I'm using this book in my first-year seminar next fall at Ole Miss. I thought it was appropriate, for a number of reasons. But it's also a thrilling read, and one that gives insights not only into an iconic river, but also a personal quest for self-understanding.

---

Product Description

Since the publication of his first book, Mississippi Solo, Eddy L. Harris has been praised for his travel writing. In this exciting reissue of his classic travelogue, readers will come to treasure the rich insightful prose that is as textured as the Mississippi River itself. They will be taken by the hand by an adventurer whose lifelong dream is to canoe the length of this mighty river, from Minnesota to New Orleans. The trip's dangers were legion for a Black man traveling alone, paddling from "where there ain't no black folks to where they still don't like us much." Barge waives loom large, wild dogs roam the wooded shores, and, in the Arkansas dusk, two shotgun-toting bigots nearly bring the author's dream to a bloody . Sustaining him through the hard weeks of paddling were the hundreds of people who reached out to share a small piece of his challenge. Mississippi Solo is a big, rollicking, brilliant book, a wonderful piece of American adventure, and an unforgettable story of a man testing his own limits.

---

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #385867 in Books
• Published on: 1998-09-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Amazon.com Review
At 30 years old, Eddy Harris leaves his home in St. Louis and sets off into the chilly autumn for Lake Itasca. "I decided to canoe down the Mississippi River and to find out what I was made of," he writes. And Mississippi Solo is his stunning testament. Harris, who has authored Native Stranger, South of Haunted Dreams, and Still Life in Harlem, has been widely acclaimed since the first release of Mississippi Solo in 1988. It is greatly pleasing to see this important and stimulating first work revived.

As the Mississippi grows from its tiny source to a wide and powerful flow, Harris gains confidence as a canoeist, faith in his endeavor, and an understanding of his varying identity as an African American traveling alone from north to south in the United States. His exact and brilliantly revealing prose shows us how each bend in this mighty river turns itself within the paddler, how person and river are entwined--and who is in charge.

With an astute ear for irony, philosophy, and wisdom, as well as truths about the river, Harris takes the reader through locks and lakes on the northern Mississippi to the wild and swift and meandering river south of St. Louis. Songs of joy, troughs of loneliness, terrific storms, birdsong, paranoia, friendly captains, wild dogs, and ghosts of slaves fill his pages. Then we face off with two hunters, two shotguns, and Harris's single pistol... and still the river leads him on to New Orleans. Like the river he travels, Harris cuts through to the core of himself and his country. Triumphant! --Byron Ricks

From Publishers Weekly
Growing up in St. Louis, Harris felt drawn to the Mississippi River and wanted to be part of it. At the age of 30 he decided it was time to challenge the riverand himselfby canoeing its length, Lake Itaska to New Orleans. With very little preparation or conditioning, he set out in the fall in a borrowed canoe. In addition to expected hazards of weather, traffic and navigation, the voyage held another one: Harris, who is black, encountered gun-toting rednecks downstream (he carried a revolver). But most people were friendly and encouraging; Harris learned how to handle the canoe in the wake of tugs and successfully tested himself to the limits of physical and mental endurance. Readers who enjoyed Jonathan Raban's Old Glory will want to read this exuberant account of a geographically similiar solo voyage. Harris is a talented writer; may he continue his adventures.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Harris's travelogue narrates his canoe trip down the Mighty Muddy from its headwaters in Minnesota's land of 10,000 lakes to the Delta Crescent City, New Orleans. His poignant impressions, philosophical reflections, and personal recollections from a St. Louis childhood brim with local color, humor, and realism that paint in vivid strokes his own spirit and life in the riverbank towns. Harris seems a combination of Mark Twain's Huck and Jim, but the black Stanford graduate paddled alone. His book is a commentary on America the beautiful, on the water, on helping hands, and on some not so helpinglike those of two shotgun-toting bigots. For travel, adventure, and Americana collections. Thomas J. Davis, SUNY at Buffalo
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

---

Customer Reviews

Quality Writing
I bought a copy of this book after my own canoe trip down the Mississippi. It was fascinating to compare the experiences of Mr. Harris to my own.

The writing is perceptive, insightful, and entertaining. His observations of the people he met along the river, and himself, come across as very honest. He doesn't portray himself as a hero or an expert, but as the person he really is. His dedication to completing the journey is tenuous, but his appreciation for the lasting value of the experience is sincere.

His perceptions on racial issues were objective and refreshing. Although he had preconceived notions on what he might encounter, (a black man in Nordic northern Minnesota and later in the Deep South) he judged people based on how they treated him, and the vast majority of people treated him with kindness and respect.

His descriptions of the river, towns, weather and scenery are also enjoyable, and the hardships and joys are described with equal eloquence.

I was impressed how such a greenhorn of an outdoorsman would have the boldness to tackle such an adventure. My only disappointment with the book is when he skipped some parts of the river. It was his journey to make, however, and he is honest about any shortcuts he took.

In short, this is a great book. It is worth reading to experience the journey vicariously and for the writing itself. You won't be disappointed.

What a great book!
I found this book at a used bookstore while looking for travel books to read on vacation. What a great book! I'm fascinated by the water and enjoyed the description of his trip down the Mississipi river, but I enjoyed even more seeing how a person who wasn't an outdoorsman or even an experienced boater took on this adventure. His experience with people along the way made me feel at the end that I would enjoy sharing a campfire with him and most of the people he met. Except for the rednecks with guns that is.

Travels with Charlie gets wet.
After hearing of Mr. Harris' book on NPR, I thought a travel book down the Mississippi would be fun to read. Mississippi Solo was an enjoyable slice in time and space of a voyage through the heartland of America. Like the song "Proud Mary," Mr. Harris finds that "people on the river are happy to give." His journey lets the reader enjoy the river experience much like Steinbeck shares his adventure in his camper. Mississippi Solo is an enjoyable book for any river rat or river rat want-to-be.