Description: The Motorcycle Diaries is Che Guevara's diary of his journey to discover the continent of Latin America while still a medical student, setting out in 1952 on a vintage Norton motorcycle together with his friend Alberto Granado, a biochemist.
Review Quotes: "Most of the book is not explicitly political, but Guevara's profound radicalization is shown through his growing indignation toward American imperialism, the oppression of Indigenous people, and "profound tragedy circumscribing the life of the proletariat the world over" that he witnesses firsthand during his travels. Guevara went on to join Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution against the Cuban government, eventually becoming the minister of industry in the new one-party Communist state. The Motorcycle Diaries is a coming-of-age story, an intimate glimpse at the beginning of one boy's transformation into a man who some remember as a murderer and some remember as a martyr."
-- Calla Walsh, Teen Vogue