LIFE LIST UPDATE – No. 491: Read “Education of a Wandering Man” by Louis L’Amour

Over the weekend, I finished reading an awesome book that I put on my “life list” a couple of years, “Education of a Wandering Man” by Louis L’Amour. To say that this book, one of L’Amour’s few nonfiction books, was one of the best books that I’ve ever read would be an understatement. Those of you who have read it will know what I’m talking about.

I’ve wanted to read “Education of a Wandering Man” ever since I finished reading the 1996 adventure classic, “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer. “Into the Wild,” which was adapted into a movie in 2007, is the story of Virginia native Chris McCandless, who graduated with outstanding grades from Emory University in 1990, promptly gave away all of his money, stopped talking to his family and began wandering the country under the assumed name of “Alex Supertramp.” Over a two-year period, his travels took him all over the American west, the Dakotas and even into Mexico. McCandless, a huge fan of Jack London, eventually set off for Alaska, where he tried to survive on his own deep in the wilderness. Later, a group of hunters would find his dead body at his camp in August 1992.

McCandless was highly educated and, like L’Amour, a voracious reader. Among his final possessions were a collection of reading materials and library cards and the heaviest item he had was his half-full backpack containing his personal library. One of the books found with McCandless’ remains was a battered paperback copy of “Education of a Wandering Man.” McCandless literally carried this book with him to the day he died.

Published in 1989, the year after L’Amour’s death from lung cancer, “Education of a Wandering Man” is an autobiography that describes L’Amour’s life before he got married and settled down. In his early years, L’Amour dropped out of high school, wandered the American west, went to sea aboard merchant vessels, traveled the world and served as an Army officer in World War II. Throughout these years, partly because of his desire to be a writer, he embarked on a lifelong quest to self-educate himself through a personal reading program and the results were amazing.

From start to finish, “Education of a Wandering Man” is a book about books, specifically those that L’Amour read during his formative years. He also puts across the idea that, regardless of one’s circumstances, there’s no excuse for being ignorant as long as you have “want to” and a library card. L’Amour also kept meticulous records on the books and plays he read and several of these lists from the 1930s are included in the back of the book. Having read “Into the Wild” and now “Education of a Wandering Man,” I can see why this book appealed to McCandless, who was an educated wanderer at heart.

In the end, I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it to other booklovers in the reading audience. How many of you have read “Education of a Wandering Man”? What did you think about it? Which of L’Amour’s other books have your read? Which is your favorite? Let us know in the comments section below.

2013 LIFE LIST ITEM “CONFIRMED KILLS” TO DATE:


1. Ate a funnel cake
2. Ate a peach from Chilton County, Alabama
3. Ate at Big Daddy’s Grill in Fairhope
4. Ate at Callaghan’s Irish Social Club in Mobile
5. Ate catfish at the Stage Coach Café in Stockton
6. Ate octopus
7. Ate pigs feet
8. Attended a Beulah Campground service
9. Drank a fresh lemonade at Toomer’s Drugs in Auburn
10. Drank a Mimosa
11. Drank Cognac
12. Drank goat’s milk
13. Hiked the Grand Canyon
14. Joined the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society
15. Joined the Sons of Confederate Veterans
16. Made an origami animal
17. Listened to Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” without interruption
18. Listened to The Beatles’ “White Album” without interruption
19. Planted a vegetable garden
20. Ran the Alligator Trot 5K in Florala
21. Ran the Battle of Mobile Bay 5K on Dauphin Island
22. Ran through the Bankhead Tunnel in Mobile
23. Read all the Hellboy graphic novels
24. Read “And Then There Were None” by Agatha Christie
25. Read “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” by Roald Dahl
26. Read “Education of a Wandering Man” by Louis L’Amour
27. Read MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech
28. Read “Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer” by Warren St. John
29. Read “Savage Wilderness” by Barry Ralph
30. Read the “Complete Stories and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe”
31. Read the entire Bible
32. Read “Who Goes There?” by John W. Campbell Jr.
33. Saw the Ginkgo tree in Evergreen
34. Spend the night in the Old Dr. John Watkins House at Burnt Corn
35. Started a fire without matches
36. Took the downtown Selma walking tour
37. Tried 100 different types of beer

38. Visited Ellicott’s Stone

39. Visited Packer’s Bend

40. Visited the Grand Canyon
41. Visited the grave of Lewis Lavon Peacock
42. Visited the Hank Williams Statue in Montgomery
43. Watched “A Streetcar Named Desire”

44. Watched “Brazil” (1985)

45. Watched “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” (1958)

46. Watched “Citizen Kane” (1941)

47. Watched “Dracula” (1931)

48. Watched “Easy Rider” (1969)
49. Watched “Frankenstein” (1931)

50. Watched “Nosferatu” (1922)

51. Watched “This Is Spinal Tap”

(AUTHOR’S NOTE: The whole point of these life list updates is NOT to draw attention to myself or to anything that I’ve done. Instead, I hope to encourage others to accomplish their own bucket list goals. I’m just a regular guy, and if I can do these things, so can you.)