While Steinbeck succeeded in digesting America, noticing symptoms of illness, and made his predictions clear, his definition of Americans is not as immediately comprehensible. By journey's end, Steinbeck concluded that Americans had more in common with each other than the citizens of other nations, "We are a nation, a new breed. Americans are much more American than they are Northerners, Southerners, Westerners, or Easterners.... It is a fact that Americans from all sections and of all racial extractions are more alike than the Welsh are like the English, the Lancashireman like the Cockney, or for that matter the Lowland Scot like the Highlander.... The American identity is an exact and provable thing"(210). 

    While Steinbeck terms the American identity "exact and provable," he leave the reader quite confused as to just what that identity is. He describes more what Americans are not than what they are, and concludes that the different factions in America are more alike than are different factions in other countries, and that this characteristic makes them American. Steinbeck explains this identity where he excels: as a story writer, not as an academic historian or anthropologist. 

    Travels with Charley reads quickly and enjoyably. In describing his experiences, Steinbeck skillfully uses metaphors and analogies to make every scene readily familiar and easy to picture. As Steinbeck describes his emotions and actions, he makes the reader cheer, disapprove, and laugh at the same time. I strongly recommend Travels with Charley to all the people.