One-Way Ticket

by Jonathan Vaughters
One-Way Ticket cover
Good Books rating 4.12
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  • ID: 6232
  • Added: 2025-11-07
  • Updated: 2025-11-07
  • Reviews: 4
Reviews
podiumcafe.com · Unknown · 2025-11-14
inspiring 4.50

One-Way Ticket is a candid and engaging memoir by Jonathan Vaughters, offering a unique perspective on the world of professional cycling. The book is praised for its honesty and insight into the sport's culture and challenges.

Jonathan Vaughters' memoir, One-Way Ticket, provides a fascinating look into the highs and lows of professional cycling. The book is celebrated for its raw honesty and the author's willingness to share both his successes and failures. Readers appreciate the behind-the-scenes glimpse into the sport's culture and the personal growth Vaughters experiences throughout his career. The memoir is not just about cycling; it's a story of resilience, determination, and the pursuit of passion. While some might find the cycling jargon overwhelming, the overall narrative is compelling and thought-provoking.

Quick quotes

    The book is a raw, unfiltered look at the world of professional cycling

    Vaughters' honesty is both refreshing and inspiring

    One-Way Ticket is more than a sports memoir; it's a story of personal growth and resilience

jralong.com · Unknown · 2019-11-26
haunting 4.00

The reviewer embarked on a journey to read exclusively works by minority authors to better understand diverse perspectives. They found Sherman Alexie's 'The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven' to be a haunting collection of stories that capture the essence of contemporary Native American life, blending despair with beauty and offering a glimpse into a different cultural narrative.

The reviewer decided to read exclusively works by minority authors to gain a better understanding of diverse perspectives. They chose Sherman Alexie's 'The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven' as their first book, having heard it was a powerful portrayal of contemporary Native American life. The collection of short stories is described as haunting, tinged with despair yet also beauty. The stories revolve around the day-to-day frustrations and lost wonder of Native American youth, with themes of fatherhood and cultural identity. The reviewer found the stories to be deeply moving, offering a glimpse into a different cultural narrative. The collection's use of magical realism and surrealism provides a unique perspective on the Native American experience, highlighting the importance of storytelling as a means of survival and cultural identity.

Quick quotes

    The stories are spare, sad, and for the most part revolve around the day-to-day frustrations, disappointment, and lost wonder of Alexie’s generation.

    Yet I had to keep reminding myself these weren’t white people.

    The important of stories is the backbone of this collection of stories.

road.cc · Unknown · 2019-08-19
good 4.00

The book is a collection of short stories that are both funny and sad, offering a glimpse into the lives of its characters. The stories are described as strong medicine, making them a good companion for a long journey.

The book is a collection of short stories that are both funny and sad, offering a glimpse into the lives of its characters. The stories are described as strong medicine, making them a good companion for a long journey. The reviewer highlights the delicate windows into the characters' lives, touching on themes such as relationships turning sour over time, the amusement park ride that never ends, and terminal diagnoses that lead to humor as a coping mechanism. The stories are set in various locations, including the rez, the courthouse, the trading post, the hospital, the funeral, and eventually home. The reviewer suggests that the stories are a good companion on the way to any destination, but warns that you might not get there any time soon.

Quick quotes

    Alexie’s collection is at times funny and at others hollow and sad. It succeeds best when it is both.

    The book plays out like a long car ride, Thomas Builds-the-Fires sitting in the back, leaning up between the seats to tell stories from Victor, Junior, James (aka, “He Who Crawls Silently Through the Grass with a Small Bow and One Bad Arrow Hunting for Enough Deer to Feed the Whole Tribe”), Norma, and those ponies they stole to ride through the night.

    The car ride is long; headed to see Jimi Hendrix or the fair, to Benjamin Lake, #Spokane, or circling back to the rez, to the courthouse, trading post, hospital, funeral, or eventually home.

inrng.com · Unknown · 2019-07-17
affectionate 4.00

The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven is a collection of 22 linked stories that present contemporary life on the Spokane Indian Reservation with wrenching pain and wry humor. The tales are often lyrically beautiful and very funny, focusing on themes of irony, grim humor, and forgiveness.

Sherman Alexie's The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven offers a poignant and humorous look at life on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Through 22 linked stories, Alexie explores the struggles and triumphs of the reservation's inhabitants, using a mix of wrenching pain and wry humor. The characters deal with issues like alcoholism and despair, but their stories are often lyrically beautiful and very funny. The book's strength lies in its ability to transcend pain and anger through irony, grim humor, and forgiveness, making it a searing yet affectionate read. The voices and perspectives of the characters sometimes blend together, but the overall sensibility of the book is what truly shines. It's a collection that doesn't succumb to hopelessness, thanks to its focus on forgiveness and the ability to both judge and love.

Quick quotes

    With wrenching pain and wry humor, the talented Alexie, a Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Indian — and previously a small-press author (The Business of Fancydancing, a collection of poetry and prose — not reviewed — etc.) — presents contemporary life on the Spokane Indian Reservation through 22 linked stories.

    These tales, though sad and at times plain-spokenly didactic, are often lyrically beautiful and almost always very funny.

    Irony, grim humor, and forgiveness help characters transcend pain, anger and loss while the same qualities make it possible to read Alexie's fiction without succumbing to hopelessness.

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