Just Two for the Road :

Rating:
Summary: Enjoy the Ride
Review: "Just Two For The Road" by Eugene X. Perticone is a collection of engaging, highly entertaining stories of Dr. Perticone's long love affair with motorcycling. Although motorcycle enthusiasts will certainly enjoy the book and will likely be able to empathize with and appreciate Perticone's "on the road" experiences, even those who have never ridden a motorcycle (I am among them) will find the book to be interesting and enjoyable (Be warned, however: if you have never been a motorcycle enthusiast, this book may induce you to become one!). The stories, like the travels they describe, are thoughtful, leisurely-paced, and graced with a gentle humor. Perticone purposefully describes travels on country and secondary roads rather than major highways since, unlike most modern travel in which "getting there" as quickly as possible is the primary goal, Perticone is more interested in the journey rather than the destination. Interspersed with his descriptions of his travels and his experiences are thoughtful psychological and philosophical meditations on life, including the importance of living more fully in the present moment and engaging in what Perticone refers to as "enhanced noticing". These often subtle reflections enhance the stories rather than detract from them, and readers able to "read between the lines" will welcome his insights. "Just Two For The Road" is highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Just too long for the Read
Review: This would have been the 26th motorcycle book I've read in the last 8 months. I had to stop on the first page of Chapter 2. Mr. Perticone is a person who believes that 12 words are always better than one and that a thesaurus is a writer's best friend. Here are the first sentences of Chapter 2:

"It was as a pretty young fellow that my interest in the two-wheelers began to make itself known. As I look back, this seems a little surprising since I was not acquainted with anyone who owned a motorcycle at the time or who was inclined to comment about motorcycles in even a remotely enthusiastic manner. On the contrary, I had long been aware that my mother harbored an intense dislike for what she thought of as very undesirable and dangerous contraptions, an attitude that may have been due, in part, to an overly vivid memory of her bother [sic] once having injured his foot while riding as a passenger on a friend's motorcycle."

The first 8 pages were like reading a stuffy academic journal. I randomly flipped to a later page and the words just keep on coming and coming.

I'm going to try to send this book back.