Travels with Vamper

Book excerpt: This is a story about Critchlow's solo two- month journey into Middle America to celebrate his retirement and reflect on life, culture, and the past. It is a real journey -- through the West, the Bible Belt, and Missouri River country -- in Vamper, Critchlow's affectionate name for his 1999 Ford Coachmen camper van. But it is also about Critchlow's life journey, about race, religion, the environment, and a divided America in the age of Donald Trump. Critchlow weaves together people, places, historical anecdotes, political observations, legal tales, and personal history in a way that helps explain the competing narratives in American society today. His journey also tells us something about how a baby boomer might look back and look forward as he moves into his senior years and faces the challenge of retirement.