First of all: Happy New Year!

Second: There is a beverage out there called Porkslap. Just thought you should know.

Thirdl: I don’t know about you, but 2007 is only about half a day old, and I’m already wishing I could take a vacation. Unfortunately, it’s not to be. The next best thing? A vacation via paperback.

Now I can’t claim to be much a connoisseur of the travel book, but I know Tom Bissell’s Chasing The Sea is a good one…a chronicle of his travels through Uzbekistan, and an enthralling, often thrilling, real-life adventure that you won’t be able to put down. From urban Tashkent to the faded glories of Samarkand to the holy sites of Bukhara, and finally, to the ecological horror of the Aral Sea, Bissell surveys a culture of extraordinary beauty and sadness that is being pulled in every direction at once and, quite naturally, tearing at the seams. In many ways, it seems to me that this portrait of Uzbekistan (written just before 9/11/01) is a microcosm for the times we’re living in. What communism didn’t ruin in Uzbekistan, capitalism hasn’t been able to fix, and it’s easy to see how a growing fundamentalism can begin to take root.

Bissell makes superb company throughout. His observations are vivid and accessible, his point-of-view is witty, and his sympathies undisguised. Moreover, there’s nothing gilded here. I love Indiana Jones, but let’s not pretend he’s a real guy. For instance, in one scene at a border crossing, the author’s taxi driver is selected for pummeling by checkpoint guards, and Bissell’s reaction has the ring of truth…he’s terrified. It takes a brave writer to be this honest.

Great stuff, highly recommended.

Cheers,

Owen