November 4, 2007
3 min. read
I have not found a way to better describe this book than the first sentence inside the dust cover. “It’s as if Dave Barry and Charles Kuralt squeezed together onto a bicycle to pedal across America and around the world, filing outrageous dispatches along the way.”
Indeed, many times while reading I felt as if I was watching the well done Sunday morning stories where the common man or the small town are shown in all of their glory. Those stories that aren’t as touching will give you a great laugh.
As an aspiring bicycle tourist, this book was hard for me to put down. I can give a book no better compliment than to say that it followed me to lunch and dinner every day for a week. The only problem I had was trying to cope with the fact that I would not be able to start any serious bicycle touring until I left on my Trans-Am tour in May of 2002. This book made me want to be out on the road NOW!
Metal Cowboy is a collection of short stories, which makes it very easy to read in small bites. You should ask yourself if you can really miss out on Joe accidentally tricking an entire town that he is Kiefer Sutherland. How do you outrun the Paparazzi on a bicycle? Or have you ever been attacked by killer geese while riding?
I have been able to talk with Joe Kurmaskie over e-mail, as he is a member of the touring list (no longer around). There is good news for those interested in reading about more Metal Cowboy adventures. He asked me about the quote in my e-mail signature. Joe may be using it to open his next book. Here is part of an e-mail from Joe:
“Glad to hear you’re enjoying my campfire stories… I’m knee deep into completing edits and polishing the second collection in the continuing adventures of yours truly and the open road. This next batch, titled On Yere Bike, More Adventures With The Metal Cowboy takes us through Ireland, more Australia, Alaska and Yukon tales… bounty hunters and vicious ping pong players in South America and a round of Mexican Jeopardy during intermission of a bull fight in La Paz Mexico, among other things.”
I am sure that Joe has many more stories to tell and I know he can tell those stories with gusto. (Reposting this a few years after writing it, Joe now has 3 books out about adventures in cycling. I just ordered the two I haven’t read yet.)