Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Flight of Passage | 1997 | Rinker Buck | Buy |
| 2 | If We Had Wings | 2001 | Rinker Buck | Buy |
| 3 | First Job | 2002 | Rinker Buck | Buy |
| 4 | Shane Comes Home | 2005 | Rinker Buck | Buy |
| 5 | The Oregon Trail | 2015 | Rinker Buck | Buy |
| 6 | Life on the Mississippi | 2022 | Rinker Buck | Buy |
Rinker Buck’s non-fiction books are built around a consistent formula: take on a physical challenge rooted in American history, then write about both the personal experience and the historical context. His debut, Flight of Passage (1997), recounted the cross-country flight he made with his brother as a teenager in a small Piper Cub airplane, while also telling the story of their complicated father.
His middle books cover a range of subjects. If We Had Wings (2001) explores the early history of American aviation, First Job (2002) collects workplace stories, and Shane Comes Home (2005) follows a Marine killed in Iraq and the impact on his Montana family. Each book reflects Buck’s background as a journalist, with careful reporting and a personal angle.
The Oregon Trail (2015) and Life on the Mississippi (2022) are his most ambitious works. For The Oregon Trail, Buck drove a mule-drawn covered wagon across 2,000 miles of the American West. For Life on the Mississippi, he built a flatboat and floated from Pittsburgh to New Orleans. Both books use these modern-day recreations to tell the stories of the people who originally made those trips.