"One for the road" is a story of an unusual road-trip across Australia's outback. Tony Horwitz decides to return to youth and employ hitchhiking as a method of transportation. Thus, over a period of a few weeks he visits some of Australia's less known places - dusty ghost towns in the desert with populations of dozens and a shabby pub as the main attraction.
The first part of the journey takes the author from north-west from Sydney, across Queensland and then back south to Alice Springs. He then manages to get into a car accident (while driving a rented car himself) and flies back home. After some time he's at it again, flying in to where he finished - Alice Springs, and from there hitch-hiking south and then all the way clock-wise around the rim of the Australian continent - through Perth, into Darwin.
Horwitz's writing is very entertaining. This guy has a knack for getting into peculiar situations, probably just for the experience, of to have something interesting to write. Along the way, he presents a pretty interesting description of outback Australia and the people inhabiting it. And to tell the truth, it doesn't sound like a place I want to visit - most of it is scorched desert, there isn't anything interesting to see, and people are mostly chronic drunks (so having finished this book I'm quite content with our itinerary in Australia next month). It's interesting to compare this book to the somewhat similar "In a sunburned country" by Bill Bryson. While Bryson is very careful and presents the adult point of view, Horwitz definitely manages to present a teenager outlook on things.
Eli Bendersky's website