By Allen Noren
“Storm is a terrific read-often harrowing, sometimes painfully poignant. Noren has a wonderful style that many writers world kill or die for: direct, unpretentious, and clear as a bell.”
– Jeff Greenwald, author of The Size of the World
Storm is a story of travel, love, and transformation that begins as a dream shared by a couple, Allen and Suzanne, partners – at home and on the road – for seven years. Together, they envision a modern-day adventure for pioneering spirits – a journey around the Baltic Sea on a motorcycle. For months before leaving, they plot their itinerary through parts of Scandinavia, Russia, and the Baltic States. With many journeys behind them, Allen and Suzanne set off with confidence and a grand sense of adventure.
But even the most seasoned travelers can be surprised. Storms unlike any in recent history make their journey physically taxing and perilous. As the storms rage, Suzanne discovers that her own disposition has changed since earlier trips – she finds herself craving more comfort than challenge. At the same time, Allen maintains his hunger to experience the world on its own terms. The resulting tension is as palpable as the dark clouds that hover overhead, no matter where they go. Because their journey is such a difficult one, the insights Allen shares, in Storm, are hard won:
“You realize that ordinariness can be stumbled upon anywhere, and that even the places we dream of going, the places where we imagine our lives will change irrevocably, can be just as plain as the place we left.”
Readers will be intrigued by the details of the journey itself – the landscapes and people of Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Russia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland are perceived with the devotion of a born traveler and rendered with the deceptive ease of a skillful writer. Noren’s sense of humor provides the perfect tonal balance for the challenges he and Suzanne encounter, as when they arrive to camp on a remote island that has been taken over by hundreds of testosterone-crazed bikers. Throughout Storm, Noren conveys the allure of spontaneous, Spartan adventure that keeps him moving forward, at speeds up to 115 miles an hour.
About the author
Allen Noren lives and works in Sonoma County, California. He has published stories and poems with various small literary presses. While writing Storm, Allen worked for O’Reilly & Associates, a print and online publishing company, as the managing editor of their Web sites. Allen pioneered literary travel publishing on the World Wide Web with O’Reilly’s Global Network Navigator (GNN). This is his first book.
About Travelers’ Tales
Founded in 1993, Travelers’ Tales publishes the best in travel, adventure, and spiritual writing from world-famous authors as well as new writers. Our goal is to inspire and enlighten readers through true stories by travelers who have explored the depths of their experiences. The series includes country and regional guides, books on adventure and the outdoors, women’s travel, spirituality, food, trouble and survival, consumer titles and, most recently, Footsteps: The Soul of Travel, a series that features single-author travel narratives.
Storm: A Motorcycle Journey of Love, Endurance, and Transformation
By Allen Noren
Published by Travelers’ Tales
Publication Date, May 2000
Trade cloth original
ISBN: 1-885211-45-7; 340 pages; $24.00 U.S., $37.00 Canada
Distributed to the trade by Publishers Group West
Available from bookstores, 1-800-247-6553, or www.travelerstales.com