One Yooper's Journey: An Unauthorized Autobiography is a fictionalized autobiography. It needs to be fictionalized just as a resume needs to be embellished. It may not be as believable, but the fictionalized parts are intended to be much more entertaining. The events described in the book really happened. The specifics, such as the minute details and the dialogue, may not be historically accurate. The term unauthorized autobiography, though somewhat oxymoronic, has a purpose. Real Yoopers may take exception to the use of this word in the title, since the author has lived most of his life outside of the Upper Peninsula. His journey parallels at times and intersects at other times with the journey of his favorite relative--his Uncle Hal Nowell. Uncle Hal teams up with him from time to time with a mix of shared adventures and misadventures. The author was positively influenced by the town and the many good people of Escanaba.