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The Gringo Trail (Paperback)

~ Mark Mann (Author) "Mark took his last seventy mushrooms on the plane from London to Quito..." (more)
Key Phrases: open veins, Santa Marta, San Pedro, South America (more...)

3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The Gringo trail is the backpacker's route through South America that has become a modern legend amongst travellers. The book follows the experiences of four tripping gringos. Charting their tempestuous travels, no one could have anticipated the incredible outcome of this journey.

Product Details

Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Summersdale Publishers (December 1999)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1840240946
ISBN-13: 978-1840240948
Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 1 inches
Shipping Weight: 8 ounces

Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,780,647 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

Inside This Book (learn more)
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First Sentence:
Mark took his last seventy mushrooms on the plane from London to Quito. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
open veins

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Santa Marta, San Pedro, South America, Latin America, Machu Picchu, Gran Casino, San Augustin, United States, Gringo Trail, Lago Agrio, Party Animal, Third World, Hong Kong, Pueblo Bello, World Cup, Clint Eastwood, Inca Trail, Lake Titicaca, Mike Snape, New Age, San Francisco, Cordillera Real, Doha Silviana, Finsbury Park, Hogar Donaldo

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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

Citations (learn more)

This book cites 17 books:

Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent by Eduardo Galeano on page 59, page 105, and page 121
The Elements of Shamanism (Elements of ...) by Nevill Drury in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
Fruit Palace by Charles Nicholl on page 147, and Back Matter
Food of the Gods: A Radical History of Plants, Drugs and Human Evolution by Terence McKenna on page 175, and Back Matter
Food in History by Reay Tannahill in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)

See all 17 books this book cites

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Lonely Planet Read This First by Conner Gorry

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Customer Reviews

15 Reviews

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

Average Customer Review

3.7 out of 5 stars (15 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars ...or, "what I did on my summer vacation", February 3, 2003

By	"daddyfatsaccksssss" (London United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Gringo Trail (Paperback)

This author writes "By 1492, after trying for 800 years, Ferdinand and Isabella had finally expelled the Moors from Spain." Wow. That and the reference to Japanese "Banzai trees" marks this book as not so much poorly written as poorly edited. No surprise that when I went back to look at the gushing blurb on the cover, I found it was quoted from a soft-porn lad-mag.

This book is candy. It might be interesting to people who have never done this sort of travel, and who are fascinated by the idea of giving it a try. But for the tens of millions of us who having done it for ourselves, the journey this book describes is very ordinary. Here is yet another little band of angry, self-righteous British slackers, who escape work by puking and quarrelling their way across the 3rd world.

And this book is nothing more than the diary of the trip. Episode after episode, one wonders, "what was the point of that little story?" The author at one point ponders splitting off from his two companions, but it is clear why he doesn't: most of this book is about his interactions with them. Without someone to spat with, he would have little to fill the pages.

To give his work gravitas, he follows the formula of interleaving his personal narrative with leftish social-historical-political commentary. He even includes a bibliography of all of 20 books! It is just added gloss on the basic pretension that this trip is some sort of spiritual pilgrimage, an anthropological exploration into recondite psychedelic shamanic practices. He is flattering himself. He and his friends are just a slightly more educated breed of yobs, going where others have gone before.

He could aspire to be a chronicler, at least, of the yob backpacking scene. In a sense, he is. Realising that all the above still doesn't amount to an interesting story, he continues his wanderings until all the risk-taking behavior (dangerous buses, big doses, getting drunk with strangers, etc. etc.) leads to the predictable tears. A tragedy provides the book's climax--and an opportunity to quote Pink Floyd lyrics. In the final paragraph we see him setting off for yet another dangerous country with his remaining companion. Perhaps he will publish a sequel...if only he can manage to kill off just one more traveling companion....

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Recommended reading, February 26, 2000

By	Ron Mader "Planeta.com Founder" (Mexico) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

(From Planeta.com Journal): One of the best books of the year, The Gringo Trail is a riotous mix of humor and scandal. It documents the travels of three Brits who go to South America for different reasons, though drug taking takes center stage. This is quite an unusual book, and it introduces me to Summersdale Publishing, "publishing the grooviest books on the planet." The Gringo Trail confirms that description. Keep an eye on this author! Besides this book, he spends his time with Tourism Concern, a prestigious UK group dedicated to improving tourism. I look forward to reading more of his work.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Travel noir at its best, January 13, 2000

By	Craig Steddy (South Perth, WA Australia) - See all my reviews

Recommended to me by a couple of back-packers from the UK. Enjoyed it so much I bought five copies for friends. If you've travelled and still not found - then you'll love this book.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Book, but not quite Great
I enjoyed the book, having travelled to South America myself and visited many of the places that he mentions. His political ramblings detract a little from the book. Read more

Published on November 1, 2007 by Steve "El Jefe" Boss

1.0 out of 5 stars not for adults
The gringo trail is a list of bus stops along the Andes spliced between political diatribes lifted from books by Marxist academics. Little in this book is original. Read more

Published on April 17, 2007 by Joshua E. Cole

5.0 out of 5 stars The Gringo Trail
Entertaining
Educating

I rated it to 5 stars

Published on September 6, 2006 by Carstens Johan

4.0 out of 5 stars An interesting read, especially if you love traveling
While the book did read much like a travel diary at points, it was very insightfull and introspective. It really gave me the feel of extended traveling around South America.

Published on August 7, 2005 by M. Cooper

4.0 out of 5 stars Not something you'll find at Lunpolly
Those of you who have the vaguest interest in travel and are keen to stray further adrift than the resorts of Costa del Sol will find that this book seriously inflames such... Read more

Published on April 27, 2005 by Lord_of_drunken_misrule

4.0 out of 5 stars 'ey gringo, is no' so bad man!!!!
For those of you who like your travel experiences to be wild and exciting, 'The Gringo Trail' has to be worth a read. Read more

Published on June 16, 2004 by Martial Arts Fan

5.0 out of 5 stars Obviously divides opinion - but I loved it!
Judging by the other reviews, this is a book you either love or hate. Well, I loved it! For me, this book captured the feeling of backpacking better than any I've read (far better... Read more

Published on July 10, 2003 by stpedrotraveller

2.0 out of 5 stars The Gringo trail just didn't hit the mark, man
I must admit I had to read this in one sitting. Not for the fact that I liked it, but unfortunetly I have a habit of once starting a book, no matter how bad, I have to finish it... Read more

Published on May 12, 2003 by Matt

5.0 out of 5 stars The Gringo Trail
DJ Wheeler needs to get a life (see review below), girlfriend or both.
The Gringo Trail is one of the most interesting books I've read in ages. Read more

Published on October 2, 2002 by robert sultan

1.0 out of 5 stars This is probably the worst book I have ever read.
I don't often read a book that I think is really bad. I feel a bit disrespectful to the author's late friend who this book is a kind of tribute too, but it is really laughable... Read more

Published on July 1, 2001 by djwheeler1

› See all 15 customer reviews...

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