirational travel narrative. Raban doesn't write conventional travel books, nor history, and what he writes is beautifully written and deeply personal. This is a really good read!
One person found this helpful
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Mrs. V. J. Charles
4.0 out of 5 stars Very good
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 28, 2018
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I liked it, very good read.
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Mrs. K. M. Hunt
5.0 out of 5 stars A new look at a mighty river
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 15, 2013
Verified Purchase
This author was completely new to me. I was directed to the book after expressing an interest in the Mississippi.

I love it! It combines a fascinating subject - the mighty Mississippi River - with the story of a modern journey down the River from Minneapolis to New Orleans, from the pen of a delightfully witty and observant author.

The description early on in the book, (when the author is still on his 'learning curve' of navigation in a small boat), when he inadvertently enters a Lock whilst the red light is still on, is hilarious. There is a vivid account of the irate lock-keeper hurling choice epithets at the hapless navigator, who tries to respond, but can only gibber in fright.

The book combines sparkling and vivid anecdotes of the people he encounters on his journey with a lively account of the vicissitudes and adventures of travelling on the unpredictable River itself, and descriptions of the riverside towns and scenery that he passes on the way.

He points up the differences between the people he meets "on the beach" (that is, the shore dwellers, who are sometimes almost indifferent to the mighty river beside which they live), and the Mississippi professionals - the tow-boat Captains and fishermen who spend their working life upon it.

Is there anything left of the old pioneering spirit in the small American towns he passes along the way?

The River itself presents a continuous challenge with its constantly changing moods and unpredictability.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book as a lively and interesting account of a personal journey.
4 people found this helpful
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Dataden
5.0 out of 5 stars Glorious Journey
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 6, 2015
Verified Purchase
I enjoyed this book immensely. It is a record of the author's journey down the Mississippi river in a small boat to fulfil a childhood dream inspired by Hucklebery Finn. However it is not just a travelogue: it gives wonderful descriptions of the river and its topography, interspersed with essays on the towns he visits and people he meets; with asides about the history, economics and religion of the areas. But this is not a dry recitation of the facts - the information comes with a wry humerous commentary. The book reads more like a novel as Raban puts himself right in the middle of the narrative, disconcertingly frank and honest and personal, but the affect is to bring the reader on the journey to experience it first hand. One caveat is that the book was written in the late sixties early seventies so the contemporary references to personalities and events my not chime with anyone under 50, but this shouldn't detract from the narrative. This was a re-visit for me as I had fond memories of it being read on the radio in the seventies and I was definitely not dissapointed
One person found this helpful
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Gillian Fantazi
5.0 out of 5 stars Very wet!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 7, 2015
Verified Purchase
One of the very best books I've ever read. Raban writes superbly and to write about a river and its people along the way is indeed a feat. The book is 528 pages and everyone of them is a delight. Pity about the dreadful cover design though, and horrible cheap looking photo copied maps in the front. Please get this book it's wonderfully written by a master wordsmith.
3 people found this helpful
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