dori decamillis                                                                                 freeway reviews

The Freeway is warm, funny, and wonderfully engaging. In the best tradition of travel writing since

Huck Finn, it is the journey not the destination that counts, and this is one you'll love going on about.

--Charles Gaines, Author of Pumping Iron

Dori DeCamillis's wonderful, touching, deeply original road story is for anyone who ever felt the urge to hit the road--ehether in search or in flight. It's a real-life Odyssey, funny and poignant- a chronicle of a journey whoes prticipants were exploring not just the territory of America, but the geography of the heart and the nature of love.

--Joyce Maynard, Author of To Die For

In the early 1990's one young couple decide to chuck it all and set off across America in an Ultra Van.

Along the way, they hoped to sell their paintings and, with luck, find a home for themselves. What they couldn't foresee were the hardships, strokes of luck and unknown adventures that awaited them- from near starvation when the money ran out to the strokes of luck that come their wy. Luckily, Dori DeCamillis managed to chronicle it all in vivid, impossible-to-put-down language, making the whole trip come alive for the reader. This one has a permanent space on my bookshelf, along with My Side of the Mountains, Swiss Family Robinson, The Boxcar Children, Breaking Clean and other classic memoirs of life lived outside the realm of normal and conventional.

--K. Corn

From cover to cover, a delightful, entertaining, funny and well written book! Every dreamer in the world will find a part in themselves in Dori DeCamillis' descriptions of the people they met, the places they went and the desperation and triumphs of their years on the road, living a dream. Not since Peter Jenkens "A Walk Across America" has an author so clearly depicted heart and soul to the reader, both the joys of success and the sadness of defeat.

I took the book with me to the Doctor's office and never noticed that I'd waited over 40 minutes... read until the wee hours of the morning... and got snowed in at my mother's house for two days where I finished the book.

I teach business and marketing clinics specifically for artists and have a recommended reading list. "The Freeway" will go right alongside Julia Cameron's "The Artist's Way". It's a delightful tour into the realities of being an artist.

--Dusti Scovel, Texas

Whether you're in the habit of reading a book from cover to cover over a weekend, or grabbing snatches now and then for two weeks, this book is well-suited to either style. It's daily journal layout offers up the events of three years in the lives of these wonderful artists, from the mundane to the bizarre, introducing readers to dozens of interesting characters they meet along the way. Within Dori's witty phrases, their Ultra Van becomes another of these fascinating characters. A wonderfully descriptive writer and excellent story-teller, her 'voice' is comfortably easy and engagingly fresh from the first to the last page.

My Husband and I fought over this book like kids over a favorite video game, clamoring for our next turn to pore over the pages of Dori and Joe's story. Filled iwth humor and the tale of an unusual, yet oh-so-familiar relationship, this book will be appreciated by anyone who's taken a road trip, dealt with automotive quirks, or ever been in love. A very satisfying read for both, our only regret is that the story had to come to an end, leaving us wanting more.

--Myrna Uhlig, Salmon Nation, OR

My#2 desert island book. It's rare that I laugh out loud while reading. Not so with this book. The scooby doo reference made me snort my tea. This is an adventurer's book. If you like your rut, don't bother. Unless, of course, you need an excuse to dig yourself out!"

--Kathlene Kelly

I'm glad to see this book is still in print. It deserved far more publicity from its publisher -- it's funny, moving, interesting. If there had been reality TV back when Dori and Joe were traveling, their journey would have made one great show, and they'd be stars right now. I highly recommend this book. It deserved to be a big seller.

--Isabel Lewis, Marshall, TX

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