I knew Mark, I knew Jim, I knew Akers. I forget who's idea the trip was, but Akers was supposed to go before she had something come up. Some sort of poetry emergency. Anyway, Jim was/is a better writer than Mark, Akers was better than both, and doing a book about it was her idea. That's the way I remember it and I am bigger than any 2 of them.

The best thing I can say about Winegardner is that as a writer and original thinker he was very good looking.


I wanted to hear from Jim   April 7, 2001
3 out of 8 found this review helpful

I know Wingardner, and I know his road trip buddy, Jim. Trust me, Jim would have written a MUCH better story. Wingardner's prose is flat, his tone is at once snide and "gosh golly gee whiz," and he scripts himself as the hero in nearlly every chapter. I agree with the first reviewer that "Elvis Presley Boulevard" is more "Me, Glorious Me," which is a shame, given the potential richness of the material. Jim sent me a postcard of a fur-bearing trout from this trip, and the message on the back had more drama, wit and affection for the subject than this whole book.


Me, Glorious Me!!!   March 5, 2001
2 out of 8 found this review helpful

From a man who makes his classes on Great American Fiction at John Carroll University read his own novel what can one expect? Not much. It constantly surprises me that Wingardner has not already written a novel entitled "Let Me tell you About Me," with a follow up novel entitled "More about Me." Wingardner fancies himself a great writer, I supposes there's no harm in letting him go on in his dillusional ways. "Elvis Presley Blvd" is just another road trip novel. I'd rather read the Atals.