Education of a Wandering Man

I liked this book. Why? Because Louis L'Amour liked to read in the same way that I like to read. Just whatever caught his attention at the moment, or even whatever was available to read wherever he was at any time. No program or agenda. And he had the same motives as I do- he simply wanted to engage in the human experience, to learn more about people: our history, our psychology, what we do and why. He wasn't a very sophisticated guy. He doesn't analyze any one writer for much more than a paragraph, but there's something unpretentious in his voice, interested and enthusiatic, that's really attractive. If you're that kind of reader too, this book might be pretty inspiring.
Many of the other reviews make mention of the long list of adventures that L'Amour touches upon in this book, either for better or for worse. Those reviews that are disappointed in this aspect of the book wish L'Amour had focused greater detail on the many episodes of his life, and that he had been more analytical in describing their impact on his formation as a man. I don't blame them, because it looks like the guy had an interesting life. But still, you can't eat a hamburger and get mad because it isn't pie. This book is not a memoir of the incidents of L'Amour's life. The book is about why he read, and the various circumstances of his life that made up the backdrop to that reading. Taken for what is is, it's pretty good.
Conversely, many five star reviewers laud L'Amour's list of adventures as if they were stories well told. In this case, now you're eating a hamburger and telling yourself this is some good pie. Again, this is not a memoir of the events of a life! The adventures are usually a paragraph long. There's not much detail and not much attempt at psychological depth. But that's ok. The book is about reading and life long learning, not adventures so much. On that set of merits it's pretty darned good.

I inherited my grandfather's collection of L'Amour books after he died. I didn't know where to start with the books so I randomly picked this one. This might have been one of the biggest literary surprises of my life. I found L'Amour's life and the paths he chose to walk nothing short of fascinating.

Like others, I wish he would have gone into a full-blown autobiography and told more tales of his travels. It's actually hard imagine living such a life and NOT saying more about it. I guess there were just many things he preferred to leave on distant shores and to the memory of the ocean. (Side note: his book of poetry, SMOKE FROM THIS ALTER, gives a good glimpse into some earlier parts of his life.)

As a person interested in self-education, this book is very encouraging. L'Amour proves to all that with a nice dose of determination, anyone can pursue an education simply by reading and paying attention to the world around them. He seemed to scoff at the world's idea of a one-size-fits-all formal education. And I echo his scoffing.

The reading lists he kept are included and helpful to get a glimpse into his influences.

Louis L'Amour was an American original, and he was the real deal when it comes to someone taking the initiative to learn and grow all on his own.

I liked reading about "his reading" and his adventures were an insight into his later writing style. It shows how he became both a storyteller and a teacher. Harold Bloom's "How to Read and Why" and Carolyn See's book "Making a Literary Life", were also books about reading but L'Amour's autobiography brings a new dimension to this approach. I suspect that many will have come to this book as solid Louis L'Amour fans but for me the desire to read about books brought me to this author. I was curious about why he had been so successful and I was more curious to learn something about him.

The events in his autobiography precedes his amazing success as an author and focuses on his early years. He had left school in the 30s and wandered. He experienced the western US as well as the Far East. He worked as a seaman, ranch hand, and took odd jobs often traveling as a hobo.

The travels are interesting enough to make the book a stand-alone success but what really was interesting was the "books" he read as he traveled. He marked the course he took pausing to tell about the books he read on the way. He was obviously searching for an education and it was a surprise to learn of what held his interest. Shakespeare and Nietzsche were a surprise to find on his list of readings but then all the traditional authors were ones he read.

Some of the travels captured in this story are indeed about the West. His time in the desert, others working as a cattle skinner, and even being involved in small town boxing exhibitions, found in his own early experiences are reflected in his many novels. When you see his effort to understand and learn all that he could then you see that his travels and reading was a personal quest for knowledge. It then is easy to see that the many characters he wove into his later books seem to much deeper and richer having known Louis L'Amour's personal story from this book.

Probably the obvious lesson to learn from his book about wandering is that wandering in our own reading habits and subject matter can matter.

Louis Lamour was an amazing writer, of course. I've read a few of his westerns, but not many. This book is a memoir. In truth it is a long list of everything that Louis even read. I'm sure it doesn't contain everything that he read but a lot of what he read.

