CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 5.0 based on 2 reviews)
Really fun reading What a great trip back to more carefree times! Keeping it on the "ready shelf" to pull it out for a refresher. November 16, 2008
Ah, memories! "Yellowstone Summer" revisits the golden 1950s, so innocent in retrospect. But it's more than a nostalgia trip. It's a barrel of laughs for readers of any age. Newsom and his college pal Joe hitchhike from Illinois to Wyoming for a summer of work in Yellowstone National Park and find adventure from the first day. His portraits of the drivers who pick them up are hilarious. Once at the park Newsom becomes a soda jerk, but judging from his tales of how the college kids disport themselves, the work isn't too demanding. There's time to join the "dudes" (tourists) in marveling at Old Faithful. They go picnicking, fishing and hiking. They play the game of seeing how far they can hitchhike in one day. Hal and Joe break the record, getting to Billings, Montana and back to the park just before the gates close at 11 pm. They swim in the river, and the author's notorious yellow bathing suit plays a recurring star role. To sweeten the story, pretty Peggy, a college student from Seattle, arrives to become the love of Newsom's summer and--eventually--his life. Leavening the lighthearted account is Newsom's sharp wit. He's a keen observer of human foibles and a master at gently lampooning them. Whether you've been to Yellowstone or not, you'll find this a very funny book that takes you back for a few hours to a happier time. October 16, 2008