Road Fever

Amazon.com

If you define "adventure travel" as anything that's more fun to read about than to live through, then Tim Cahill's Road Fever is the adventure of a lifetime. Along with professional long-distance driver Garry Sowerby, Cahill drove 15,000 miles from the southernmost tip of Tierra del Fuego to the northernmost terminus of the Dalton Highway in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, from one end of the world to another, in a record-breaking 23 1/2 days. Just like the authors' camper-shelled GMC Sierra truck, the narrative bounces along at a relentless pace. Along the way Cahill and Sowerby cope with mood swings, engine trouble, Andean cliffs, obstinate bureaucracies, slick highways, armed and uncomprehending soldiery (not to mention the challenges of securing O.P.M., or Other People's Money--the sine qua non of adventure, Cahill observes). Author of such off-the-wall travelogues as Pass the Butterworms and Jaguars Ripped My Flesh, Cahill is equipped with the correct amalgam of chutzpah and dementia to survive what can only be called "The Road Trip From Hell." Readers, however, will thoroughly enjoy themselves.

Book Description

Tim Cahill reports on the road trip to end all road trips: a journey that took him from Tierra del Fuego to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, in a record-breaking twenty three and a half days.

Customer Reviews:

One of my favorite books.......2005-12-27

Granted, I bought the book, years ago, because the cover looked like it would be a fun book. How true! A terrific ride...with tension and giggles throughout! (And a trip I'm GLAD I was only living vicariously!) One of the few books I've reread...a couple of time, in fact.

Half Road Trip Half Boredom.......2004-06-04

Half of this book details the planning process of the road trip which is far from a rip roaring laugh out loud time. The road trip part of the book is somewhat interesting and there are a few good laugh out loud parts. It appears that Cahill was contracted to write a book and found out that he didn't have enough material from the road trip so he had to fill it with the thrilling money raising and visa application process. The ending is the classic "need to get this finished before deadline" and the last 3000? miles are glossed over in five pages. I like Cahill's writing style but this book is definitely lacking interesting material for him to use.

Has its moments.......2003-08-03

A generally enjoyable quick read book that has some laugh out loud moments. Cahill tells a fun story about his trip up two continents and gives some insights into the worlds of adventure driving and travel writing. Nevertheless, at times the story drags and gets a little redundant. I would have given it 3 1/12 stars if Amazon let me do it.

Read It Fast.......2003-07-24

You probably can't race through it in 23 1/2 minutes, a minute for each day of Cahill and partner Gary Sowerby's Guinness World Record trip from south of Ushuaia, Argentina, (a lovely little city, by personal and Road Fever testimony) to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, but you should speed through the pages as they sped along the roads. The trip was in 1987 and would be impossible today because some of the route through Colombia is under violent guerrilla control. I would have liked much more of the trip and much less of the preparations. The logistics of preparing for long-distance race driving are staggering, but -- alas -- they are also not very interesting and well over a third of the less than 300 pages cover the getting ready. Once on the road some of Cahill's descriptions of the people and terrains through which they drive are terrific, especially the accounts of the Atacama desert in northern Chile and especially scary driving through Central America. I'd have liked more of that, but too much of the writing is of the "by five o'clock we reached x where we stopped for gas and got directions out of town" variety. Kind of like reading your MapQuest driving directions; they fill space, (usually) get you there, but are more functional than interesting. In the end, while I enjoyed Road Fever I thought it would be more fun than it was. Final note: absence of a map or maps is inexplicable.

Don't Expect Too Much.......2002-11-22

I am a big fan of non-fiction adventure stories, and bought this book based on the advice from this board. The book is basically a yawner. SPOILER COMING: Nothing happens. I kept waiting for either the adventure or the humor. Needless to say, I played the part of the jilted reader. If you read this book, your response will be: "what's the big deal, I could have done that." I think Tim's motivation for this book was solely cash (nothing wrong with that - just warn me first). It was clearly written out of contractual obligation and not because he truly had something to say.

