Book excerpt: Determined to see all forty-eight states, Oliver Janvier sets off to learn more about the world than can be found in books or taught at school. Along the way he drifts from job to job, moves in and out of relationships, and is also witness to the Larchmont disaster and to his own brothers history-making athletic career. Spanning five decades of American history, Gather No Moss is a classic story of American wanderlust, stubborn independence, and the insatiable quest for new adventure.