Truckin’ with Sam: A Father and Son, the Mick and the Dyl, Rockin’ and Rollin’, on the Road

At 47, writer Gutkind (Keep It Real) finds himself divorced and an "old new dad," full of insecurities about being able to communicate effectively and to relate openly with his son, Sam. Worried that the resentment he feels toward his own father’s lack of openness and communication will color his relationship to Sam, Gutkind sets off on the open road with his son in an effort to overcome his anxieties and to establish a closer relationship with Sam. For seven years, the two travel to various locations around the world—often conveniently located near a writer’s conference where the elder Gutkind is speaking—with the Doors, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, and the Grateful Dead, among others, providing the soundtrack for the journey. The misadventures of the Gutkind men as they travel along the Alaska-Canada highway—Lee forgets their passports; he doesn’t have the necessary papers to show that Sam is his son; the pair constantly quarrel, with one blaming the other for whatever situation they’re in—form the spine of the book. Sam’s journal entries (written mostly when he was 13) are interspersed with Lee’s narrative of their travels and his reflections on the nature of family, love, and the father and son bond. (July)