Compulsively Aimless

For two years, I lived ten miles from the Iranian border.  I had always wanted to see it's great religious and historical sites going back to the days of Xerxes and Darius the Great.  But at the time Iran was off limits to Americans and in any case belligerent toward American hikers.  Meanwhile, I collected some books to help me with armchair travel to Iran.  1. Touring Iran, Philip Ward (1971).   The author published a series of tourist guides to middle eastern hot spots (Touring Libya (3 volumes) and Touring Lebanon) back when  A tourist guide adventurous westerners might have been able to travel there in relative safety.  Ward's guide is definitely for the intellectually minded tourist.  Maps, black and white photos, useful words and phrases and basic information about the cities.  Bought used at the State Department Bookstore.   2.  The Legacy of Persia, Ed. by A.J. Arberry (1953).   Collection of histories wr...

The most remote place on earth is the expanse of the Pacific Ocean.  I've flown over it and traveled to some of its remote islands.  The first adventure was to visit a friend who had signed onto the Peace Corps and was posted Fiji and the Bikini Atoll.  The second was to the Bikini Atoll to return with my Dad 60 years after he had been stationed there as US Navy Corpsman as part of Operation Crossroads--the test of two Atomic bombs. Bikini was the most remote place I've been on earth.  One plane a week that island hopped from a series of other remote islands.  The remoteness felt like a physical presence hanging over your shoulder.  Here's my short collection on the Pacific Ocean.  1.  A Pattern of Islands, Arthur Grimble (1952).    Grimble started his career as an official in the British Colonial Service posted to small British possessions in the Pacific.  He collected his stories of life among local fisherman, tribal chiefs, and...

Africa holds the largest desert, greatest jungles, mythic rivers, and a intense, almost destructive draw for European explorers.  Here's my smattering of books on the second largest continent.  1.  The Lost Cities of Africa, Basil Davidson (1959).   Fifteen hundred years before Europeans explored the interior of Africa, cities thrived with trade.  Davidson tells the story of these lost cities through the detective work of archeology .  Bought used State Department Bookstore.     2.  The Africans, David Lamb (1985).   Part travelogue, part history, Lamb traveled 300,000 miles through sub-Saharan Africa.  Lamb talks with Presidents-for-life, guerrilla leaders, and even witch doctors.  Bought used State Department Bookstore.     3.  Venture To the Interior, Laurens Van Der Post (1952).  Van Der Post lead an extraordinary life as a a farmer, soldier, prisoner-of-war and writer.  This...

Want to be cool and hip?  Not thought of as a square?  Whether you care or not lots of others do.  Here are my books on who the cool kids are: 1.  The Taste Makers, Russell Lynes (1954).   Lynes writes in a conversational style about the history of taste in America.  He looks at those that try to shape taste from architects, designers, corporations critics artists. and frauds.  Takes you to the cusp of the Beatnik era.  Black and white pictures.  Bought used at an unremembered location.         2.  Hip: the History, John Leland (2004).   Leland looks at sex, musicrace, fashion and drugs and youth rebellion to bring us the idea of Hip.  He starts with Walt Whitman and moves to the Jazz Age, the Beats and Punk Rock.  Black and white pictures.  Gift from a friend.             3.  Modern Times, Modern Places, Peter Conrad (1999).   Conrad takes a broad look ...

There is nothing more enticing, disenchanting and enslaving than the life at sea. ---Joseph Conrad Life on a ship is a world in miniature.   Everything you know is there populated by a crew, officers and captain.  To survive the storms, privat ion and wartime, the crew must follow the structure of a strictly control led environment.  This can either degenerate into mutiny or great success .   Here's a short list of books that show both sides of the coin. 1.   The Mutiny On Board the H.M. Bounty, William Bligh (Signet Classic, 1961).  First published in 1972, Captain Bligh 's account is t he most well known of mutinies.  He uses the ship's log to present an objective account leaving the reader to judge what type of captain he really was.  If nothing else, Bligh and his small crew of loyalists demonstrated an amazing account of seamanship to survive a 3,600 mile south Pacific voyage in the Bounty's long boat.   Made...

You don't need a book to learn how to drink but plenty of books have been written to show us where and what to drink.   Here's what I have. 1.  N ew York City's Best Dive Bars: Drinking and Diving In the Five Borough, Wendy Mitchell (2003). An e ntertaining little gem of a guide.  M itchell sets out rules for what it means to be a "dive " and what constitutes successful "diving".  Each bar gets a rat ing on perks and dive factor.  Helpful c at ag o ries including smokiest , most women and best Sun day afternoon drinking and worst bathrooms.  Bought new somewhere for gotten.  Drink was not i n volved . 2.  And a Bottle of Rum: A History of the New World in Ten Cocktails, Wayne Curti s (2006). Cu r ti s gives us an American history lesson in booze.  Starts with t he expl osion of rum in colonial America throu gh P rohibition to the smart 1950s cocktail to h ipster micro-brews.   Boug ht on Amazon. 3. T he Drinki...

The Pilgrims landing at Plymouth Rock is an iconic moment of American history.  The small colony was nearly wiped out in the first few years through sickness, hunger and fighting among the each other and the native Americans.  My maternal grand mother  joined the Mayflower Society after tracing the family lineage to Samuel Fuller, the colony's "self-taught" surgeon.  Nothing makes history more compelling tha n a personal connection. And so I collected the following books. 1.  Mayflower, Nathaniel Philbrick (2006). Philbrick sets a dark theme of starvation, Indian wars with less than pious Pilgrims.   He s tarts with the Pilgrims departure from England and ends with the creation of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1677.  Named one of the best books of 2006 by the NYT.  Pictures and sketches throughout.  Bought used at BJ's Books in Warrenton, VA. 2.  The Plymouth Adventure, Ernest Gebler ((1950). Voyage of the M...