Commissioned to write an extensive article on the soul of the vast and diverse United States, now, of all times, the West German author and journalist, Philip Winter, finds himself struggling to break out of a creative rut. Completely blocked and utterly uninspired, Philip drifts from one cheap and monotonous motel to another, documenting the journey with his instant Polaroid camera until a chance encounter at the JFK airport with the single mother, Lisa, and her nine-year-old daughter, Alice, jolts him into action. Now, en route home, Philip and Alice make a brief stopover in Amsterdam, and then, they embark on a long quest to find Alice’s grandmother, meandering through Germany penniless, and above all, clueless. This is Alice’s trip into the unknown. Will Lisa show up?
—Nick Riganas
参考翻译：
西德作家兼记者菲利普·温特（Philip Winter）受委托撰写了一篇关于广袤多样的美国的灵魂的广泛文章，如今，在任何时候，他都发现自己在努力打破一种创造性的常规。菲利普完全被封锁，完全没有灵感，从一家廉价单调的汽车旅馆漂流到另一家，用他的即时宝丽来相机记录旅程，直到在肯尼迪机场与单身母亲丽莎和她九岁的女儿爱丽丝偶然相遇，他才采取行动。现在，在回家的路上，菲利普和爱丽丝在阿姆斯特丹作了短暂停留，然后，他们开始了寻找爱丽丝祖母的漫长旅程，在德国漫步，身无分文，最重要的是毫无头绪。这是爱丽丝的未知之旅。丽莎会出现吗？-尼克·里加纳斯
重点词汇释义：
West German西德人; (指1990年德国统一之前的联邦德国)西德的，西德人的，西德文化的
break out of逃出
chance encounter邂逅
into action付诸实施
en route在途中; 在路上
embark on着手，开始做某事
above all首先; 尤其是