What this book established in my mind was that to be a writer you must first be a reader. I have always felt that my writing improved as I became better informed. I read and read and read - and so did Louis Lamour. And he read a wide range of books. That, I think, is important also. I have met many writers in writing groups who feel that writing talent has nothing to do with intellect. They usually feel that they are smart enough. They think writing is expressing their opinions in creative ways. Creativity is a gene that you are born with and all you have to do is crack the shell of this gene and greatness will come gushing out - like music or math to the idiot savant. I don't think so. You must read. You have got to learn. Earnest Hemingway when asked how does one learn to write "great" literature answered, "In order to write great literature, you must read great literature." I know Louis Lamour would have agreed.

Richard Edward Noble - The Hobo Philosopher - Author of:

"Hobo-ing America: A Workingman's Tour of the U.S.A.."

"Education of a Wandering Man" is a personal memoir written by the noted historical fiction author Louis L'Amour.

Mr. L'Amour is known primarily for his western novels. I had seen his stuff in book stores for years. I never bothered reading him until being stuck with nothing else to do. Ironically, Mr. L'Amour had written his pocket westerns for lonely men with nothing else to do.

This was Mr. L'Amour's situation through much of his life.

As an inquisitive child, he learned to read at an early age because his sisters got tired of reading for him. His love of books became a lifelong obsession. As a teenager, he left home. The family was in dire financial difficulty and he relieved them of the burden of supporting him. He became a `wandering man' supporting himself with whatever jobs he could find. A lot of this time he was a merchant seaman traveling the world. Sometimes he boxed professionally. No matter the job or the location, he always fed his insatiable curiosity about everything. Having little money, public libraries provided hours of free (albeit lonely) entertainment. Overseas, he engaged in discussions and debates in coffee houses.

That's what this book is about, the eclectic education he picked in his journeys. He tells of being stranded in Death Valley, skinning cattle in Texas with a white man who'd been raised by the Apache, his bolo-knife fighting buddy Singapore Charlie, etc.

With the exception of "Hondo", Mr. L'Amour was hardly a great fiction writer. But his books were entertaining and extraordinarily historically accurate. Mr. L'Amour was a world class historian. No less a scholar than Dr. Daniel Boorstin solicited his expert opinions. Mr. L'Amour's fiction weren't the end but a means to achieve and end. Mr. L'Amour's novels merely financed his passion for learning, justifying his 10,000+ volume personal library.

This was Mr. L'Amour's last book. He was found dead of a heart attack over the galley proofs. He died with the thing he loved most in his hands....a book.

Unfortunately, this is the closest L'Amour fans will come to a true autobiography of a great American and writer. L'Amour starts this book with a reference to his high school class graduating while he was on a steamer in Indonesia. Thus, L'Amour sets the stage for his lengthy discussion of becoming self-educated through books, and experience.
In this book, L'Amour presents lists of books he read during his wandering years in the 30s. I particularly enjoyed the part where he described the difference between a hobo and a bum. Accoring to L'Amour, hoboes were not freeloaders, they just used the rails to follow the crop picking from one part of the country to the next. A bum, on the other hand, has no intention of working, and looks for handouts. This distinction was an eye opener to me.
Also, his discussion of walking outof th eMojave desert hit close to home, as I was born and raised in the area he described. L'Amour was a great researcher, and wrote from both personal experience and knowledge. This is an enjoyable book and has even been included in numerous literature courses in various universities. Throughout the book, L'Amour emphasizes the value of education through experience and self-guided reading; however, he never degrades formal education as a route to discovery and self improvement.

I found this book really interesting. If you write or like memoirs or biographies you would love this book. I first bought the book because it was the recounts of a writer and of the books he read. He self-educated himself by reading, traveling and writing. He talks about how his different life experiences, his trips and his reading influenced his stories. L'Amour is not just any writer, but a well known writer that was selling bestsellers when the e-media wasn't yet available. This book is totally worth reading.

I enjoyed reading about L'Amour's experiences very much and his quest for all available knowledge of a multitude of subjects. His self-education was phenominal and it was very interesting to learn of the titles and authors of the massive amount of books he had read on such a vast range of topics. What I found disappointing was that it was a very impersonal book. It would have been nice to read at least something about his wife and children but this book contains nothing much about them. Perhaps he is an unusual man in that he views it as no one's business to speak of his family. I think he was a much better listener than talker, which is how he gained all the knowledge he did from the people he encountered in his adventures and travels, to use in his many books.

Education of a Wandering Man by Louis L'Amour should be required reading for all homeschooling parents, homeschooled teens, book-lovers, teachers - anyone who values education.

