How an Average Man Lived an Adventurous Life

by 0 John 0 Linnemeier 0

The stories in this book are all true. Its author has been held up at gunpoint at night on a road in Guatemala and shot with a machine gun in the chest and shoulder in Vietnam. He's come close to dying of thirst in the Sahara and freezing to death in the Himalayas. He's contracted malaria and typhoid fever in Ethiopia and hepatitis in India. There have been accidents involving motorcycles and automobiles. He's had close calls involving lions (twice), elephants (three times) and a rhino (once). He's visited over a hundred countries, seen revolutions, famines, wars, and panty raids, feasted in palaces and fasted in caves. He's discovered paradises, been saved by dolphins, hopped freight trains, danced with an 108-year-old woman, swam with sharks, frequented whore houses and opium dens, and met a man capable of revealing God. In the pages of this book you'll meet the queen of the Ecuadorian prison system, the Dalai Lama, Dick Cheney, a swami from Katmandu who makes his living picking up large stones with his penis, yak herders, tunnel rats, 300 pound go-go girls, deep sea divers, drug dealers, stock car drivers, Indonesian princes, Bolivian miners, beanheads, powder monkeys, hookers and saints. Between the stories the author gives advice to would-be travelers, describes six tropical paradises where you can live comfortably on five hundred dollars a month, and includes his personal lists of the best things in the world.

Genres: Nonfiction

322 pages, Paperback

First published December 15, 2008

Reviews

[John Linnemeier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite possibly the finest literary work created in all of human history. I laughed, I cried, I broke into a sweat, my capillaries dilated, the hair on my head stood on end, I lost control of my bowels, and that was just from the Foreword. It's the first book I've ever read that frequently used the word "antidisestablishmentarianism" correctly and without irony.

Sadly, others have described it as a "shit sandwich."

[Mason Cassady · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fantastic collection of travel stories and lessons learned along the way.

I took a hard copy of this book along with me on a one year bicycle tour around Europe, Southeast Asia and North America. I read stories throughout my journey for inspiration to keep going. Mr. Linnemeier gives perspective, nuance and humor on all things regarding adventure while bringing out the simple joys of what most people would call mundane.

I patiently await his next book!

[Erwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting story... he lived a life of very extensive travel on the cheap. you should compare his adventures with someone like Jim Rogers, who is equally or better traveled, but who experienced that travel from more of business centric perspective as opposed to Linnemeyer who has a more labor oriented perspective.

The book is fun, stories are fast paced and typically end very briefly leaving a bit of mystery. You may find this endearing or irritating, depends on your style.

I would give Mr Linnemeyer's life 4-stars, but the editing of the book is so badly lacking I can only give 3-stars. The only thread running through the book is Mr Linnemeyer himself. There is no timeline, not even the very roughest approximation of a timeline. Nothing showing how he grew or progressed. Nothing showing how regions changed. The stories were badly disconnected. Could have been a series of daily emails or blog posts... Lacks cohesion.

[Zaz · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is a bit of hot mess. The author seems like a sweet man who was certainly had many adventures, most of which were somewhat interesting. However, the weak writing, the terseness of the vignettes, and the lack of an overarching theme or message kind of sunk it for me, despite his closing apology for it.

[Ed Hammond · Rating 5 out of 5]

I strongly disagree with Zaz. My girlfriend and I bicycled around the world last year and as you can imagine weight was crucial to us. We carried this book with us and found it immensely inspirational.