Essays on Millman's travel to farflung corners of the globe.
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Millman is certainly a guy who likes to get around?to the sorts of places you and I might never think to go. Given the impressive range of his travels?the tropical Kingdom of Tonga; Rarotonga, the capital of the Cook Islands; Micronesia; the Bay Islands of Honduras; various villages and isles of the Canadian North; Greenland; Sark; Indonesia; Corsica; Plum Island, Mass.?it helps to have a globe handy while reading this volume. He rarely misses the opportunity to sample the local brew, such as Tongan kava, "a blend of liquefied mud and muddy rainwater, with a dollop of dental anaesthesia"; sakau, the beverage that "puts Pohnpeians in touch with their ancient gods"; "sourtoe cocktail," named for the frostbitten, amputated digit that reputedly flavors it. Nor does he hesitate to search points of interest (flashlight fish, quirky churches, a kind of dodo called manumea, waterfalls, jungles and glaciers), and he finds wonder and beauty and humor in all of it. His knowledge of flora, fauna, history and culture is impressive, as is his rapport with the locals, wherever he is. The only minor quibble is the lack of a time frame for his journeys. But Millman is a fine storyteller, just the sort of fellow you'd want to travel with, even if your ideal vacation doesn't include a drafty tent somewhere above the Arctic Circle and a succulent serving of seal eye (raw, natch).
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Millman (Last Places: A Journey in the North, LJ 1/90) is a frequent contributor to magazines such as Islands, Sports Illustrated, and National Geographic. Like travel writer Paul Theroux (Kowloon Tong, LJ 3/1/97), Millman writes with rare wit and humor, and, also like Theroux, he disdains his fellow travelers. Millman's goal was to go where no one else wants to go, and a few times he reveled because he was the only tourist there. He traveled to remote islands in the South Pacific, icy places in the far north of Canada, and other out-of-the-way spots. No matter how barren the landscape, unappetizing the food, or meager the accommodations, he managed to be enchanted by his surroundings and the locals he met. His writing conveys this enthusiasm and even makes dining on boiled walrus in an igloo in the freezing cold seem fun. Highly recommended for all travel collections.?Kathleen A. Shanahan, American Univ, Kensington, MD
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderfully written and Very Funny,
By A Customer
This review is from: An Evening Among the Headhunters: And Other Reports from Roads Less Taken (Paperback)
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.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Better than going yourself,
By A Customer
This review is from: An Evening Among the Headhunters: And Other Reports from Roads Less Taken (Paperback)
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.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Average read, interesting travel but I found it dull reading,
This review is from: An Evening Among the Headhunters: And Other Reports from Roads Less Taken (Paperback)
Lawrence Millman is without a doubt well travelled, from Arctic wastes of the north, to Irian Jaya, and Tonga and well just about every where exotic that you have (and haven't heard of). This should have been a fun read but I found both his style and this presentation difficult reading. It is really a 2 and a half star book. Nothing really wrong with it but nothing to really recommned it either.
I found the relentlessly amused/casual tone a forced. The chapter/article length presentation of each country would have been fine if they hadn't been broken down into what I can only describe as a series of anecdotes, I felt it all feel more fragmented and more frantic too. I just felt this was very average and uninspiring reading.
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