Detours: Life, Death And Divorce On The Road To Sturgis

Detours: Life, Death and Divorce on the Road to Sturgis

From BooklistLa Plante presents a subdued but genuine piece of bikerlit. Afflicted with writer's block and awaiting two monumental,life-changing events--the birth of a second child and the delivery ofa custom motorcycle--La Plante freewheels to the notorious annualmotorcycle-related festivities in Sturgis, South Dakota. Afterpersevering in wretched weather (the "floods of Iowa" figureprominently) and a trip made more arduous by age, an injured knee, andseparation from his family, La Plante partakes of the soul-cleansingSturgis experience, where "the stars spilled like a chest ofrainbow-colored gems above" and "Willie Nelson's voice waft[ed] outfrom an open window." This is good stuff for chopper pilots with aliterary bent and those who love them. It is also an excellentshelfmate for La Plante's Hog Fever (1995) and Hunter Thompson'sseminal Hell's Angels (1967). There probably aren't enough sex anddrugs, though, for boomer Harley poseurs and adolescent thrillseekers. Mike TribbyCopyright