content: I just finished the book and it was a fantastic read. It was a fairly "light" book, considering the author; it was genuinely hilarious at times, and, as always, Steinbeck created an incredibly vivid, personal, and accurate portrait of the relationships between nature and society. Shades of his earlier can be seen in the prose style, and his unconditional devotion to the creation and development of images and characters can't be matched by anyone from any time.As far as a "Travel-style" novel is concerned, I think I liked this one more than Kerouac's On the Road...but, then again, Steinbeck was far more talented than any of the Beats -except Ginsberg (who might've been in his league, but in a junior-varsity-type capacity) and maybe Neal Cassidy.If you like Steinbeck, you will really enjoy reading this book.