Might be the best craft book on writing you will ever read. It’s not written as a craft book, of course; it’s a memoir, and an entertaining one at that. But it is a memoir about how Orlean became a writer ... Orlean is engaging and generous, explaining how she found ideas, honed and reported them, overcame obstacles ... It is the good fortune of the rest of us to be invited along on this ebullient ride.
A pleasure because in many ways Orlean represents the two kinds of reportage she says she specializes in: 'Who knew?' stories about odd subcultures...and 'hiding in plain sight' stories ... There are elements of Joyride, particularly in its latter chapters, that Orlean the memoirist speeds past things Orlean the journalist would pursue doggedly ... The latter portions of the book feel more like dinner-party stories than the close studies that distinguish her other writing. Still, for anybody who admires Orlean’s work, Joyride is a satisfying story about what’s required to make strangeness your beat.
There are many highlights ... This down-to-earth leviathan invites you to sit right next to her on her joyride, and even imagine you might take your own version.
What makes Joyride an exhilarating experience is the pleasure of so accomplished a reporter dispensing instructive advice, while also making many private admissions of failure ... There is nothing small about Orlean’s life, and Joyride blossoms beautifully.
A literary lark ... On the surface, it might read like a fairy tale. And Orlean successfully writes a book that is as enjoyable as one, but she’s too good to avoid the granular detours and spiky bumps that make a truly complex and rich life worth recounting.
Even those readers mostly uninterested in the inner workings of longform journalism can find something to enjoy in Joyride ... The memoir is a full-throated endorsement of the act of writing and, more generally, a guide to a curious and creative life.
