Customer Reviews

Even A Daughter Is Better Than Nothing

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Mykel Board -- punk rocker, New Yorker, gonzo provocateur -- fulfills a lifetime dream by moving to Mongolia for one year to teach English...and I'm so glad he did. His easy-to-read writing style is brutally honest and hysterically funny, from his problems overcoming constipation (because Metamucil is not sold in Outer Mongolia, Board resorts to consuming rancid street food to encourage diarrhea), to his visits to Mongolian dance clubs, to the confusing hurdles presented in this post-Soviet limbo land ("Welcome to Mongolia!" is the standard response from natives when cultural idiosyncracies are brought to attention). Unlike most travel memoirs, there are no overwrought or pretentious analyses of a foreign culture -- even though there were times that I, a fellow traveler, longed for Mykel to take a deeper look at this rarely examined country -- making this book a fun, unrestrained ride through a remote, Kafka-esque kingdom. Buy this book.

A nice and easy read. If you're a fan of his Columns in Maximum Rock n Roll, you'll love it! Had me chuckling on the commute to work for a couple of days(only a couple though, as its not the longest book).

I'd recommend it for those who want something light-hearted and entertaing, it definitely got me out of the doldrums!

For years Mykel Board had wanted to go to Outer Mongolia. He realized that dream in 1995 when he went there to teach English at the National University in Ulaanbaatar. EVEN A DAUGHTER IS BETTER THAN NOTHING is the result of his stay. This volume is not like any other travel writing you will read. It is at once hilarious, I suspect at times hyperbolic as well as downright moving in places. He writes with obvious affection for the people he encountered on his year there; and even though he lands in a country far removed from anything he has even encountered--"this is Mongolia"-- he is never condescending.

Public transportion doesn't run on time, the plumbing doesn't work, classes are scheduled in the wrong classrooms, and signs saying someone takes credit cards usually don't mean that at all as Mr. Board repeatedly hears the mantra "this is Mongolia." What the writer does find is a lovable people not afraid of hard work and accepting of strangers. They dress up to have a photo taken, are offended if you do not eat their food-- even though you prefer not to eat unadorned fat-- poor Mr. Board at times reminded me a little of Cool Hand Luke's stuffing himself with eggs in the movie by the same name-- and can drink you under the table. These folks drink vodka like Americans drink Cokes. (I'm surprised that Mr. Board had a liver when he returned to New York.) He also found "Pro Wrestling, rock'n'roll, Christianity, and probably someday soon, McDonalds." But apparently no designer coffee shops yet.

Although Mr. Board describes himself as a good instructor-- and I believe him-- he on several occasions uses incorrect English, always making the same grammatical error: "He wimps out, leaving Sebastian and I stranded" (p. 270) is incorrect. The sentence should read "leaving Sebastian and ME stranded" But you'll find much weirder stuff here. How about half a page of information on Mongolians as "snot-blowers"? Finally you'll read a long time before another travel writer refers to Peter North. (Oops. I'm not supposed to know that he is a famous porn star.)

For those of us who will never go to Mongolia, Mr. Board has made a part of the world come alive, reminding us once again that all of us are more alike than we are different.

Oh, about the title-- the author says that he wanted something catchy to get the reader's attention-- he is most successful-- but explains that the expression is an old proverb that has little to do with modern Mongolia.

My expectations were not too high but I am surprised. If one is looking for a history of Mongolia -there might be other books that will give you a background of the country and its people-may I suggest going to a library. If you are familiar with his work, one will enjoy this book. His style and stories remind me of "No Reservations and "Weird Foods". He writes candidly about his drinking, eating, and cultural experiences. The best stories are about him meeting the Mongolian metal band"Hurd" and his experiences teaching. Since the book is about his experiences, this book is about how Mykel Board perceives Mongolia. The book is an enjoyable read and will be re-read.

One of the many pleasures this book offers is the author's voice: as bemused with himself and his own foibles as he is with the unusual world he shares with us, he relates his adventures without a shred of self-serving narcissism, jumping into Mongolian life with omniverous curiosity and steady generosity. The chapter on Hilary Clinton's visit to Outer Mongolia as First Lady is particularly priceless (in which Clinton's Secret Service handlers assume that Mykel, who is just hanging around the gate, must be in charge of access to the embasy).

This is an incredibly hilarious and educational adventure at the far frontiers of modern culture. Author Board really does put you right there in the middle of this strange country, and he does so with a dry yet frantic wit and a sincere fondness for this ancient land and its people. This is a book full of adventure and surprise and humor from a writer who is a cross between Davy Crockett and Oscar Wilde! Wonderfully entertaining.

Cover to cover, Mykels book pushes the reader on and on. Excitement and surprise on every page. Many of those who have traveled to exotic countries will relate to his book of adventure and English teaching in Mongolia. From the start Mykel seems at odds with his environment, not unlike anyone of us who has been there, or somewhere similar. Great wit and humour in Mykles diary of a year teaching and 'living' in Mongolia is also compressed with the stark loneliness and isolation of this very foriegn country and its reamarkable people. A book to keep, and read over and over again.

Well, nobody could say that Mykel Board isn't full of life ! Whoa ! A very interesting guy, ready to try anything, not turning up his nose at anything. Whether it's eating tons of lamb fat, dealing with exploding radiators, grokking the great outdoors by a lake in the heart of Asia, or riding horseback through Mongolian steppes ( not to mention hanging out with punk rockers and wannabe pro wrestlers), Mykel is there. I suspect I'd like him a lot. He's not always trying to show himself in the best light, that's for sure. But being a great guy doesn't mean you write a great book about Mongolia.

OK, maybe it's his adopted writing style. "How I got stuck into Mongolia" (in more ways than one) with the accent on "I". Look at what happened to me !...all this crap I had to put up with....I couldn't get no satisfaction....but the people were, like, so great (though they remain completely overshadowed by dear old moi.) Mykel seems to have had a lot of writing experience, though I'd never heard of him before buying his book. (Yeah, I didn't steal it.) Mongolia in the `90s was wrecked. The Russians had pulled out, stopped paying for stuff, and the place pretty near collapsed. It was a post-Soviet wreckage state. "This is Mongolia."---the mantra of the book---is not so accurate then. It wasn't so much being Mongolia, but being a post-Soviet country. But Mykel avoids serious stuff. Mongolia sprang full-blown from the earth the day he arrived. Existential country. Oh, man, how my guts felt, oh man, how my butt felt after all day on a horse, oh man, I was so wasted after that party, damn, I was so miserable for 56 hours in that tiny corner of a clapped out Mongolian truck, wow, all these con men ripping me off....on and on. A great read, I agree, but this is not a book about Mongolia, it's a book about Mykel Board IN Mongolia. If it didn't happen to him, it didn't happen. And then too, Hyberbole is his middle name. I don't know if I trust all these tales, but I did enjoy them. Editing is not the strong suit of Garrett County Press, I suspect----way too many typos. And though Mykel derides CNN for its lousy, simplistic maps (right on !), he doesn't put one in at all. What can I say ? If you're looking for an enjoyable book about an American would-be youth in a faroff country, this is just the ticket. If you want a book with any kind of perspective about Mongolia, try someplace else.