This was so much fun. Longhi is such a gifted writer, he really makes you feel like you are right on board with the three friends. It's a picaresque tale in the best way. If you are a fan of Woody or Cisco, it might be a little more interesting, but you don't even need to be. A wonderful adventure with the gravity of the friends' progressive politics providing an thoughtful undercurrent to their hijinks.

Someone should make this into a movie. ( )

Three men sign up for the merchant marine to serve their country in World War II. It so happens that one of them is Woody Guthrie, influential folksinger and union organizer and his buddy Cisco Houston. They drag along Jim Longhi, who authored this entertaining story. The three men sign up as messman on merchant ships, and then hold their breath as they cross the Atlantic in convoys, always on the alert for German U-Boats lurking nearby. There are hilarious episodes. Jim Longhi signs up to cook's school to extend his leave time with his new wife. But when he reports aboard ship, he is expected to cook for thousands of hungry crew and troops. He panics. He is rescued by a friendly Texan who just happens to be a chef at a hotel. Not all is laughs. On one trip their ship is torpedoed and she limps into port, the captain ready to abandon ship at any moment. Throughout their service onboard various merchant ships, the three men entertain the crews and troops with their music. When it is forbidden to entertain black and white troops together, Woody makes the black troops a part of their chorus to get around the stringent Jim Crow laws. ( )