I am very familiar with Louis L'Amour's work. My dad had the complete, leather-bound collection of his western novels, and I read many of them when I was in junior high and high school. My favorite book of his is, by far, The Walking Drum, which wasn't a western, but a 12th century adventure novel. In spite of having read so many of his books, I had no idea that Mr. L'Amour was such an autodidact.

This book is a rambling memoir of his travelling years and the books that accompanied him along the way. He dropped out of school at age 15 at the beginning of the depression. He spent the next years of his life wandering the world as a merchant marine, boxer, logger, miner - you name it, he probably did it. But just because his formal education in school had ended, he did not stop learning. No matter where he was living, he found a library or bookseller - sometimes skipping meals and sleeping outdoors in order to fund his book habit. The list of books he read is astounding - books on every topic imaginable. He was especially interested in history and sought out source materials wherever he could find them.

What an inspiring book to turn readers on the the double joys of reading and traveling in combined fashion. L'Amour is self-educated in the sense that he read extensively to make up for his lack of formal education. He recalls where he was when he was reading various books and the impressions made on his mind by the dual experience of reading and being on location at various places.
In the preface, Daniel J. Boorstin describes L'Amour's study which is inspiring in itself. He had thousands of books which were well-marked, indicating where he was at the time he'd read them and various thoughts in held at that season in his life. Boorstin uses a phrase to describe L'Amour's passion for reading, saying he "luxuriated within the walls of his books." L'Amour also kept reading lists of books as he completed them.
This book made such an impression on me I followed through on his example. As a result I have learned how to use my time more efficiently. Having a book nearby is a great way to make productive use of time that would otherwise be wasted. This is an inspiring autobiography.

EDUCATION OF A WANDERING MAN is not a western, and this may disappoint
some Louis L'Amour fans. He meanders philosophically around memories of his travels,enumerating each book he read while he was out and about. He says, "Life is for delving, discovering, learning," so he writes a lot about the value of books and education:

"I think the greatest gift anyone can give to another is the desire to know, to understand. Life is not for simply watching spectator sports, or for taking part in them; it is not for simply living from one working day to the next. Life is for delving, discovering, learning. Today, one can sit in the comfort of his own home and explore any part of the world or even outer space through books. They are all around us, offering such riches as can scarcely be believed. Also, I might add, having done both, it is better to sit in comfort with a cold drink at hand and read the tale than to actually walk out of the Mohave Desert as I did."

(He's referring to starting to drive a Model T out of the desert when he hits a rock, and breaks an axel, forcing him to walk for several miles--without water. A great chapter(eight) for anyone who's experienced anything similar to this.)

He also writes about adventure: "What people speak of as adventure is something nobody in his right mind would seek out, and it becomes romantic only when one is safely at home."

I wouldn't have liked this book when I was young. I would have considered L'Amour cocky, and he may well have been, but I'm now able to overlook that to get to some of his interesting ideas. Well written book? Not especially. You have to work a bit. It was published posthumously, so that may have affected the final product.

Note: I'm considering EDUCATION OF A WANDERING MAN might be an interesting
companion to INTO THE WILD, as both L'Amour and WILD's McCandless were wanderers fed by books.

Reading "Education of a Wandering Man" made me realize how very little I know of the history of this planet. It caused me to see the world through different eyes. This gave me a whole different perspective on time and the transitory nature of nations and kingdoms. Every age comes and goes...all things are born, mature, and die out. L'Amour had a fluent visual way of passing this wisdom on to the reader. L'Amour demonstrated in his own life that anything is possible if one learns all that he/she can and dares to move ahead--to recognize opportunity and take advantage of it whenever and wherever it presents itself. We are only held back by by the limitations we place on ourselves. The theme of this and all of L'Amours works reveals the value of obtaining knowledge without bias, and the importance of personal integrity.

You will have to forgive me for this review because I truly think L'Amour is a great writer. I've read and enjoyed many of his westerns and even his few ventures into other genres. I admire the fact that he learned from his travels and devoted a great many of his wandering days to reading. However, I can't tell you how disappointed I was in realizing that this is the closest I would come to reading L'Amour's autobiography. Over and over as I read, he mentioned some adventure in passing and I begged for more. But, instead, he would introduce me to some book he read at that time. Knowing of his books is great, but his wandering experiences surely contributed just as much, if not more, to his future bookwriting career. Yet he passed over them as if they barely occurred. What a loss! Perhaps he gave some reason for not writing a true autobiography. I don't know. All I know is that I completed the book with a respect for the man's love for reading but an empty sense of dissatisfaction for all that he left out.

