andrew t locke

"Looking Within: A Man's Journey to Find Himself" (LW) is the coming of age story of a 21st-century beatnik, Jake. Jake is a college student from Kearney, Nebraska, and he fails out of the University of Nebraska, Kearney. He moves back into his divorced mother's home, and he can't swing with that scene. He runs away by hitching a ride with an older cat named Joey. LW is the tale of their road trip & how Jake 'finds himself.' Initially, the atmosphere in the car is silent, and the book is largely Jake's internal dialogue regarding his choice to leave Nebraska as well as regarding his search for a life-path. Conversations between Jake and Joey begin as their bohemian road trip continues, and those conversations gradually unfold into sessions of dialectic. Jake lives on the road for a couple of weeks to the perfectly punctuate his search for his identity. Jake's life lacks direction, but his search helps him choose a direction. Jake is inspired to build a plan for his life through his experiences and explorations on this trip, in particular by books he reads regarding Eastern thought and by a girl he meets. Jake still chooses to return to home in Nebraska to repair the relationship with his mom. Jake only tells Joey which exit to take off the highway, but Joey drives to the correct house with no further directions. How does he know which house is Jake and his mother's house is without further directions?!