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Daisy, Daisy Christian Miller (1980)
Routledge & Kegan Paul 0 7100 0709 4 180pp £5.99
A mother of adult children defies her progeny to cycle access
the United States on a Bickerton in the late 1970s
 
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Millar's account is amiable enough. She carries a tent, accepts lifts
where they are offered and gets into enough scrapes to make this an entertaining
read. By the close of the account she has journeyed from Yorktown, Virginnia
to Portland, Oregon, via Kansas, Denver, Salt Lake City and the Rockys.
More than anything it paints a picture of the USA beyond the major costal
cities – much of it small town, agricultural and frequently with
very little money. The date is never specified, but at a guess is that
it was 1978 or 1979.
Perhaps the most intriguing things about the book is that it was published
at all. For sure, Miller is a more than competent writer. But today, it
is rare for someone to undertake an epic adventure on a whim, and then
write it up. Books that bare any comparison to this one published today
tend to be by time-served professional writers, who start with a clear
plan to generate sufficient material for a book.
To the extent that this does not appear to be a contrivance, and that
a major publishing house chose to take it on, it is refreshing. Whether
it captures enough of the time and place that it charts to merit a continuing
readership is a more open question.
PS Sep 08
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