The "Education of a Wandering Man" is not a jaunty title for an autobiography or a collection of true life adventures even though some hype written by the publisher suggests that it might serve those purposes. L'Amour genuinely offers this work as a memoir about his education Reviews on this site that suggest this book is an excellent account of L'Amour's adventures exaggerate its merits. Those that criticize it for failing in that goal are correct but miss the point that this was not L'Amour's purpose. Rather than being for an audience of adventure or biography readers, this memoir would be of interest to people doing academic literary criticism of L'Amour or collecting the kind of material that would appear in the footnotes for a L'Amour biography.

It is easy to understand why L'Amour wrote this memoir. He had little formal education and in his early years this kept him from getting various desirable jobs. Although literate and well read, he also found himself initially lacking the skills to be a creative writer. Thus the education that he gave himself had considerable effect upon his life. The two components of L'Amour's education were extensive travel and reading. For most of his youth L'Amour traveled not as a tourist but as a common laborer, seaman, or soldier. He could not plan his reading or afford to buy many books. He read from whatever books he found in libraries or such places as cabins at isolated mines.

In the memoir, a biographer will find the three types of subject matter needed to analyze L'Amour's intellectual development. First, there are some colorful anecdotes and a larger number of prosaic factual statements about where he traveled and worked. Second there are lists of books that L'Amour read at various times in his life. Third there are statements of his opinions on various matters. But the analysis of all this will be a hard job because L'Amour rarely singles out any particular event as something that caused him to form an opinion. He lists books that he read but does not give details of what he thought about them. For example, he writes "I read Crime and Punishment while in Klamath Falls, Oregon. I had heard much of Dostoevsky but was surprised by this book - surprised and very impressed. Several times I turned back to reread sections of the book. At the time I was working in a sawmill, off-bearing on the green chain". He then goes on to explain what "off-bearing on the green chain" meant in sawmills of that day. But he does not elaborate on why he was impressed by Dostoevsky. In fact, the above example is atypical because in most instances L'Amour simply states that he read a certain book and not whether he had a favorable or unfavorable opinion of it. A more typical passage is "My reading in the library continued with Why We behave Like Human Beings by George A. Dorsey, Thus Spake Zarathustra and The Will to Power by Nietzsche, a volume of essays by Schopenhauer, and another by William James".

L'Amour has kept the secrets of his private life to himself. For example, he says that he left home at age fifteen half way through the tenth grade, but he gives no details about this decision, which probably involved some serious thought. It is often said that war has a profound effect on soldiers and that it defines the most vividly remembered time of their lives. However, L'Amour gives us only a few pages about his preparation to go to war and of his experiences in Europe we get only a single paragraph:

"As it turned out, my time overseas was spent in the European Theater of Operations. I did what I was given to do and they gave me four Bronze Stars for doing it reasonably well. I spent time in England before D-Day, traveled in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxemburg, and Germany and made some good friends in France who are my friends still."

His anecdotes, book lists and opinions are mixed together in a narrative that is approximately chronological. A person trying to read this book a series of adventures will be disturbed by what appear to be constant interruptions that give book titles or state opinions about topics in writing or education. A person trying to read this a history of L'Amour's intellectual development will be disturbed by the lack of detailed revelations about what L'Amour thought about the books that he read or his inner reflections about the events that befell him.

The memoir itself hints at reasons for its limitations. L'Amour states that when he studied people's lives that he always wished to have a list of all the books that they had read. So presumably L'Amour felt he had done his duty by providing the reader with such lists for his own life. As to which of L'Amour's opinions came from which specific incidents or books, it is likely no single book or person swayed him immediately. He writes of listening to various people tell about the same event and gradually sorting out the truth from this. In his reading he would have encountered many different opinions and circumstances dictated that he could not select books from one particular school of philosophy or one style of literature. In the memoir, L'Amour expresses definite judgments on a wide variety of subjects. These editorial digressions reveal him to be moderate and judicious. For example, it would to tempting to conclude from L'Amour's life that a writer should not worry about "book learning" and instead should see experiences in the world of "hard knocks". L'Amour does not put forth this grand generality. To summarize his opinions from various passages in the book, he says that his education was right for him but would not suit other people. In his youth, he did not seek travel in order to gather material for writing but rather out of economic necessity. He says it is unnecessary for writers to travel widely and that material for stories is easy to find. In his opinion, the problem is the presentation of the material. He advises that a would-be writer learn his craft by starting to write down words with whatever skill he currently possesses.

