| The Ride of Our Lives: Roadside Lessons of an American Family (Random House Large Print (Cloth/Paper)) | 
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Avg. Customer Rating:   (based on 39 reviews)
Sales Rank: 771230
Category: Book
Author: Mike Leonard
Publisher: Random House Large Print
Studio: Random House Large Print
Manufacturer: Random House Large Print
Label: Random House Large Print
Format: Large Print
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 368
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 0739325906
Dewey Decimal Number: 917.304931
EAN: 9780739325902
ASIN: 0739325906
Publication Date: April 18, 2006
Release Date: April 18, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Mike Leonard is a lucky man. It?s not everyone who gets parents like Jack and Marge. At eighty-seven, Jack is a pathological optimist with an inexhaustible gift of gab. Marge, Jack?s bride of sixty years, though cut from the same rough bolt of Irish immigrant cloth, is his polar opposite?pessimistic and proud of it. What was their son, Mike, thinking when he took a sabbatical from his job with NBC News so he could pile these two world-class originals along with three of his grown kids and a daughter-in-law into a pair of rented RVs and hit the road for a month?
Mike was thinking that he wanted to give his parents the ultimate family reunion. And so, one February morning, three generations of Leonards set out on their journey under the dazzling Arizona sky. Thirty minutes later, one of the humongous recreational vehicles has an unplanned meeting with a concrete island at a convenience store. Thus begins the adventure of a lifetime?and an absolute gem of a book.
In the course of their humorous, often poignant cross-country tour, from the desert Southwest to the New England coastline, the Leonards reminisce about their loves, their losses, and their rich and heartwarming (and sometimes heartbreaking) lives, while encountering a veritable Greek chorus of roadside characters along the way. The home stretch finds the clan racing back to Chicago, hoping to catch the arrival of the next generation, Jack and Marge?s first great-grandchild. Through it all, Mike pieces together acentury of family lore and lunacy?and discovers surprising sides to his parents that allow him to see them in a whole new light.
Mike Leonard has captivated millions of television viewers with his wry and witty feature stories for NBC?s Today. Now he brings that same engaging charm and keen insight to the foibles and passions of his own blessedly unique family. By turns uproariously funny and deeply moving, The Ride of Our Lives delivers a lifetime of laughs, lessons, and priceless memories.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 34 more reviews...
 Fast reading, laugh out loud, touching July 7, 2008
I couldn't put this book down. It is so touching, and profound. At times I would put the book down and laugh out loud! What a family to belong to, I bet everyone who read the book was jealous, and wants to take a month trip of their own!
 A better ride than on TV June 15, 2008
The PBS series based on this memoir is entertaining, but the book is so much more. It's poignant, it's deeper, and it's much, much funnier -- laugh out loud finny. Marge and Jack emerge in the book as three-dimensional people, not just the target of jokes that the TV version focuses on. You'll also learn heart-rending details of their childhoods, the pervasive sadness that both have coped with, and you'll understand why Mike Leonard thinks he leads a charmed life.
The ride of our lives June 13, 2008
A good quick read. The book is funny,sad,and so much like most of our lives. The family is a say it like it is. We are just as we come take us or leave us. I would take them, read the book it was very enjoyable.
The Read of My Life March 27, 2008
I enjoyed the book so much. Mike Leonard has written an amazing book about a trip with his parents and how much he learns about them. The book makes you feel like you are riding along with them in the RV experiencing every mile of the trip. I laughed out loud and even cried like a baby in spots. I am now watching the series on the PBS channel on Thursday nights. If anyone can tell me how to get in touch with Mike Leonard (ie) email. Please let me know by emailing me at rangersfan5@optonline.net. I would love to let him know how great his book was.
HYSTERICAL! February 22, 2008
I laughed till I cried tears!! Very vivid in his writing, you feel like you were a fly on the wall and living the dream with them! WONDERFUL READ!
It was nice to read a book like this in the world today!
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