Off the Rails: A Train Trip Through Life

I have always liked trains, and other train lovers. This book was very good on that level, but really encompassed so much other material. Because so many different voyages are covered, the book spans over many decades. It is a must read! Interesti g and witty!

The book was just okay.

Smart and Funny

The mere mention of train travel invokes a sense of adventure, romance and mystery. What will you see? Who will you meet?In Off the Rails, Beppe Severgnini confirms (at least for me) that rail travel is one of the best ways to see the world. From trips across Europe and Asia to a transcontinental trip with his son from Washington, DC to Washington State, Mr Severgnini offers a unique perspective of travel by rail. Quirky, funny, and filled with many different and memorable characters, this is one travel book that will entertain and enlighten any reader.Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book for review.

Picked this off the shelf at the library and was intrigued by the trail travel. It was a great quick read with a lot of good stories of time on the rails. You will want to book a train trip after reading it.

For someone who acknowledges some of the great travel writers, Severgnini’s writing is very pedestrian. The book has the flow and attention span of a series of snapshots taken with a smartphone. There is very little depth to the storytelling which at times is patronizing towards fellow travellers. Whereas the great travel writers relish in the diversity of their fellow travellers and the settings they find themselves in, Severgnini often treats them as superficial oddities and moves on. There are some interesting itineraries but in each journey the author rushes to the destination leaving behind experiences that should have been rich in stories.