As memoir about education, I rate this a three stars out of five. It's main defect is that it reveals little about the internal thought processes of the author and those processes are significant part of education, especially self-education. L'Amour was an extraordinary person and if you want some advice about writing or some titles of good books about the history of the West, you should consult this book. But it will speak to you as would a talkative acquaintance, not as a trusted friend.

This book made the greatest singular impact on my desire to branch out and read - not to read what I was told or what a boy (18 at the time - but I was a boy) or a man might be expected to read but to accept that my desires might go in many directions. I can still recall the start of the book - It was May 14th my class in Jamestown North Dakota was graduating and I was in Singapore - That is a line that makes a boys eyes flash with the excitement of adventure.
This is a true treasure of a book and its vast in its breath of knowledge and thought. It was instrumental in forming the man from the boy in my case.

A Education of a Wondering Man, the book of Louis Lamour's life story. In the book Louis quits school and leaves his home of North Dakota, to go on his own personal life journey.
The book starts out strong with a good opening and a great story. The book starts out great, but throughout Louis journey through his life he becomes preachy and developes a strong sense of himself and his thoughts and ideas. In the book Lamour quotes a lot of fasmous authors, poets, famous people, and ect. And his thirst for the written word, I'm not sure whether to pitty him or hold him in high regaurd. He craves books but too a point that is almost sickening. Although the knowledge he gains is endless, and that is honorable without a doubt, but I dont think that knowledge was why he made it. Luck was on his side for most of his journey and in that you can make it through the worst time in your life.
My whole take on the book is life wasn't fun for Lamour and his education was over. His life was fun and exciting, but no one will ever make it throught life with that life style. This is only my view though, not everyone will share the same view. In other words dont let me judge the book for you I am just giving you my thoughts and opinions, I like books like the Outsiders, Survivor and Lullabye. This may just not be my kind of book.
Louis Lamour is a creative and enteresting writer with a lot to say, and he still has left things unsaid on a lot of subjects he has delt with. Louis Lamour has a certain gift for writing, just not one I like to read.
To close this off I will just say that the book in my eyes wasnt so spectacular, but that is my judgment not yours. And if my judgment makes you avoid the book than thats not what I was aiming for. I am just giving my input on a friendly subject. And if you come across the book then pick it up read a little bit of it, and maybe you'll like it.

Stuart Uphoff February 7, 2001 Education of a Wandering Man
This book is a recounting of the author's self-education. Mr. L'Amour dropped out of high school half way through his tenth grade, due to economic necessity and boredom with school. This probably occurred around 1915 shortly after the end of World War I. During this time in history it may not have been uncommon for men not to finish high school in order to find work. As Mr. L'Amour states, "education begins in the home." Mr. L'Amour's parents loved to read and the entire family enjoyed discussing literature, politics, history, etc. This type of background gave him an advantage to succeed. For someone without this type of upbringing or love of reading to consider dropping out of school today could be disastrous to their success. Mr. L'Amour was a very successful author, for as he says, "What few realize is that no writer is free to write exactly as he might wish. He is guided to a great extent, by the tastes of readers and by the choices of the editors. Of course, one can write whatever one wishes, but unless it conforms to the tastes of the public at the time, it will stay right on the author's shelf." Mr. L'Amour concentrated his writing on western stories which were very popular with the majority of people in the United States. He enjoyed writing about people coming to a new land and the efforts it took to adjust to their new situation, which was a very familiar topic for second generation Americans. Mr. L'Amour stated that, "we are, finally, all wanderers in search of knowledge. Most of us have the dream of becoming something better than we are something larger, richer, in some way more important to the world and ourselves. Too often, the way taken is the wrong way, with too much emphasis on what we want to have, rather than on what we wish to become." I currently enjoy learning about cars, and often the classroom is not my favorite place to be, but I also realize my interests might change therefore it's best that I finish high school. In our materialistic society we are bombarded by advertisers as to what we "need," in Mr. L'Amour's time, the automobile manufacturers were just beginning to change the style of the cars so that people would want to buy the latest. He had also gone through the Depression and was probably more frugal. Also his main interest was learning through reading and writing, his dream was to learn as much as possible and to share his stories. While I didn't enjoy the endless recounting of the hundreds of books Mr. L'Amour read, I do respect his efforts to learn as much as he could. He was not a snobbish man and enjoyed learning from anyone. As he said, "A great book begins with an idea; a great life, with determination. My life may not be great to others, but to me it has been one of steady progression, never dull, often exciting, often hungry, tired, and lonely, but always learning." Mr. L'Amour made the most of his life, always wanting to learn more from books, travel and people. Because of his interest in learning he was never at a loss for writing material for a book. He was a tireless storyteller and gave the public books they enjoyed. Because of this the United States Congress awarded him the Congressional Gold Medal.

