Rating: 
Summary: true hobo
Review: A good hobo book and I've read them all. This is hoboing for the 21st century. What a great little trip I had with Cotton. Ride on.....
Rating: 
Summary: Mediocre literature, but a quick read
Review: As a young man currently tramping about the country, I was interested in seeing how the freight-train riders get by (personally, I hitch-hike, and avoid the alcohol that so many bums use to lubricate their journeys). Cotton's written a moderately interesting guide to his travels, including anecdotes of stealing feedcorn and being chased by rednecks (always great additions to any hobo story). He supplements this with a useful glossary of slang.However, his tale lacks the kind of magic that can be found in similar & related sagas, such as (the not as well-written) Into The Wild, and (the phenomenal) The Last American Man, both of which contain dumpster-diving exploits and idealism that leave Cotton in the dust.
Rating:
Summary: Top Notch
Review: Before I read Eddy Joe's account, I could only dream of "riding the rails" and learning hobo slang, songs, and rituals. Now I not only know how to recognize the symbol for "hobo graveyard", I have the means to make my own.
Rating:
Summary: Top Notch
Review: Before I read Eddy Joe's account, I could only dream of "riding the rails" and learning hobo slang, songs, and rituals. Now I not only know how to recognize the symbol for "hobo graveyard", I have the means to make my own.
Rating: 
Summary: The Vulgar is Often Profound
Review: Cotton sets out on a literal journey by freight train only to realise along the way that it was worthless without its complimentary and parallel, the figurative journey. In this way it resembles Kerouac's tireless hope, a faith in the future. But Kerouac died drunk young, and ON THE ROAD is a pipe dream, a sad book where there is no resolution, where Neal Cassady is found out a man, not a hero. Where Kerouac has Cassady, Cotton has the freight train, and no pretense about faith and hope, beatific enlightenment and redemption in the madness of music, women, words and poetry. Cotton's journey is a lonely one, and beneath the crude language there is a timid poet, but more importantly a very lonely young man who chooses not to flee sadness, but to immerse himself in it. In Cotton we find a reaction to the blighted idealism of the sixties generation - a person not contented so much with words and literary, artistic achievement, but concerned with the marriage of his art and action, the substance of his real life. After all, Kerouac never ate out of trash cans... So, let's not make too much of what he lacks in technical training, politcal agenda and ideals. He has no ideals, and thank him for it, that wonderful and rare quality of "hopelessness without despair," and his sense of humor and heart.
Rating:
Summary: good read
Review: Hobo is a beautiful and simple story. I read the entire book in only a few days and found it mystifing. The characters were a rough cast but at the same time kind hearted and interesting. Eddy Joe Cotton does a good job telling the reader of his insights without being too overbearing. I would never have known this world existed, nor would I have had the feeling of being there if I wouldn't have read Hobo. It was heart warming educational trip.
Rating:
Summary: A new American voice
Review: HOBO is the debut of a true talent, a writer who posseses a keen ability to capture the isolation one feels not only on the road, but in the world at large, when he choses to live a life outside of convention. Full of honesty, integrity, and realism, HOBO is a glimpse into an forgotten and ignored culture within our country, and the birth of a great writer.
Rating:
Summary: hobo travelling
Review: Hobo was a funny and adventurous read. Cotton's humor alone made this book worth buying. What I found most fascinating about Cotton's story was the pure and simple way in which it was told. He's a hobo, though he never once admits to it in the book, and I wouldn't expect complicated plots, overdeveloped characters or long impressive words from such a character. The story is much more powerful as it is - a colorful adventure told with integrity by a vagabonding storyteller. I recently saw a copy of Hobo in my local library, which means that it must have it's place somewhere in our American culture.
Rating: 
Summary: Pretentious Bunk
Review: I liked the premise of this book and Dave Eggers seemed to endorse it on the back. But whereas Eggers has earned the right to be arrogant, this author shoves his undeserving arrogance and pretentiousness down the reader's throat. It starts with explaining that a glossary is provided, so if you need further explanations of hobo terminology, you can look there. This would have been a great resource, but the pandering manner with which Cotton presents the glossary and his holier-than-thou attitude, which is thinly veiled by his never-ending reassurances that he is just a tramp. That better men than him ride the rails. But the overall tone is one of a guy constantly reminding the reader that he rode the rails and the reader never will, so everything must be explained very carefully to the naive, stupid reader. Unless you're an idiot and need to be pandered to, skip this.
Rating:
Summary: Pretentious Bunk
Review: I liked the premise of this book and Dave Eggers seemed to endorse it on the back. But whereas Eggers has earned the right to be arrogant, this author shoves his undeserving arrogance and pretentiousness down the reader's throat. It starts with explaining that a glossary is provided, so if you need further explanations of hobo terminology, you can look there. This would have been a great resource, but the pandering manner with which Cotton presents the glossary and his holier-than-thou attitude, which is thinly veiled by his never-ending reassurances that he is just a tramp. That better men than him ride the rails. But the overall tone is one of a guy constantly reminding the reader that he rode the rails and the reader never will, so everything must be explained very carefully to the naive, stupid reader. Unless you're an idiot and need to be pandered to, skip this.
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