Authors of the excellent biography of Jim Tully have released what they are calling “The vagabond copy of Jim Tully’s Beggars of Life“. It’s a free copy of Tully’s autobiography let loose in the wild. In the spirit of the “Where’s George” dollar bills, people who find the copy are encouraged the document the adventure of the book by going to the Facebook page and posting a photo and details about where it was found.

There is only one copy! I think I’d like to see more floating around, and if I had an extra, I’d send it along myself.

On the inside of the book, one will find the following:

You have picked up the vagabond copy of Jim Tully’s Beggars of Life. Tully road the rails for six years with hobos and other drifters in the early 20th century, crisscrossing the USA . He recalled his travels in Beggars of Life. To celebrate the reissue by Kent State University Press (kentstateuniversitypress.com) of this lost classic, we are sending this copy on the road.

We ask you to do three things:

1. Read the book.

2. Within two weeks, drop the book off in a dry, public spot in a city or county other than the one where you found the book. We’re putting just this copy on the road so please take care of it.

3. Go to “The vagabond copy of Jim Tully’s Beggars of Life” Facebook page and log in your name, location, date, and any comments you might care to share. We also encourage you to post a photo of yourself holding the book (or just the book, if you prefer) at your drop-off point. If you do not use Facebook, you may e-mail your details to ArchersBooks@yahoo.com and we’ll post for you.

That’s it. Thanks for being part of the wanderings of this special copy of a vagabond’s autobiography. We hope you enjoy the book.