Doreen Orion

I enjoyed Queen of the road, but entered into it expecting a light read. Like other reviewers, I found Doreen only moderately interesting at the start, but the saga of embarking on a year-long bus adventure kept me reading. The constant "Prada this, Richard Tyler that," failed to make a spark with the anti-label consumer, but I definitely got the message that Doreen is/was materialistic. Someone who is familiar with the "Sex and The City" lifestyle will most likely find more appreciation for her tastes and references. Her humor is moderately self-depreciating, with tinges of pride at being very good at being a "Princess," but what I found myself wondering is why such a fabulous husband is getting out of a relationship with her, with her frequent dramatic screaming and inability to cope with the outdoors, birds, buses, insects, cooking, laundry, etc., along with frequent drinking as a coping skill. I found it interesting that someone who describes herself as 'house-bound' is bent on purchasing designer handbags and shoes--to what end, I wonder? But that aspect of her acquisitive tendencies is not touched on. She did crack me up with her description of her husband's handyman alter ego as "Project Nerd," and it became a continuing laugh through the book. I appreciated her appreciation and love of her poodle and two cats. However, as Shannon (another reviewer) said, "By the end, she arcs into a character you can understand, and she's come to understand herself." By the time she tries out a nudist RV park with her husband, it's become clear that Doreen has undergone a shift in world-view. As a health professional, I feel like a number of the lessons Doreen finally said learned were always available to her, but it took traveling in a bus to open her up to more thoughtful viewpoints. The messages were brief, but worthwhile lessons in quality time, the search for meaning, and values in a hectic world.… (more)

"The whole thing was Tim's fault. When he announced he wanted to travel around the country in a converted bus for a year, I gave this profound and potentially life-altering notion all the thoughtful
consideration it deserved".

Queen of the Road: The True Tale of 47 States, 22,000 Miles, 200 Shoes, 2 Cats, 1 Poodle, a Husband, and a Bus with a Will of Its Own by Doreen Orion

Just jump in the car (or bus) and go!

What a fun read! I am a travel buff and this work of non fiction, the true story of a couple who just gets in their bus and GOES was exhilarating. It was a delightful book.

I must admit I have always had the dream of doing something like this myself. I was born with Wanderlust and that has never left me and I LOVED seeing the writer just jump right in! And yeah there are some issues but her way of writing makes even those issues sound like an adventure! At times this book is LOL funny.

I really want to see every state in my lifetime but I am not there yet. This book will no doubt appeal to travel buffs, it would have to. I enjoyed it greatly and my hat's off to the two of them and their happy travels!… (more)

The cover is beautiful for its theme. The title is great. They match the conventions of a psychological thriller, and I greatly enjoy reading those. This book is a combination of a memoir, a civil procedure law textbook, a criminal law textbook, and a book that helps a person who's being stalked. All of those are a lot for a paperback to handle. Dr Orion's book fails at it. It's a strange combination, anyway.

But when this book first came out in 1997, I firmly believe it helped many, many people. This book is a time capsule and I'm so glad a variety of societies have progressed since then, with such better technological access, information and social views. This book is at the same time hopelessly outdated and Dr Orion's memoir reads like she's pleading for the audience to believe her, when she's not delivering walls o' text. Sometimes it's checklists. Sometimes it's state laws, word for word, as they were when the book was written more than twenty years ago. I believe Dr Orion, and also find the way parts of the book were put together to be annoying. Totally separate from everything else in the book: Dr Orion seemed condescending of her patients despite repeatedly claiming to be in love with her work. Did--did she only want people whose lives were drastically improved solely with one medication and the dosage instantly correct or something? Because she really seems, in some places, to only have patients with "easy" illnesses and treatment plans. Schizophrenia and related diseases do not tend to be easy to treat at first. While her ordeal must have been awful, I'm not blaming her for it. That is not the issue I'm trying to address when I mean--oh, whatever.

Another Goodreads review suggests watching a 2002 French film that is available on Amazon with terrific English subtitles: I watched "He Loves Me, He Loves me Not" a few weeks before reading this book. It's a great start for learning about erotomania, as the reviewer points out. It's not scary at all, I note, so don't expect a psychological thriller. Don't expect one from this book, either.… (more)