Picture This

December, 1997

American literature is rich with stories of the adventure traveler--from Melville to Kerouac to Theroux. For all these writers, the journey begins as an escape and ends up being something more. So it is for Gary Paulsen, who writes eloquently about his motorcycle trip from New Mexico to Fairbanks, Alaska and back in Pilgrimage on a Steel Ride (Harcourt Brace). Naturally, his bike is a Harley-Davidson, the kind he had been dreaming about owning for much of his life. The round-trip is just about 1...