Trail Fever: Spin doctors, rented strangers, thumb wrestlers, toe suckers, grizzly bears, and other creatures on the road to the White H

Average customer rating:

Excellent, even at ten years old
Different and Entertaining
Delightful
Morry Taylor for President!!
Could Not Stop Laughing

Trail Fever: Spin doctors, rented strangers, thumb wrestlers, toe suckers, grizzly bears, and other creatures on the road to the White H
Michael Lewis
Manufacturer: Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Elections | Government | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

U.S. | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0679446605
Release Date: 1997-05-27

Amazon.com

Michael Lewis, the author of Liar's Poker, which Tom Wolfe called "the funniest book on Wall Street I have ever read," now turns his eye to the peculiar method Americans use to choose their president. Beginning with the 1996 New Hampshire primary, Lewis tagged along with players both major and minor. Keeping his eyes open to the nuances of how campaigns are so carefully managed today, Lewis is able to make some insightful, damning, and often hysterically funny observations. The reporting technique is eccentric--who else would spend so much time with Morry Taylor, a rich man who ran for president in what amounted to a vanity campaign--but it works. Lewis has written a very good book that could be shelved under both humor and public affairs.

Book Description

A wickedly funny and astute chronicle of the 1996 presidential campaign--and how we go about choosing our leaders at the turn of the century. In it Michael Lewis brings to the political scene the same brilliance that distinguished his celebrated best-seller about the financial world, Liar's Poker.

Beginning with the primaries, Lewis traveled across America--a concerned citizen who happened to ride in candidates' airplanes (as well as rented cars in blinding New Hampshire blizzards) and write about their adventures. Among the contenders he observed: Pat Buchanan, a walking tour of American anger; Lamar Alexander, who appealed to people who pretend to be nice to get ahead; Steve Forbes, frozen in a smile and refusing to answer questions about his father's motorcycles; Alan Keyes, one of the great political speakers of our age, whom no one has ever heard of; Morry Taylor--"the Grizz"--the hugely successful businessman who became the refreshing embodiment of ordinary Americans' appetites and ambitions; Bob Dole, a man who set out to prove he would never be president; and Bill Clinton, the big snow goose who flew too high to be shot out of the sky.

We watch the clichés of this peculiar subculture collide with characters from the real world: a pig farmer in Iowa; an evangelical preacher in Colorado Springs; a homeless person in Manhattan; a prospective illegal immigrant in Mexico. The politicians speak and speak, often reversing positions, denying direct quotations, mastering the sound bite, dodging hard questions, wreaking havoc on the English language. Spin doctors spin. Rented strangers (campaign workers) proliferate. One particular toe sucker goes awry. Ads are honed to misrepresent and distort. Money makes the world go round.

And the citizens are left dumbfounded or cheering empty platitudes. When trail fever breaks on Election Day, half of America's eligible voters stay home.

This book offers a striking look at us and our politics and the mammoth unlikelihood of connection between the inauthentic modern candidate and the voter's passions, needs, and desires. In telling the story, Michael Lewis once again proves himself a masterful observer of the American scene.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent, even at ten years old.......2007-05-16

My copy is titled "Trail Fever", but it's the same book. I picked it up in the library lobby self-service carousel for a buck, mainly because I recognize Mr. Lewis as the author of MoneyBall. Boy am I glad I did - provided you're old enough to recall the 1996 presidential campain, this is a great read, telling you everything that newspaper editors refuse to. He could write about paint and make it fascinating, sort of like a witty John McPhee. I've polished it off over a number of evenings and it's been eagerly turned to. Of course, now that I'm done it's going back to the carousel.

Different and Entertaining.......2005-08-26

Entertaining book following the Republican Primaries of 1996. You learn a lot about the candidates that you may have never known, and even more so about the candidates you never even knew. There is a lot of focus on Morey Taylor. For some reason, I never remembered him, but liked a lot about him after reading this book. Good entertaining read. Primarily for political junkies.

Delightful.......2005-07-25

In Losers, Michael Lewis gives the reader a fun ride on the campaign planes and busses of the also ran candidates in 1996.
He provides insights and humor about those candidates and the political system we use in our fair land to elect our presidents.

Whether your political preferences tilt to the Left or the Right, you'll learn from and enjoy this book. You'll laugh out loud a few times, too.

I am a Yellow Dog Democrat and finished the book with a real appreciation of one of Lewis' heroes, John McCain. Oh, that McCain had prevailed in 2000 instead of the person who did.

Morry Taylor for President!!.......2004-04-15

This is a pretty typical Michael Lewis read: exceptionally descriptive, hilarious and insightful. He does great work seeing the various campaigns for what they are; and is able to stay objective throughout the experience, though obviously he forms a special connection to Morry Taylor.

This is an entertaining book from a skilled writer.

