Play Audiobook Sample
The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey Audiobook
Play Audiobook Sample
(3.50) - 2 listener ratings
Quick Stats About this Audiobook
Total Audiobook Chapters:
Longest Chapter Length:
Shortest Chapter Length:
Average Chapter Length:
Audiobooks by this Author:
Publisher Description
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • #1 Indie Next Pick • Winner of the PEN New England Award
“Enchanting…A book filled with so much love…Long before Oregon, Rinker Buck has convinced us that the best way to see America is from the seat of a covered wagon.” —The Wall Street Journal
“Amazing…A real nonfiction thriller.” —Ian Frazier, The New York Review of Books
“Absorbing…Winning…The many layers in The Oregon Trail are linked by Mr. Buck’s voice, which is alert and unpretentious in a manner that put me in mind of Bill Bryson’s comic tone in A Walk in the Woods.” —Dwight Garner, The New York Times
A major bestseller that has been hailed as a “quintessential American story” (Christian Science Monitor), Rinker Buck’s The Oregon Trail is an epic account of traveling the 2,000-mile length of the Oregon Trail the old-fashioned way—in a covered wagon with a team of mules—that has captivated readers, critics, and booksellers from coast to coast. Simultaneously a majestic journey across the West, a significant work of history, and a moving personal saga, Buck’s chronicle is a “laugh-out-loud masterpiece” (Willamette Week) that “so ensnares the emotions it becomes a tear-jerker at its close” (Star Tribune, Minneapolis) and “will leave you daydreaming and hungry to see this land” (The Boston Globe).
Download and start listening now!
"Interesting from a historical perspective and I leant lots about the Oregon trail of past and present. I enjoyed the narration by the author and the dynamics between him and his brother. However I felt the book was overly long and the story side tracked frequently. I didn't feel I got to know any historical characters which made it a dry listen. Maybe following the tales of one or two families would have been more emotional."
— SueSew (4 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
-
“This smart, endearing book is not just about a picaresque and probably ill-advised adventure; it’s a story about us—who we are and how we came to be that way…Buck finds his way deep into our nation’s DNA.”
— Hampton Sides, New York Times bestselling author -
“Buck brings the land to life…His exploration of America and himself is a joy to read.”
— USA Today (4 out of 4 stars) -
“Weaving a tale somewhere between a travelogue and a history lesson, Buck traces the iconic path literally and figuratively as he re-creates the great migration with his brother and a Jack Russell terrier.”
— Entertainment Weekly -
“Absorbing…Winning…and unpretentious.”
— New York Times -
“Charming, big-hearted, impassioned, and a lot of fun to read…His rapturous account will still leave you daydreaming and hungry to see this land.”
— Boston Globe -
“This book is a keeper…[A] rollicking good read, a book that’s as much fun as the Brothers Buck seem to be as they travel from Missouri to Oregon by covered wagon…Observant, conversational, and often funny.”
— Seattle Times -
“Interwoven in Buck’s adventure tale is a fascinating history of the development of the trail, its heyday, and the colorful characters that made the journey…Readers are sure to be delighted by this humorous and entertaining story that allows us to believe that Walter Mitty–like fantasies can indeed come true.”
— Associated Press -
“Buck endures heat, dust, flooded rivers, and dangerous storms…He layers his account of this four-month road trip with family stories, elucidating history lessons and inspired side trips into twenty-first-century America.”
— BBC.com -
“A crazy whim of a trip on a covered wagon turns into an inspired exploration of American identity…The journey…allowed the brothers to reconnect over childhood memories and with the American land they cherished. By turns frankly hilarious, historically elucidating, emotionally touching, and deeply informative.”
— Kirkus Reviews (starred review) -
“Skillfully weaving historical anecdotes into his story, Buck has crafted a winning account of an improbable modern-day pilgrimage.”
— BookPage -
“Rinker Buck sucks the listener into his ‘see America slowly’ trip … a crazy, arduous, and sometimes dangerous adventure completely out of its time…Hilarious and heartwarming.”
— AudioFile -
“Buck’s lean prose, historical insight, and penetrating curiosity elevate The Oregon Trail into an instant classic that deserves a place on your bookshelf between Bryson and Horwitz. A master storyteller and dogged reporter, Buck gives substance to an unrelenting wanderlust that is the envy of anyone who has ever dreamed of lighting out for the territories.”
— Bob Drury, coauthor of The Heart of Everything That Is
Awards
-
One of the BBC’s Best Books of the Month
-
A BookPage Top Pick for July in Adventure Books
-
Selected for the Indie Next List
-
A New York Times bestseller
-
A Amazon Best Books of the Year Selection
-
A Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books of the Year
The Oregon Trail Listener Reviews
-
—
Sarah Fretz, 6/23/2016
About Rinker Buck
Rinker Buck is a New York Times bestselling author whose work has won the PEN New England Award, the Eugene S. Pulliam National Journalism Writing Award, and the Society of Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi Award. He began his career in journalism at the Berkshire Eagle and was a longtime staff writer for the Hartford Courant. He has written for Vanity Fair, New York, Life, and many other publications.