author
A-No. 1
1872–1944
Best known as "A-No. 1," this self-styled tramp author turned life on the rails into vivid first-person adventure stories that helped shape the folklore of American hobo culture.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Leon Ray Livingston, who wrote as A-No. 1, was an American hobo writer born in 1872 and died in 1944. He became widely known under the nickname "The Rambler" and built his reputation by writing about his years of wandering, train-hopping, and life on the road.
His books, including The Trail of the Tramp and From Coast to Coast with Jack London, mix memoir, performance, and social history. They gave readers a lively picture of itinerant life in the United States and helped make A-No. 1 one of the best-known figures associated with hobo culture.
Although some of the legend around him is larger than life, his work remains notable for its energy, humor, and firsthand feel. For listeners interested in travel writing from the margins of American life, his stories still offer a memorable voice from another era.