I grew up floating on the river. I used to go fishing with my father and brother on 7- or 8-hour float trips on streams near my hometown. When we stopped for lunch on a sandbar, we would collect twigs and branches and build a fire on which we roasted hot dogs & heated up beans. It was probably the most I've ever had to rough it.
The author performs a far greater feat of river navigation in this true-to-life adventure story. Harris floats solo nearly the entire length of the Mississippi River, from its source in northern Minnesota to New Orleans. But this is no pleasure cruise. The author, an African-American hailing from right here in St. Louis, makes the trip in a borrowed canoe, the only motive power his own arm strength, paddling through 2,300 miles of river. He chooses to make his epic journey in mid-October, when it gets very cold in the upper Midwest. Making it even more difficult is the fact that he doesn't know much about canoeing or even tying a canoe to the shore. Harris's inexperience might have doomed the journey.
But the adventurer learns quickly. He has friends who help him a few times during the journey, but for the most part, he is on his own while on the river. Harris doesn't even have a cell phone or GPS to aid him; he only uses detailed U.S. Corps of Engineers maps of the river to navigate. He is largely dependent on the kindness of strangers when he ventures to shore for supplies, meals and to camp for the night. They generally think he's crazy for taking the trip, yet at the same time admire him for attempting it, which seems to be the reason almost all of them not only assist him, but befriend him (one girl even gets a little too friendly!). He needs their help, as there is plenty of danger-- from the river itself, from barges, from wild animals and, in one instance, from a couple of hunters that seemed to be out to kill him. With the help of friends and strangers, along with his own formidable determination, Harris makes it to the outskirts of New Orleans about a month and a half after he put his canoe into the cold waters of Lake Itasca (the Mississippi's source).
I was annoyed that Harris didn't give more information about himself before launching into the narrative. But, like a good writer, he reveals much about himself through the narrative. He makes clear that he isn't used to the back-breaking labor required to canoe down one of the world's largest rivers. What he is used to is flying to exotic locales and eating fine delicacies, not floating down a river for weeks and eating pork & beans and other simple meals by the campfire. Why, then, does he do it? For one thing, as a writer, he's motivated by the adventures of the great author Ernest Hemingway. He also wants to prove himself in a world with so much convenience that it offers little physical challenge.
Harris is a good writer and his prose is both poetic and descriptive. At times Harris used figures of speech and personification so much it was a little hard for me to understand what he was trying to say. But he also describes the difficult journey in a more literal way and ruminates on subjects relating to it, such as whether the Army Corps of Engineers keeping the Mississippi within its present channel and the steps they've taken to ensure it's navigable for shipping are good ideas.
I found this book pretty fascinating-- after all, I love adventure stories. Like the strangers he encounters in towns along the river, I thought he was a little crazy (especially for not preparing a little better and setting out in the fall), but I couldn't help but admire his daring and determination. To someone who has only floated down small rivers and creeks for less than a day and was only a little inconvenienced while doing so, his trek is truly amazing and inspiring. I doubt I'll ever try anything as ambitious as Harris, but it was great to read about, earning this adventure 4 out of 5 stars in my book (⭐⭐⭐⭐).
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