Into Thick Air: Biking to the Bellybutton of Six Continents

A brisk and enjoyable read, Jim Malusa's travelogue takes us around the world as he pursues his goal to bike to the lowest point on each of six continents (excluding Antarctica), a counterpoint to mountain climbing (ex. - "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer). A botanist by trade and bicyclist by passion, Malusa journeys to far flung places such as Patagonia and Djibouti are described in both whimsical and informative fashion. Unlike other means of transportation such as bus, plane, or train, getting about on a bicycle clearly engages one in a much more direct manner with the surrounding environment. Mr. Malusa's described encounters with the land he traversed and the peoples he met, rendered in colorful detail, were utterly absorbing, informative, and often amusing. At times I felt like I was there and at times I really wished I were there. An adept writer, I found myself re-reading his well-turned phrases, as Malusa painted marvelous word pictures of the peoples and landscapes he encountered. I came away with a heightened appreciation for this marvelous world in which we live and a desire to explore and experience more of it.

Jim style of writing makes for easy and enjoyable reading. Lite and humorous, yet with enough detail to give you something to bite into. I read it cover to cover on a cruise.

This is a well-written and warm account of several bicycle adventure tours into the lowest points on Earth. It is saved from being just another bike adventure book by Jim Malusa's humor and his deftly woven interplay between his misadventures and his deep knowledge of the geology and ecology of the areas he travels through.

This is a very enjoyable and well-written book about bicycling and culture. If you enjoy cycling this is a must read. If you know nothing about cycling this is still a great book to enjoy. Malusa's wit and perspective are unique and very readable. He has a open personality and shows that by dropping expectations one can remain fully open to the pleasures and lessons available from traveling to unexpected places. I cannot recommend it enough. Pull up a chair and enjoy this excellent book!

On the surface, "Into Thick Air" appears to be an interesting book about a guy who rides his bike to the lowest points on earth, writing descriptions of what he observes along the way. But, only a few pages into the book you suddenly realize that this book mines much deeper ore. This is a book where you can glean keen insights into the human condition and learn things that could completely change your view of the world. As Jim Malusa rides through some of the most isolated areas of earth, and we meet the people he encounters along the way, he sheds remarkable insight and light on their lives and their culture. Frankly, it made me care about people in remote areas of the world that previously I had never given a second thought to. Malusa made them real people, sometimes amazingly caring people, who I came to care about as I learned how they lived normal lives under uniquely difficult living conditions. I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Honduras and I appreciate Malusa's ability to ingratiate himself into the culture. Living on the edge of life and at the mercy of the elements necessitates that you rely on local people for help. Camping in the wrong place can result in uncomfortable meetings with alligators, venomous snakes, or worse! Getting information on where to camp, and where not to camp, is more than a passing concern, it is a matter of life and death. On several occasions, Malusa was rescued from a thorny situation through the kindness of strangers. Beyond the cultural insights and description of landscape and wildlife, Malusa's thrilling experiences and narrow escapes from disaster makes the book read like an adventure story. I often found myself thinking, "Jim, don't camp there, there might be alligators," or "don't try to outrace that storm on your bike, just look for cover." I flipped back and forth between the text and the map for each trip, so I could follow his progress from town to town. I always felt a sense of unease and impending doom as he doggedly rode on to his final destination. Often, I wanted him to hurry up and finish his quest, before some disaster could befall him. Add to this, the font of witty, sometimes hilarious, and always thoughtful observations on the human foibles and unique situations that the author encounters, and you have a book that hits a home run. Malusa rides, he camps, he runs into obstacles. For each of his six odysseys to the lowest places on earth, the sights, sounds, and people of each trip present an entirely different challenge than the last. As he camps one night on the way to Death Valley, he reflects that he is "master of a minor universe." Jim Malusa's universe is one of being stoned by kids at refugee camps, attacked by dogs, following the path of Moses to the Red Sea, welcomed into the homes of complete strangers, and many other incidents that force you to keep reading until he is safely home again. Yet, again and again, Malusa proves that he is truly master of hi