Savage Pilgrims: On the Road to Santa Fe

Although truth is acknowledged to be stranger than fiction, some reality is so unbelievable, it would work better as a novel. Such is the case with this pedestrian travelogue of New Mexico by Englishman Shukman (Travels with My Trombone). The first half in particular is full of bizarre coincidences, such as his blindly happening upon the sculptor who stole his girlfriend some 10 years before, that will leave the most forgiving reader incredulous. The author is more interested in finding himself than in exploring the places and people of the Land of Enchantment. Shukman is trying to find the spirit of D.H. Lawrence, but that doesn't require recounting his sexual encounters, such as his tryst with an Italian woman at D.H. Lawrence's ranch. Readers will find out little about the ranch and rather too much about the author. The second half holds more promise as travel literature, as Shukman leaves his self-pity behind in Santa Fe. He takes to the highway, looping around the state and discovering smaller towns. Still, he focuses less on the uniqueness of where he is and more on how he feels: ""[New Mexico] had its external beauty, but the real beauty of the place was in its internal effect. It opened a doorway inside you."" Savage Pilgrims neatly fits the trend in travel literature being less about exploring other places and cultures, and more about the writer having to travel to a strange land to find his own soul. (June)