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Bowling Across America: 50 States in Rented Shoes
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About Bowling Across America: 50 States In Rented Shoes
Product Description 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. From Publishers Weekly After Walsh's father dies in the middle of a handball game, the young advertising executive quits his job to follow a variant on one of the old man's dreams by bowling at least once in all 50 states. (Walsh tried to add the District of Columbia to the list, but the White House wasn't keen on letting him roll in its basement lanes.) Walsh's story has a string of amusing moments—he loses a game against a blind man, has failed romantic encounters in three different states and almost misses his last game because of a stubborn car rental clerk—but lacks dramatic tension. From the moment he sets out in the car his mother lends him, Walsh's ability to complete his mission is never in doubt; as soon as he mentions the possibility of a sponsorship from a beer company, readers can safely assume he'll close the deal—which simply means he spends most of the trip drinking their beer. It's a clever enough story, but apart from some self-deprecating quips about how women (like his ex-girlfriend) don't really go for unemployed nomads, readers looking for a transformative life lesson will have to look elsewhere. (Oct. 30) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Booklist When his father died, the author, an advertising executive, made a decision that, on its surface, seems, well . . . foolish. His father, you see, always had this dream of playing handball in all 50 states, and Walsh wanted to honor the man by embarking on his own quest, to bowl his way from one state to another. So he quit his job, borrowed his mother’s car, and set out on the road, full of enthusiasm but lacking any real idea of how he was going to support himself. This very entertaining book tells two stories, both of them about the same man: the story of an adventurous guy who just wants to have some fun, and the story of a tireless self-promoter who talks his way onto radio and television shows, newspaper interviews, and major-league sponsorships. Along the way he meets a variety of people, each of whom offers a distinctive slice of life, and (of course) he discovers a few surprising things about himself. Charming, funny, and sometimes heartwarming. --David Pitt About the Author 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. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. BOWLING ACROSS AMERICA Reserving the Lanes SCRAWLED in the margins of a yellow legal pad on which I am ostensibly taking notes is a list of states, and next to each the name of someone who lives there and might have a guest room or couch where I could spend the night. "VT--Owen. CA--Josh, Val, Erica. MN--Orths." And so on. Some states have blank spaces next to them; others I just can't remember. I'm ha
