Customer Reviews

Into Thick Air: Biking to the Bellybutton of Six Continents

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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 his universe by his reflective response to all that befalls him.

Grab some sunscreen and a cold beer and join Jim Malusa on some unforgettable adventures.

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!

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.

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.

I received this as a gift. Then a friend loaned me "Miles from Nowhere," by Barbara Savage. I made the mistake of reading "Miles from Nowhere" first. After breathing in the innocence and truth in "Miles from Nowhere," a classic adventure story of a young couple seeing the world by bicycle in the 1970s, facing challenges, making friends, and growing as partners, reading "Into Thick Air" is like breathing smog.

Where is the real adventure when your starting point is asking yourself: "What can I do that is kooky enough to get paid to write a book about and get sponsored for?" Do people these days still do some big, challenging, unusual things in their lives just because they want to? Is it possible to have a real adventure when you need to file humorous tidbits for editors along the way, and design your trip to engage an audience? Does anyone face the unknown in an age when so much information is easily available?

The writing is descriptive and humorous in a polished, professional way that seems to have been planned before the trip started. It is educational with respect to geography, biology, and culture. But compared to "Miles from Nowhere," it is miles from being engaging, and nowhere near a true adventure story.

This has to be one of the best travelogs I have ever read. The writing style is very witty and informative. I would put Jim Malusa right up there with Paul Theroux and Bill Bryson. His wit with metaphors is fantastic. Too bad he hasn't written more. As for the two star review because the trips to the lowest places on earth did not constitute a real adventure, you have to be kidding. Most Americans would be scared to death to ride a bike from Moscow to the Caspian Sea or to Djibouti. Most of these places are well off the beaten track, without a lot of services and often interacting with locals that have never seen or a very unaccustomed to tourists. That is not a real adventure? Malusa adds a fair amount of spicy factoids and historical interest items but in a way you are not conscious you are getting a lesson. He did some homework on these places before he left and not just where are the best tourist attractions. The lessons are nicely woven into to the present conditions and culture of the places he visits. Along that line he is also a biologist or naturalist of some sort and his descriptions of natural aspects of the adventures are interesting without being preachy or too academic. He does sometimes use names for species without a lot of description so sometimes if you aren't familiar with the species by name you have a hard time picturing what he is talking about but, not always. If you are tuned into the natural world to that level you will get that much more out of it. But that is a very minor criticism.

Jim Malusa please think up some other wacky adventure on your bike to write about, preferably in some cultures as different as possible from the USA. God willing!

The wheels on the bike go round and round.
And they go to the lowest points on six continents.
Who would ever think of such an endeavor? On bicycle? Jim Malusa, that's who.

An enjoyable, witty read of biking to the Dead Sea, Caspian Sea, Australia, Africa, and North and South America.
Jim's writing style is clever and charismatic.
We learn of different cultures, landscapes, people, flora, fauna, you name it. Throw in a little local history here and there too.

What is it like to be in Russia? The Middle East? What do they do in Africa's Lac Assal?
How is Jim treated in all these places and what are his comments and observations? How does he feel once he has accomplished each venture?

Straightforward, fun and informative read.

This is an excellent author. The content was riveting, humorous and informative---I won't get on a bike, though. The writing supplied all the adventure I need without any of the discomfort.

I'm an avid touring cyclist and enjoy just about any traveling adventure another cyclist writes. Of the dozens of touring accounts I've read, this is by far one of the most enjoyable, fun, interesting, and knowledge filled adventures I've encountered to date. I learned so much more about the people and countries Jim Malusa visits than I could have anticipated. I'm not going to write a long-winded review. Read the book if you like adventure, you won't be disappointed.