On Taking the Bus . . . or Leaving Driving to Us

THE GREAT AMERICAN BUS RIDE: An Intrepid Woman’s Cross-Country Adventure by Irma Kurtz (Poseidon Press, $21 hardcover).

After 30 years abroad, traveling the world and then living in London, Irma Kurtz of Jersey City--now advice columnist for Cosmopolitan magazine and author of “Mantalk: Tough Talk from a Tender Woman”--decided to see the United States by Greyhound. She traveled for more than three months, crossing the country not once but four times, with a trip up the Eastern Seaboard thrown in for good measure. If she discovers America in the process, both on her buses and in her frequent brief stopovers, she also discovers Americans in all their diversity, for better and for worse. Kurtz has a sharp eye and a sometimes biting wit: “It was that afternoon in Cheyenne I made contact with the beast that is sucking the life out of American towns and cities. ‘Take me to the mall,’ I told the taxi driver.” Her adventures are great fun to follow.

SOUTHWEST ADVENTURES: The Driver’s Guide/Southern California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico by Fraser Bridges (American Traveler Press, $14.95 paper) and BACKROADS OF TEXAS, third edition, by Ed Syers and Larry Hodge (Gulf Publishing Company, $14.95 paper).

Some folks, of course, prefer not to leave the driving to anyone but themselves. Hitting the road--getting behind the wheel of a car and spinning off down that interstate or bumping along that country lane--might not be much exercise, and might not even be environmentally correct, but it can be a blast, and it’s an American tradition. Driving is an independent person’s sport, a taking of one’s fate into one’s own hands. It’s also a good way to see and otherwise experience a lot of real neat stuff. Fraser Bridges, a highway-lover who has previously written driving guides to Alaska, the Rocky Mountains and British Columbia, among other places, here traces some 34 specific automotive itineraries of varying lengths all over Southern California and the Southwest. He includes plenty of abbreviated but useful information for vacationers (including notes on hotels, campgrounds, eateries, roadside attractions and more). I only wish he’d used the first person more than he does, showing us more of his own driver’s personality--just so we’d know who we’re riding with.

Bridges doesn’t get as far as Texas in his Southwestern circuit, but Ed Syers and Larry Hodge have got that state covered. They’ve cut the state up into four regions and offered 71 major drives, plus countless side trips, covering more than 15,000 miles of roads. Again, a stronger sampling of the authors’ personality would have helped--but, then, maybe Texas itself has personality enough.

A TRAVELLER’S HISTORY OF JAPAN by Richard Tames (Interlink Books, $13.95 paper).

An English historian who has worked for 20 years for the Japanese Embassy in London, Richard Tames has a gift for organizing and clearly presenting an enormous amount of historical, political and cultural information in a (comparatively) few words. His book is not light reading--it’s a history text, plain and simple--but it reveals an awful lot about Japan. A bibliography and an historical gazetteer are particularly valuable for anyone who wishes to learn more, seriously, about this vital (in both senses of the word) nation.

Quick trips:

MALTA, GOZO & COMINO by Simon Gaul (Cadogan Island Guides/ Globe Pequot Press, $12.95 paper). A bit more just-the-facts and a bit less contemplative than some other, more substantial Cadogan Guides, this colorful (though black-and-white) little introduction to the islands of Malta is nonetheless written with humor and authority, as well as obvious real affection for this offbeat destination.

PENNSYLVANIA’S COVERED BRIDGES: A Complete Guide by Benjamin D. Evans & June R. Evans (University of Pittsburgh Press, $39.95 paper). A plank over water, a roof over the plank . . . for some reason, this simple, rustic architectural form fascinates us. Pennsylvania has plenty of examples of the thing, and this straightforward, serious small volume both explains and memorializes them.

TRAILSIDE’S HINTS & TIPS FOR OUTDOOR ADVENTURE edited by John Viehman (Rodale Press, $9.95 paper). Based on the PBS series “Trailside: Make Your Own Adventure,” this is not a guide to campsites and wilderness adventures but rather a common-sense compendium of good advice--on packing, water, medical emergencies, “staying found” (the opposite of getting lost) and more--for anyone planning to vacation out-of-doors.

I LOVE LOS ANGELES GUIDE, third edition, by Marilyn J. Appleberg (Collier Books, $11 paper). An updated version of this concise, encyclopedic little guide to L.A. and vicinity and to the myriad pleasures to be found here.

Books to Go appears the second and fourth week of every month.