A Stretch On The River

by Richard Pike Bissell

In this largely autobiographical story, the lively and nonstop dialogue portrays the excitement, humor, and independence of a hard-working steamboat crew on the upper Mississippi.

Genres: Fiction

Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1950

About the author

Richard Pike Bissell (June 27, 1913-May 4, 1977) was an author of short stories and novels, playwright, business executive and riverboat pilot/master. He was best known for his river books, and for his novel 7½ Cents, based on his experience in the garment industry, which he helped convert into Pajama Game, one of the most popular Broadway musical comedies of the 1950's and made into a movie musical. He wrote a book about the experience called Say, Darling, which chronicled the ins and outs of a broadway musical production; this book was also turned into a musical of the same name.

Bissell was born and died in Dubuque, Iowa. The scion of a wealthy family he graduated from Harvard University, about which he wrote You Can Always Tell a Harvard Man. After college Bissell had a brief adventure in the Venezuelan oil fields and then signed on as a seaman on an American Export Lines freighter. In 1938 he married Marian Van Patten Grilk and returned to Dubuque, where they lived on a houseboat on the Mississippi River. Bissell became a vice president in the H. B. Glover Company, a clothing manufacturer. Turned down when he tried to enlist in the Navy during World War II, Bissell worked on towboats on the Ohio, Mississippi, Illinois, Tennessee, and Monongahela rivers. Returning to Dubuque and Glover's after the war, he published articles on his riverboat experiences in such prestigious national magazines as Atlantic Monthly, Collier's, and Esquire.

In 1950 Bissell published his first novel, A Stretch on the River, a largely autobiographical story whose nonstop dialogue portrayed the excitement, humor, and independence of a hard-working steamboat crew on the upper Mississippi. It was published to significant critical acclaim; several commentators compared Bissell to Twain. Both flattered and embarrassed by the frequent comparisons to Twain, Bissell addressed the issue with self-deprecating humor in 1973 with the publication of My Life on the Mississippi, or Why I Am Not Mark Twain.

I learned three-quarters of what I know about writing from reading Richard Bissell, God bless him.
—-Elmore Leonard

Reviews

[Debbie Zapata · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some years ago I discovered Bissell's High Water at a used book sale. Enjoyed it immensely, but I never saw anything else by the author in all my prowling around the book tables after that. So when I treated myself to a bunch of volumes from what became my favorite online used book store, I looked for Bissell and found this, his first novel.

If you read the GR blurb, with the talk about a steamboat crew on the Mississippi river, you may think the story will take place much earlier in the century than it actually does. The heart of the tale is actually set during the early WWII years, and describes a trip upriver on a towboat (which does not tow, it pushes) with a load of eight barges of coal. The crews of such boats were considered essential for the country and were deferred from the draft, which Bill insists throughout the story was his main reason for signing on.

But was it really? He had tried to get into the Navy, but they turned him down when he proved he could not read the eye chart without his glasses. He says in the early chapters that he was kicked out of or left some of the best colleges in the country, and his crew mates often wondered why someone with any education would work in such a job. Why was he there? His standard answer was that pesky draft board, but as the journey continues, you see the love for the river life he led.

I doubt anyone could write so realistically about life on the river unless they had lived it themselves, and Bissell had. Was he Bill? Most likely: they had enough similarities that this is considered an autobiographical novel. The book is so real, and yet it is told so easily. The conversations flow just as they would in real life, and the situations are believable.

There are raunchy sections (these are still sailors, remember, even if they do work on a river and not the ocean) but there is also humor, drama, nature, and some very poetic thoughts sprinkled throughout the story. And if you have ever wondered what the pilots and the first mates talk about up in the pilot house of a river boat, Chapter 16 will tell you. Bill always assumed the talk would be all about the river, with everyone swapping stories like Samuel Clemens....was he right?

Bissell was observant and was able to portray what he saw so that the reader can live it with him. It was hard, dirty work: six hours on duty, six hours off for the entire trip. Poor wages, not always good food, and dangerous as hell sometimes. But addictive, and for some men it was the only life they would choose. This book gives a wonderful glimpse into a little-known slice of American life.

"The locomotive engineers pitied us because we were so slow and had no brotherhood and a rotten wage scale; the kids envied us because we didn't have to go to Sunday school or wash our necks, and could smoke cigarettes right out in the open; and the rest of the crowd looked across the water at us with the old primitive wonder of the landsman watching a floating object move away from today and tomorrow, whether it be a drift log, a shanty boat, or the Herzogin Cecilie bound for Sidney."

[Jim Leckband · Rating 3 out of 5]

"A Stretch On The Road River" was written by Jack Kerouac before he fell in with the wrong Beat crowd and changed his name from Richard Bissell.

All kidding aside, the parallels between the two books are present. An impressionable kid, easily mistaken for the author, leaves his stationary life for a transportable one and watches mid-Century America from a unique viewpoint - one as a hobo and the other as a deckhand on a Mississippi river steambarge. A lot of the concerns are the same - living the authentic life not tied down by what normal society does.

One of the differences is that Bissell is a lot more authentic than Mr. Kerouac and a lot more sympathetic and humorous. And he didn't have a psychopath like Dean Moriarty to hang out with - instead he has Joe, Shorty and the Captain Sargent, all wonderfully distinct characters aboard the "Inland Coal". Not much happens, but the descriptions of the life and river by Bissell are what makes this a very interesting book to read. And you could get a very good idea what people drank in the Midwest during the 40's with all the brand names of beer and whiskey pouring through the book!

[Jaye]

Interesting

[Troy]

Fear and loathing on the Mississippi...

[Pedgie · Rating 4 out of 5]

More than an autobiography. This story contains a stunning chapter about the death of Shorty, one of the deck hands, that can stand alone as a great piece of American fiction. I will never forget this book for that chapter alone.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Colorful and well written upper mississippi barge story set in the early 1940's. Semi-autobiographical style almost seems like non-fiction at times, looking forward to reading his other books.

[martha · Rating 4 out of 5]

excellent writing. I would normally never be interested in a book taking place on the Mississippi as a boatman, but this is so well-written, of its era, etc.