Could Not Stop Laughing.......2003-01-02

I have read the authors other two books and found them average at best. I tried this book because of the good customer reviews here and that it was very inexpensive used. What a side splitting, could not put down book this turned out to be. His wit hit high form with this book, I really fell in love with his descriptions of the race and candidates. Funny and smart comments kept coming at the reader almost if a comedy team were working on the book instead of one writer. OK the book is not the dry step by step look at the campaign that you would get with some other authors but that is part of the fun. If you read this book with say The Choice by Woodward, you get a great look at the election process and the probably would gain a better understanding of American politics.

Book Description

Jeff’s Uncle Roy runs a museum. That means he’s always zooming off to strange places to find ruins and treasure. But Jeff has never gone along—until now. They’re headed to the Sahara desert to search for dinosaur fossils. And Jeff knows he’ll find the bones of the biggest meat-eater ever!

“The subject’s popularity, and Bogan’s colorful cartoon-style illustrations will attract beginning readers.”—Booklist

Average customer rating:

Shipwreck Fever (Road to Reading)
Golden Books
Manufacturer: Golden Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

Action & Adventure | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0307464164
Release Date: 2003-01-14

Book Description

Jeff has found a treasure map hidden in a dusty old book, but Uncle Roy doesn’t believe it’s real. The only way to find a sunken ship, Uncle Roy insists, is through long, hard research. But sometimes, maybe “X” really does mark the spot!

From the Trade Paperback edition.

Average customer rating:

ROAD FEVER
Tim Cahill
Manufacturer: Vintage Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000IO8V9U

Average customer rating:

Road Fever
Tim Cahill
Manufacturer: Fourth Estate
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OIJX9M

Average customer rating:

Road Fever - A High-speed Travelogue
Tim Cahill
Manufacturer: Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000IWUIQQ

Average customer rating:

Road Fever. a High Speed Travelogue
Tim Cahill
Manufacturer: Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: B000I312II

The Road to Glory: Sixteen Years of Blue Jays Fever

Average customer rating:

The Road to Glory: Sixteen Years of Blue Jays Fever
Tom Cheek , and Howard Berger
Manufacturer: Warwick Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Baseball | Sports | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1895629160

Trail Fever Spin Doctors Rented Strangers Thumb Wrestlers Toe Suckers Grizzly Bears and Other Creatures on the Road to the White House

Average customer rating:

Trail Fever Spin Doctors Rented Strangers Thumb Wrestlers Toe Suckers Grizzly Bears and Other Creatures on the Road to the White House

Manufacturer: NY: Knopf, 1997
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000HFCAVK

Customer Reviews:

Vive la Pologne!.......2000-03-02

I thought that in English speaking countries the interest is only at the British and the French armies, despite the fact that the Napoleonic Wars took place in Central Europe,and not on British Islands or in Ireland, or along the English Channel! This book is so packed with information, ufff.

A lot of information about every regiment in the Polish and Saxon army. I recommend this art-work to everybody.

A very good book........2000-01-27

This is absolutely the best source on Poles in the English language. The Poles were the staunchest ally of Napoleon. They were the only ally loyal to Napoleon to the last day. This book covers everything about them. Only the drawings are awful; the colors are just yuck. This author is known for his objectivity and great professionalism.

The Poles and Saxons during the Napoleonic Wars

Average customer rating:

The Poles and Saxons during the Napoleonic Wars
George, et al. Nafziger
Manufacturer: Emperor's Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000RV0WF0

Average customer rating:

heart-wrenching

In the Red Zone: A Journey into the Soul of Iraq

Steven Vincent's opus and the reason he was murdered

Thank you, Steven Vincent!

A Masterpiece, A Great Writer that I Admire!

In The Red Zone: A Journey Into The Soul Of Iraq
Steven Vincent
Manufacturer: Spence Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Iraq | Middle East | History | Subjects | Books
General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Relations | International | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
International Security | Freedom & Security | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Terrorism | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
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My Year in Iraq: The Struggle to Build a Future of Hope

The Assassins' Gate : America in Iraq

The Occupation of Iraq: Winning the War, Losing the Peace

The Force of Reason

Squandered Victory: The American Occupation and the Bungled Effort to Bring Democracy to Iraq

ASIN: 1890626570

Book Description

In the Red Zone, an American journalist's account of his daring solo expeditions through post-Saddam Iraq, is a vivid, frank, and unforgettable portrayal of the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people. An eyewitness of the 9/11 attacks, Steven Vincent went to Iraq to experience the daily realities of life and death in the crossfire of the war on terror. His report is essential for understanding America's enemies and allies in the critical but confusing struggle against radical Islam.

