On my cross-country drive I listened to several audio books. The best was also the shortest -- Kurt Vonnegut's Man Without a Country.  

He writes with such economy and so much about himself and it's such simple stuff. Made me think Vonnegut would have been an excellent blogger. 

He was 82 when he wrote it. When a young person blames him for the horrible shape of the world he says "But I just got here!" He has a way of expressing complex ideas so simply and he touches exactly the spot that needs touching. What a nice way of saying life is too short. 

At birth, he'd offer: "Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you've got about a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies -- God damn it, you've got to be kind." 

His book was short enough to be listened to in a couple of hours driving from Buffalo to Binghamton.