Hold the Enlightenment

Cracking open a Tim Cahill book fills me with a delicious anticipation of worthwhile hours lerning about mind-boggling physical exertions in exotic locales. Cahill, who made his bones writing for Outside magazine, fills the reader with an easy humor, a down to earth view of what he is trying to accomplish, and a death defying description of the task at hand. He is careful not to interject too much of himself into his challenge,... Read Full Review

Let's be perfectly honest with ourselves, here, folks. Deep down, we are all Tim Cahill - slightly pudgy, kind of geeky, and always a fish out of water when we travel. Not a single one of us can go anywhere in this world and immediately blend in, feel comfortable, look natural. It's impossible and while some of like to pretend that we are jet-setters, globe-trotters, and travel afficianados, the fact of the matter is that... Read Full Review

This is not a quest for enlightenment, as the title says. Tim Cahill doesn't bore you with touristy descriptions of scenery and high culture that you get from the more button-down travel writers, but diaries of everything that goes wrong with world travel. In Cahill's case this can range from the comical to the disgusting to the downright dangerous. He's not a comedy writer, as some think, but uses humor effectively at key... Read Full Review

When I first discovered Tim Cahill I would finish his books with a little bit of sadness. Like the best of adventure writers, when you look up from his books you are startled to find yourself still at home. I wondered what Cahill would write about when he grew too old to jump out of airplanes. This book has been a relief to me - Cahill can write about a walk to the shopping mall using a cane and entrance you just the same... Read Full Review