Steven Vincent journeyed twice to Iraq, paying his own way, traveling without security or official connections, living by his wits. His four months in the war zone included a foray into the infamous Mosque of Ali in Najaf, a confrontation with Ayatollah Sistani's bodyguards, a brush with death in a Karbala bombing, meetings with assorted Western "peace activists," and run-ins with Iraqi "authorities" who alternately suspected him of being a CIA agent or a terrorist.

Vincent's encounters with doctors and cab drivers, imams and housewives, politicos and poets—and one unforgettable woman in Basra—provided him with special insight into what Iraqis think of their liberation, of America, and of the war. He describes a tormented society whose inhabitants—troubling, infuriating, yet often inspiring—survived the ghoulish dictatorship of Saddam Hussein only to face the death cult of radical Islam.

The war on terror and the war in Iraq, Vincent concludes, are closely connected. Victory in both conflicts requires that we look with a sympathetic but unsparing eye at the Iraqi people and the whole Islamic world.

Customer Reviews:

heart-wrenching.......2007-05-03

I make it a point to read pretty much every book that comes out about Iraq and environs. Though there has been no recent shortage of first-rate books about the region, this one packs a punch like you wouldn't believe.

To tell you the truth, I haven't seen the book since I first lent it out. The guy I lent it out to lent it out to someone else and so on and on. That I have yet to get it back should tell you something.

The basic story is that Steven Vincent was your typical dingbat liberal living in the Big Apple as an art critic, believing that God was in his heaven and that all was right with the world . . . and that in particular Islam was a basically peaceful but tragically misunderstood religion.

Then September 11th happened, and in a fit of shock, grief, duty, and curiosity, Vincent hied himself off to desert lands as more or less a roaming reporter for hire.

The book relates his transformation from smug liberal to one who was truly concerned about constructing a fairer portrait of the chances for peace and progress over there.

So far, so good. And whatever you think of his politics, and whatever your position on the war is, and blah blah blah blah.

Listen: the thing that really pushes this book over the edge into the realm of greatest books I've ever read is what happened to Vincent after he wrote it. I won't spell it out here, but you can easily find out on the net.

God, knowing the real ending makes the final third of this book unbearable. Truly unbearable. Some of the most emotionally exhausting and harrowing reading I've ever done.

See, he meets this woman named Nour. And God! God! I can't take it.

Sparrow, O sparrow!

In the Red Zone: A Journey into the Soul of Iraq.......2006-03-08

Freelance journalist Vincent first visited Iraq in September 2003. While other reporters sheltered in insulated compounds or heavily-fortified hotels of the "Green Zone," he lived and traveled in the "Red Zone," that is without security and among ordinary Iraqis. In all, Vincent has penned one of the best-written accounts of post-Saddam Iraq, one of the few that captures the debates, issues, and contradictory emotions that Iraqis are juggling.

In the Red Zone fills a void left by the many think-tank pundits, academics, and journalists who wrote books in the wake of Saddam's fall, where the Iraqi voice is often lost. Vincent's account has the advantage of bringing to light his encounters with ordinary Iraqis. Among other experiences, he was in Karbala when a series of bombs killed 140 in the city in March 2004; and while traveling in Basra, he was briefly interrogated by U.S. intelligence. He makes no attempt to cover the minutiae of daily Iraqi politics but instead takes a big-picture approach.

That said, In the Red Zone has its limitations. There is little discussion of the Kurdish issue and minor errors of fact pop up--for example, the date when Iran's Safavid dynasty began.

In contrast to the usual journalistic practice of adding color to an article by including an occasional man-on-the-street interview, usually conducted by an Iraqi assistant, Vincent provides a deeper insight into Iraqis. He introduces the reader to Qasim, a Baghdad art gallery owner who, because of a club foot, managed to avoid the carnage of the Iran-Iraq war; Assad al-Abady, deputy director of the Iraqi National Organization for Human Rights; a secular Sunni woman torn between her love of freedom and the "humiliation" of having it delivered by foreigners; a Fallujah policeman who swears blood lust against Americans after U.S. soldiers kill his son; a Shi'ite taxi driver still euphoric over liberation; and a Christian woman in Basra whom Vincent later learns had been raped in her youth by Saddam's police.

