Gave it 100 pages and just couldn't force myself to go further. Any comparison to Bill Bryson is vastly overstating the entertainment-factor of this book. ( )

I gave up on this book about a third of the way in. Went back to it and finished. The second half of the book is much more compelling reading - perhaps because of the trials Buck and his brother experience in crossing the Rockies. Buck is a beautiful craftsman but has a real problem with women. For example, the two women who were allowed to join the trip for a week or so are reduced to stereotypes - "typical long legged blond" or 'skinny blond". Buck values their contribution to the trail as how they cleaned the cooking equipment. ( )

A retelling of both the history of the Oregon Trail as well as the author and his brother's trip across it in 2011. More memoir than I expected, which I did not like for the majority of the book - but the last few chapters pay off the personal story and it becomes a genuinely moving tale of making peace with one's family history and simply enjoying life as it comes, not worrying about the details and the day to day. Wonderfully descriptive language written in a very conversational way. Would've been a 3.5 if not for how well it wrapped up. ( )

He, his brother, and a dog named Olive Oil, travel the Oregon Trail in a covered wagon pulled by mules. I learned a lot about history, and about mules in this charming book. ( )

Rinker Buck and his brother Nick buy 3 mules and an authentic wagon and travel from Missouri to Oregon. Mr. Buck intersperses excellent history expositions with the narrative of the trip. I knew little of this history. (Several times Mr. Buck points out the difference between what actually happened and the sanitized compressed history we hear all the time). I found all of these historical interludes interesting but the section on mules, and George Washington and mules to be fascinating. My contact with mules has been limited to falling off one when I was a kid visiting my great aunt's farm. I'm surprised when I read other LT readers not caring about the mules! Wow. They were the best part of the book. That, and Rinker being the kind of guy who would take a bathrobe on a camping trip!

Mr. Buck writes in a conversational style that would be easy for a kid to understand but which is suitable for adults too. He pokes fun at himself as a truly fussy old bird, and writes lovingly of his larger-than-life brother.

This would be an excellent book to carry on a family vacation, especially a family car trip out west. It could be passed around for individual reading or even read out loud in the car. ( )