The Fire Never Dies: One Man's Raucous Romp Down the Road of Food, Passion and Adventure [Paperback]

Richard Sterling (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 5, 2001 | Series: Travelers' Tales

In these wide-ranging tales from a life on the road, Vietnam vet and “adventure eater” Richard Sterling takes the reader deep into the heart of cultures, from Asia to Africa to North America. Whether breaking bread with a murderer in the Baja desert or enjoying a shipboard dalliance with a mysterious new acquaintance on the South China Sea, Sterling’s faith in humanity is continually renewed through the sharing of food, drink, and passion. Provocative and testosterone-edged, his writing is also poignant and hilarious.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Sterling, who has authored or edited numerous travel books, including Lonely Planet World Food: Spain, Vietnam, and Hong Kong, is a veteran of the Vietnam War and seven navy tours of duty. He also possesses itchy feet, strong sea legs, and an iron digestive tract. His tales of naval escapades and civilian adventures are abundantly laced with testosterone, well soaked with beer, and occasionally spiced with bordellos. In his latest writing endeavor, he shares some of his most memorable travel experiences, such as eating meals of potato bugs and fiery chilies, baiting pickpockets in Saigon, transferring nuclear weapons in the South China Sea (heroically ignoring wounds received in the process), and dancing with headhunters in Borneo. Locations shift erratically from Baja, CA, to Southeast Asia, Europe, India, and Africa, and the writing style swings wildly from the swaggering to the sophisticated, with many of the stories seemingly more fantasy than fact. Both scattered and scatty, this collection of tales will appeal to the Walter Mittys of the world. With a cover that recalls pulp fiction of the Thirties and a trade paper format, it is a questionable purchase for most libraries. Janet Ross, formerly with Washoe Cty. Lib. Syst., Sparks, NV
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"For Richard Sterling, exotic dining is adventure and art appreciation, cultural anthropology, and sensory delight." -- Los Angeles Times

"Sterling’s macho-gastro-comical adventures...may be just the right recipe to kick start jaded taste buds to new heights." -- Frequent Flyer Online

"Sterling’s writing is like spitfire, foursquare and jazzy with crackle..." -- Kirkus Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Travelers' Tales (September 5, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1885211708
• ISBN-13: 978-1885211705
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 4.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,524,292 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Guy Stuff liable to make the Gentler Sex blanch, January 12, 2002

By 

Joseph Haschka (Glendale, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Fire Never Dies: One Man's Raucous Romp Down the Road of Food, Passion and Adventure (Paperback)

For those of us whose idea of a foreign vacation is a cruise to the Greek Isles, castle hopping through Britain, or an auto tour of the Swiss Alps, Richard Sterling's THE FIRE NEVER DIES is likely to inspire a fascination ranging from the bemused to the horrified. The book's thirty chapters span the period from 1975, when Sterling was a naval weapons specialist aboard the U.S. cruiser Oklahoma City sailing Vietnamese coastal waters, to roughly the present. Virtually all take place in Southeast Asia, or Africa, or Baja California, and almost all center around an unforgettable meal or memorable woman. A Real Man's needs are pretty basic.

I think my favorite tale was that of the time when Richard, gripped tight in the misery of nicotine withdrawal, was part of the ship's detail assigned the task of transferring nuclear warheads from the deepest hold of the Oklahoma City to a munitions ship steaming alongside in seas made turbulent by a nearby storm. In other chapters, he's trolling for pickpockets in Saigon, or searching for a legendary (and possibly mythical) hooker in Olongopo City, or arm wrestling a local tough guy in the Burmese jungle, or watching a mob beat up a thief alongside his lunch table in Nairobi. And speaking of food, some of his meals are in the Yuk! category: roosters' gonads (with garlic) in Saigon, fish topped with crumbled red ants in Borneo. I guess one must take what one finds in the absence of better fare, or at least a McDonald's, but, jeez, Sterling actually seems to enjoy it.

I have my favorite armchair travel guides: Bill Bryson, Peter Mayle, Eric Newby. However, I can't recall a work by any travel essayist that better captures the pure essence of adventure driven by curiosity and sheer gutsiness like THE FIRE NEVER DIES. I certainly wouldn't have the pluck to eat deep fried potato bugs on the banks of the Mekong, but Sterling did, and I admire his style. The only reason I'm not awarding 5 stars is because he spent an inordinate amount of time in Baja California, an area too geographically near to my world and too historically uninteresting to be personally appealing. Richard, beyond that, I salute you with a tip of my Indiana Jones hat.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It doesnt die, it just goes into hiding, January 3, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Fire Never Dies: One Man's Raucous Romp Down the Road of Food, Passion and Adventure (Paperback)

A rather entertaining book. Reminds me of another Richard I once knew, and love. Great read for a little escape, with depth and humor, be it fantasy or not found it rather entertaining.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Raymond Chandler meets M.F.K Fisher, October 30, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Fire Never Dies: One Man's Raucous Romp Down the Road of Food, Passion and Adventure (Paperback)

Richard Sterling's writing is like nothing I've encountered before in food or adventure writing--an amazing cross between Raymond Chandler's hard-boiled detective writing and M.F.K. Fisher's hymns to food and culture. This is one unique talent at work, someone you shouldn't miss. And lest I forget, in many of the stories in this book, he's funnier than Bill Bryson or David Sedaris--not just laugh out loud funny, but tears-streaming down your face funny.Perhaps the book is more of a guy's book, but I think women might find it a fascinating look into a man's life...exotic shores, strange meals, poignant friendships, wartime adventures, and all kinds of nonsense that men do indeed revel in.