Vincent also spent time with foreigners. He details a long conversation with a Canadian antiwar activist who lectured him about U.S. "human rights violations" but would not condemn insurgent terrorist attacks on Iraqi civilians or visit Saddam's mass graves. Vincent also describes a surrealistic encounter with CodePink, an American peace group, during which one member doubted that Saddam really was that bad. He also notes the Iraqi reaction to Western peace groups. "How can people accept for so long the crimes of a dictator, then rise up to try and stop a war begun to remove that dictator from power?" one Iraqi lawyer asked. "Antiwar activists should examine their consciences."

Michael Rubin
Middle East Quarterly
Summer 2005

Steven Vincent's opus and the reason he was murdered.......2006-02-15

First, let me say that Steven Vincent died for this book. He was murdered because he wrote brutally honestly about the dark underbelly of Iraq, about how here (and much of the Middle East) life is cheap and what passes for culture twists minds and perpetuates continued ignorance in the majority of the populace. Steven is gone now, but his opus is still available and if you only read one book about Iraq in your entire life, then In the Red Zone should be that one book.

I read this book in one sitting, from cover to cover, all 240 pages in the span of about six hours. Everything you need to know about the war, Shia, Sunnis, Kurds, the occupation, what the future could hold - it's in here. The good, the bad and the ugly are all laid out for you. This book will be of equal fascination to both pro and anti-war readers because Steven didn't sugarcoat a thing when he wrote In the Red Zone. He didn't sugarcoat Iraq one iota and he died for it.

Life is cheap in cultures that glorify death. Steven found that out the hardest way. His death has a silver lining - Nour - his brave Iraqi intrepreter. She was shot by the same vicious parasites that killed Mr. Vincent but survived and is still somewhere in Iraq (as far as I know), guarded, silenced or both. Steven and Nour are microcosms of the relationship between America and Iraq. Read In the Red Zone. It will force you to make adjustments to everything you thought you knew. In the Red Zone is Chapter 1 in the story of 21st century. Other Americans and Iraqis will be stepping forward to write Chapter 2. Are you one of them? Which side will you step forward on?

Thank you, Steven Vincent!.......2006-02-07

Although he died while free-lancing in Iraq, I am thankful that this great journalist was able to write this book before he left us. It is an extremely interesting look at life in Iraq, the Iraqi people, and the challenges we face there. I'm sorry about his untimely death, and wish he could have stayed around to write many more compelling and inspiring books such as this one. God bless his family and bless the memory of this brave man.

A Masterpiece, A Great Writer that I Admire!.......2005-11-29

I just finished reading Steven Vincent's "In the Red Zone", and I must say this is a great book on Iraq that I couldn't find another one these days. I was deeply moved and enthralled by the author's journalistic dedication, his great moral courage, his noble idealism, humanitarian perspectives on today's Iraqi society, all along with his amazing writing skills.

Sadly, we lost a hero, a real American hero! As a real journalist, Steven Vincent sacrificed his valuable life in Iraq. And if that will waken more of our people's consciences and firm our resolves on war to terrorism, his death is not in vain!

Book Description

The last fifteen years have been a period of dramatic change, both in the world at large and within the fields of ecology and conservation. The end of the Cold War, the dot-com boom and bust, the globalizing economy, and the attacks of September 11, among other events and trends, have reshaped our worldview and the political environment in which we find ourselves. At the same time, emerging knowledge, needs, and opportunities have led to a rapid evolution in our understanding of the scientific foundations and social context of conservation.

Correction Lines is a new collection of essays from one of our most thoughtful and eloquent writers on conservation, putting these recent changes into perspective and exploring the questions they raise about the past, present, and future of the conservation movement. The essays explore interrelated themes: the relationship between biological and social dimensions; the historic tension between utilitarian and preservationist approaches; the integration of varied cultural perspectives; the enduring legacy of Aldo Leopold; the contrasts and continuities between conservation and environmentalism; the importance of political reform; and the need to "retool" conservation to address twentyfirst-century realities.

Collectively the essays assert that we have reached a critical juncture in conservation-a "correction line" of sorts. Correction Lines argues that we need a more coherent and comprehensive account of the past if we are to understand our present circumstances and move forward under unprecedented conditions.

Meine brings together a deep sense of history with powerful language and compelling imagery, yielding new insights into the origins and development of contemporary conservation. Correction Lines will help us think more clearly about the forces that have changed, and are changing, conservation, and inspire us to address current realities and future needs.

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