For those destined to read this, to utilize the overused expression, classic, you will get a great read and an insight into what life is really all about. As the 84th reviewer, I would only add this, the opening of Chapter 20:
"Those who have never ventured away from the security of their cities, their diplomatic corps, or their business relationships must understand that there is a half-world out there, a place that lies beyond the pale of the law or fringing it: a world of people who move about, cross borders, lose themselves in crowds; a half-world that knows where illegal papers can be obtained, visas, licenses, whatever is necessary.
One comes to it easily if..."

Louis L'Amour led a fascinating life, and he recalls it with precision in this exceptional autobio. The story of his walk out of the desert is almost unbelievable, but certainly true. As a bonus, he gives a list of the books he read each year of his life that helped with his education. His novels of the West are usually three-star quality (in my opinion)but this book is outstanding and was a wonderful surprise.

Great insight into the making of a story teller. I especially enjoyed his lists of great works that he read during his quiet periods. Great writers are like sponges and the more material they process the more varied are their abilities to provide a fresh look at a common theme.

After reading a good marjority of L'Amour's books I finally came across this book. It is a great look into the life of Louis L'Amour, his education, his travels, and gives a background to the books he has written.
It is refreshing to me to read work by an author who uses a lot of reality. Geographical locations, people in history, events, and many other things. Of coarse it is fiction, and does contain that certain piece of fantasy that is easy to get wrapped into. The whole heroic ideal, the fast draw, and the good guy who always gets the girl.

Anyone who reads should read this book. Life is a collection of ideas that become stories for those who have a frame of reference provided by perceptive experience. The more, and more widely, a person reads the broader that frame of reference becomes thus sharpening perceptions and making life more enjoyable.

I read this book for Reading class. The first time I heard the title of this book right away it did not sound interesting to me. I'am in to horror and mystery books and this disn't sound like either but I read it any way. I thought this book had good lessons and good information it just didn't catch my attention as much as horror and mystery books. After the first 7-8 chapters I thought it got a bit boring. And I didn't quite get it either but I guess that's just me. If I could change it a bit I would add more suspense or mystery to it. I read this book because I have seen his movies and they looked interesting. But the movies kept me interested more than the book did. But I would reccomend the book to anyone who likes biography's or what ever genre' this book falls under. But who ever reads this..I hope you enjoy the book more than I did. And you can email me and let me know how you liked the book. Have fun!

Education of a wandering man,
This book had its goods and bads. Louis LaMour had many adventures in his day. he travled all over the world, he was a boxer (and had good boxing contacts and friends). On his adventures he met many exotic and famous people. He was hobo train hopper who met old wise with great stories and tells them to you in his book. he was also a very big reader, and tells you about odd and interesting books that you probably would never have heard of otherwise, and if you like this book you could be inspired to read some of them.

This was a greatbook allthough he talks about the books he reads to much. He has some great insight to the finer points of life and that anyone can travel wherever they want to all you have to have is a good workethic.

This book at some parts has very interesting stories. Louis L'amour has been through many interesting situations before which he describes in this book very well. At some times he can be very preachy so you just are goin to have to get through though parts fast to find the tiny nugget of information he leaves. He has good points that are sometimes hard to discover under his words. There are interesting facts of history also in this book.
signed the g who read this book himself,
R G C

The book "Education of a Wandering Man" was an alright book with some things I liked and some things I didn't. The things I liked was Loius L'Amour telling about his adeventures around the world like boxing,mines and Shanghia.Also, how he told about the people he meet on his travels and what they did. The things that I didnt like were his preaching on readind, writing, and traveling. Also, He just goes on with the books he reads which gets very boring and last for the entire book.

I personally think that Education of a wandering man is a outstanding book because it tells of a mans own adventures and how he went all over the us hoping trains and finding work on his own. i would recomend this book to any one who wants to read an exciting book. i hope that you do read this book and that you enjoy it.

I was expecting a western upbringing of feeding the chickens in the morning and milking the cows at the end of the day. what I got was not just his bio was one that could fit my father or so many of his generation it was a very moving bio of an American writer.

Louis L'Amour collected in this auto-biography an array of short stories about his life, his wandering and, above all, about the books he liked. An enjoyable hike in his library, interwoven of remarkable quotations. In additions this book appears to be amid the source of inspiration for Chris McCandless (see Krakauer's "Into the wild" and Penn's homonym film).