Author Brad Herzog is coming to Pittsburgh on tour for his quirky, modern-day homage to The Odyssey. He’s speaking and signing books tonight at Joseph-Beth Booksellers on the South Side at 7pm, and tomorrow he’ll be at the Butler Public Library at 6pm.
Brad’s book, Turn Left at the Trojan Horse, is a cross-country excursion in the spirit of the ancient journey of the first road trip in history–The Odyssey.
But instead of a voyage home to Ithaka following the Trojan War, Herzog made his way toward his alma mater in Ithaca, New York. With middle age bearing down on him and a college reunion on his agenda, he asked himself: How has he measured up to his youthful aspirations? What constitutes a life well-lived? In this day and age, what makes a hero?
To answer those classic questions, Brad crafted an itinerary taking him through classically-named places. He says, “I went to places like Troy, Oregon (population 50), not far from Hell’s Canyon. And Iliad, Montana, which can only be reached by traveling about 40 miles down a dirt-and-gravel road. And Siren, Wisconsin, which was almost completely destroyed by a tornado a few years ago. And other tiny towns with names like Athena and Apollo and Atlas.”
