cover image Pilgrimage: Tales from the Open Road

Pilgrimage: Tales from the Open Road

Patrick Pfister. Academy Chicago Publishers, $20 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-89733-419-8

Spurred by restlessness, the young American Pfister traveled close to the ground in such places as Germany, Morocco, the Himalayas and his home country, compiling some well-told if disconnected anecdotes. In Malaysia, he fights an epic battle of ``face'' with a hotel proprietor; hitchhiking through the Mojave desert, he's picked up by a madly proud Marine; lounging in a Costa Brava village, he's embroiled in a world of expat Brits. Occasionally, Pfister's travels lead to insights, as when he observes of a cafe tableau that ``If Greece is anything it is theater'' or belatedly recognizes, after negotiating a stream of hustlers in Morocco, that his final guide was a genuine friend. But Pfister tells us too little about himself (Who is he?) and the cumulative meaning of his journeys to elevate this book to a memorable traveler's tale. (Nov.)