Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 910.41
EAN: 9780380729418
ISBN: 0380729415
Label: Avon Books
Manufacturer: Avon Books
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 463
Publication Date: 1997-04
Publisher: Avon Books
Studio: Avon Books

Widely considered a jewel of contemporary travel literature, the classic and witty account of author Thurston Clarke's solo journey along the Earth's torrid midsection returns to print in a handsome new volume. During his perilous trek across an almost surreal landscape, Clarke discovered a first-class hotel in the middle of a leper colony and a one-time Pacific island paradise that stood as a hideous, bomb-blasted testament to nuclear folly.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Fantastic and unique
Comment: Though I may be naive, this was a fantastic book. There is something so appealing about following an indiscriminate line while traveling, even if it only highlights the absolute irrelevance of manmade lines and borders that the powers that be have drawn across the globe.

However, this book was not just a cynical statement about those lines; it was a heartfelt and honest tribute to the places and people found along the way. The kindness and compassion which Clarke writes with is not condescending, but genuinely respectful and curious.

Though it was perhaps an unintended consequence of linear travel, the variety and newness (at least to me!) of places he traveled to was outstanding. This is certainly not just another boring, cliché travel book about Tuscan suns and cozy cafes in Paris - it took me to places I'd never understood really existed.

Thank you for this book - I hope to shake your hand someday.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Perfect travel writing
Comment: I read this book years ago when it first came out. I keep going back and reading it again. I don't generally enjoy travel writing, but this book is simply one of the best I've ever read. Not just interesting, but witty and interesting, which is something much better.

The kind of book that you regret having read the first time because you'll never get to read it again for the first time!

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Great company on a long trip
Comment: This is a difficult book not to like. I was worried at first that Clarke's tour of the equator might be a sort of weak gimmick, but he sticks to his plan only in so far as it helps bring to life the people and the cultures that he visits along the way. This is a very human book, with many stories of lives along the equator that are at once quite finely drawn but still pointing to the larger issues of environmental degradation overpopulation and disease. I think it is this very humanness that prevents it from seeming overly depressing or

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Customer Rating:
Summary: A great travel book
Comment: Intelligent, insightful, and not at all patronizing of the cultures he visits. He did manage to hit some of the world's hell-holes along the way. The sections on French Guyana and the South Pacific were particularly interesting.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Great travelouge
Comment: If you like Paul Theroux, you'll like this book. It's a little dated, but still very interesting. The author mixes general cultural, specifics and anecdotes perfectly. Well worth the read.

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