New Travel Book: ‘I Wouldn’t Start From Here’

Travel Blog  •  Eva Holland  •  08.29.08 | 12:11 PM ET

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Full title: “I Wouldn’t Start From Here: The 21st Century and Where It All Went Wrong”

Author: Andrew Mueller

Released: August 1, 2008

Territory covered: London, New York, the Middle East, Afghanistan, Cameroon, Taiwan, Georgia and more.

Travel genre: Disaster/war zone travel, humor travel

Promo copy: “I Wouldn’t Start From Here” is Andrew Mueller’s personal memoir of the 21st century so far. It features any number of exotic locations, and a cast of revolutionaries, rock stars, politicians, hitmen, warmongers and peacemakers. Between ducking for cover in Gaza, running roadblocks in Iraq, getting arrested in Cameroon and hanging out with Hezbollah, this is a search for an answer to perhaps the key question of our time: “What is it with these people?”

Critical verdict, Zagat-style: “Can a travel book on ‘trouble tourism’ be responsible? Should a journey to war zones evoke belly laughs? Is there comic potential in a visit to Gaza? The answer is yes, if that book is written by Andrew Mueller.” (The Guardian) “The book can be read as a series of nicely modulated conversations revealing the human idiosyncrasies behind the headlines. And as Mueller is by training (if that is the word) a rock critic, there is none of that old-school foreign correspondent condescension.” (New Statesman) “When every backpacker clutching an airline ticket and a well-thumbed Lonely Planet guide seems to think their banal observations and clunky insider jokes merit book-length treatment, Mueller manages to stand above the crowd. A London-based former rock journalist who was born in Wagga Wagga, NSW, he’s an amusing and intelligent companion, an accidental war correspondent who goes to the right places and isn’t frightened to ask some very frightening people the right questions.” (The Australian)

Find it: Amazon, Powell’s

Tags: Travel Writing, War, Literary Travel

Eva Holland is co-editor of World Hum. She is a former associate editor at Up Here and Up Here Business magazines, and a contributor to Vela. She's based in Canada's Yukon territory.


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