A 28 year old wakes up when he realizes that death is imminent. After his job lays him off, Cosmo Greco takes his sister, Silvia, up on her offer to drive to Portland. At the beginning of the trip, a Mack truck wipes them off the road, nearly killing them. This near-death experience is a wake-up call for Cosmo, and he begins to question the life he’s been leading. He realizes that he’s not happy with his current life and wants to make a change. A number of encounters along the way reinforce this desire, but he’s afraid to leave the familiarity of his humdrum existence for the unknown. This book is the sequel to Olive Branches Don't Grow On Trees and the second book in the Greco Family Trilogy, although it can be read as a stand-alone. Reviewers such as Kirkus Reviews and Midwest Book Review have called this a poignant and well-drawn soaring story that opens readers eyes to new perspectives. Readers will feel that they are along on the ride in this soulful road story as the highly lovable Cosmo explores a vividly painted American landscape, encounters a cast of colorful characters and discovers what it takes to be truly happy.
"The characters the two siblings meet along the way-whether delightfully crazy or attractive or lost-serve as foils for a kind of personal growth particular to a road-trip scenario, and the landscape of the vast space between the East and West coasts acts as a catalyst for emotional and spiritual change. Author Mattioli (Olive Branches Don't Grow on Trees, 2012) writes in an assured voice that carries the story through its potentially sentimental passages, and...by the end, (readers) may be surprised find that they, too, have undergone an emotional odyssey...poignant and well-drawn."
"A warm blend of travel and observation, family interrelationships, and reflections that ultimately captures the meaning and purpose of getting away and journeying to new places...a soaring story of one man's exploration of new possibilities, new worlds, and ultimately, a newfound purpose to life."
