Wow! eBook
Follow the Money: A Month in the Life of a Ten-Dollar Bill
Author(s): Steve Boggan (Author)
- Publisher: Union Books
- Publication Date: 1 July 2012
- Language: English
- Print length: 304 pages
- ISBN-10: 1908526092
- ISBN-13: 9781908526090
Book Description
‘I can’t remember reading a book where the author is continually making fun of himself yet becomes more and more admirable and likeable as the book goes on. He has created a cast of interesting and entertaining characters that are vivid, memorable, and a pleasure to hang out with. The book is an unexpected delight’ – Luke Rhinehart/George Cockcroft, The Dice Man
What do you do if you want to get underneath the skin of a country – to understand its people and feel its heartbeat? You can follow the rest of the tourists, or you can take the advice of Watergate reporter Bob Woodward’ s source, Deep Throat, and ‘ follow the money’ .
Steve Boggan did just that by setting free a ten-dollar bill and accompanying it on an epic journey for thirty days and thirty nights across 3,300 miles armed only with a sense of humour and a small, and increasingly grubby, set of clothes.
As he cuts crops with farmers in Kansas, pursues a repo woman from Colorado, gets wasted with a blues band in Arkansas and hangs out at a quarterback’ s mansion in St Louis, Boggan enters the lives of ordinary (and extraordinary) people as they receive – and pass on – the bill. Add to that the missionaries from Missouri, the Amish in Michigan, the banker from Chicago and the deer hunters from Detroit, and what emerges is a chaotic, affectionate and funny portrait of a modern-day America that tourists rarely see.
Editorial Reviews
Review
‘A terrific read’ Rosie Boycott
‘Boggan has constructed a hugely endearing narrative personality…his raconteurship has you chuckling as the author ill-advisedly microwaves his underwear, delightedly discovers a “drive-thru bottle shop”, and generally behaves, in refreshing contrast to the exhausting get-up-and-go of the travel genre, with a lovably shambolic lassitude.’ Guardian
‘Its randomness is its joy’ Independent
‘A picaresque travelogue about chasing an idea through down-home modern America.’ The Times
‘A laugh-out-loud triumph’ The Sun
‘A compelling, inspiring and oddly reassuring portrait of modern America. Fantastic debut.’ Time Out 5-Star Review
‘Steve Boggan’s quest to plant a ten dollar bill into the heart of America…is an astute one.’ We Love This Book
‘The strength of Boggan’s writing is the clear, clean and non-judgemental prose style that lets the remarkable and disparate lives of those he encounters speak for themselves. Heart-warming, fascinating stuff.’ Big Issue
‘Thoroughly enjoyable debut, in the vein of Louis Theroux and Jon Ronson, which gives us an intelligent and humorous portrait of an America tourists rarely see’ The Bookseller
‘An interesting book from an exciting new publisher’ Conde Nast Traveller
‘Charming, often funny and engrossing in the moment’ The Australian
‘The journey of Boggan’s ten dollar bill lasts thirty days, covers three thousand miles, and reveals an image of America, one that transforms the ordinary and mundane into something that seems almost transcendent.’ Digital Journal
‘Boggan covers six states and a distance of 3000 miles, relating his experiences with a self-deprecating wit’ Lonely Planet Magazine
‘I can’t remember reading a book where the author is continually making fun of himself yet becomes more and more admirable and likeable as the book goes on. He has created a cast of interesting and entertaining characters that are vivid, memorable, and a pleasure to hang out with. The book is an unexpected delight’ – Luke Rhinehart/George Cockcroft, The Dice Man.
