Off The Rails

Award-winning author David McCumber reveals the unknown world of the pool hustler as he travels across the country with one of America's top players, Tony Annigoni. From elegant snookers clubs to high-pressure tournaments to chancy dives, this wise-cracking and occasionally hair-raising road trip explores a distinctive American subculture.

In this witty and entertaining collection of travel tales, an acclaimed journalist explores his obsession with trains--and what his rail journeys have taught him about culture and identity. "I've gone around the world in installments. Every trip has been a revelation. I've watched regions, nations, and continents change moods and I've met more people on trains than in forty years of airplane flights. Every train trip has been a spectacle. Trains are stages, cafés, bazaars. The only talk show that will never go off the air..." Beppe Severgnini has spent his life traveling the world, and not just because he's a journalist; he's a passionate, unflagging train buff. Off the Rails recounts some of his favorite trips across Europe, Australia, Asia, and the United States, each journey bringing readers not only to a different place but to a different time, from his honeymoon on the Trans-Siberian Express (in a four-person compartment!), to a winding journey from Russia to Turkey during the last summer of communism, to a recent coast-to-coast trip with his son from Washington, D.C., to Washington State. Off the Rails is the perfect getaway for anyone with a touch of wanderlust, who dreams of escape or just likes to laugh. Filled with memorable characters and perceptive observations, it demonstrates--hilariously--what unites us. With the world in chaos and life in perpetual fast-forward, it's always the right time to hop on board with Beppe Severgnini and meet your charming, hapless, quarrelsome, romantic, shifty, quirky, endearing neighbors.

"Among the many reasons why I took upon myself the task of writing Off the Rails was to clear a lot of misinformation and bogus theories that circulate on the Internet regarding Randy Rhoads' ife and death. Believe me, it was not easy chronicling all of the daily events that happened on and off the road. Fortunately, Ihad kept a journal of our travels so I had accurate details ..."--P [4] of cover.

A damning indictment of the chaos on the British railways.

In this eye-opening book about treating teen addiction, fifteen-year-old Hannah and her mother, Susan, share in their own words the raw and honest realities of their family's struggles, the controversial treatment programs they tried, and their insights into what finally led to Hannah's recovery.

An Italian travelogue describes the trains that traverse the country, from the architecture of old train stations to the new high-speed railways, and portrays the author's memorable encounters along the way.