The Big Both Ways by John Straley-Taylor Piechocki

The Big Both Ways by John Straley is about a guy name Slip and his life during the depression. Since there were no jobs available for Slip he decided to hitchhike to look for jobs. He was somewhat uncomfortable doing this so instead he decided to walk. While he was walking he met a blonde woman named Ellie Hobbes. Slip was unaware that this little, blonde women would change his life. Ellie’s car broke down on the side of the road and Slip offered to help her fix her car. Since Slip helped Ellie fix her car she gave him a ride to Seattle where he was going. She made a stop at an old house and that’s when Slip found out she had a dead man in the back of her car. Ellie told Slip they had to make one more stop before she took him further. They drove to a cliff and there they pushed the car over with the dead man in the trunk, Ellie gave Slip a gun and papers and said don’t get caught with these and they went there separate ways. Slip and Ellie ended up meeting again on a boat that Slip was trying to escape on and that’s when Slip met her sister. Beth, Ellie's sister, both grew up in Idaho. They both have been through a really hard life. Ellie told Slip she was sorry she brought him into this, but he was the one who asked for a ride. Slip soon found out Ellie was a red union worker, which probably was bad news for Slip.These two got in a lot of trouble together killing Ben Avery, getting tangled up with the police and running away from a crime. As the story comes to and end a police officer makes a trip to see them. He tells them he isn't really a cop anymore, but what still like to know what happened.He asked Ellie why she agreed to get rid of David Kept's body. Ellie said she agreed because she needed the informant list. The cop also asked who killed Ben Avery and Slip told him everything was an accident and he wasn't supposed to shoot him. The cop believed his story because it matched the evidence. After the ex-cop figured out why and how these two did everything they all sat and talked and soon enough their lives would continue on as if nothing ever happened.

This book has many things related to the world. It talks about Hitler and him forbidding race, Amelia Earhart, pearl harbor and Roosevelt's social programs. All of these affected out world today. But the main thing that had an effect on our world today was the Great Depression in general. It allowed us to see how easily things could change from good to bad. It showed us that we needed to work and get systems down in order for our lives to continue on the way we wanted them to. Although people were struggling at this time it made them work hard, earn what they wanted and appreciate what they had. Those three things are something people forget about sometimes and we need to remember them. The new deal and great depression have an influence on the Obama administration with it's attempt to stimulate the economy.