An Evening Among the Headhunters: And Other Reports from Roads Less Taken

This is the sort of book that you can keep by your bedside and dip into when you need to read a little before sleep. Not that it is soporific, but it is doled out in little bite-sized pieces. Or read on the train on the way to work in order to enjoy an otherwise mundane trip. Or take on holidays and read on the beach.It is not trying to be profound or make massive statements about the deeper issues of travel at every turn. It is, however, fun and interesting.

No doubt about it, Millman is a consummate travel writer. We see him in the South Seas, in the Far North, in the Eduadorian jungle--it's amazing, the places he gets to. Millman doesn't just hang around the fun spots, either--he has a compulsion to get to the out of the way places, to see the unusual things. And he also has a knack for finding people, guides usually, and having telling experiences and interactions with them. These interactions become the vehicle for the story. It may be with an Eskimo in Larador, or with scientists studying headshrinkers in Eduacor--Millman sees them perceptively and tells about them with humor. Beyond the brilliant travel writing and storytelling, it's the humor that makes these essays and this book so very entertaining. Millman is one of the funniest writers I've ever read, and should be placed among the great humorists as well as the best travel writers.

What's it like to actually go somewhere remote like Banda (part of Indonesia)? Or to Gwaii Haanas, the ancient home of the Haida Indians (near British Columbia's Queen Charlotte Islands)? Or Sark, which claims to be Britain's last stronghold of feudalism? Ask Larry Millman. He loves the world's remote places, and he searches them out, the way a wine lover might search for a particular vintage, or a mycologist might look for a rare mushroom. His accounts of his travels give you the feeling that you're been there at his good-natured side the whole time, seeing what he sees and enjoying it all. And lucky you: He, as the writer, had to endure the freezings, the drenchings, the fearful climbs, the tumbles into rocky ravines, the difficulties of eating local foods, while you, the reader, get away with merely a vicarious shudder or two. Because of the unusual places he goes, Millman could be called an adventure-travel writer, but he offers none of the usual macho bravado that so often accompanies these kinds of dispatches. His travels don't lack for physical challenges, but it is the place he visits - however difficult it might be - and not his ability to conquer it that interests him. Nor does he promote a site as a place for others to visit, except, of course, by reading his books. As a result, he can write about remote locations while avoiding the Outside Magazine Curse, which is that simply writing about a remote spot can trigger the horde of visitors that will destroy its beauty and uniqueness.Buy this well-written book. You'll be glad you did.