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Loading... Uneasy Rider: Travels Through a Mid-Life Crisisby Mike Carter
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. In Uneasy Rider, Carter plays a middle aged journo with a middle class newspaper column, tootling around middle of the road Europe. Yes, it is as dull as it sounds. There is no tension or sense of purpose - if it all goes pear shaped a quick call to the Observer and he'll be back home in time for last orders. He might as well be writing about riding down to his local Tescos. There is no underbelly, no originality, no soul and most importantly, no adventure. His ego-flavoured, cod philosophical musings don't help either - a voyage of self-discovery this is not. If you want to read about some proper motorbike adventures have a look at Mondo Enduro or Jupiter's Travels. no reviews | add a review
High Fidelity meets Jupiter's Travels in this hilarious and urban angst-ridden take on the classic biker memoir genre A broken heart and a moment of drunken bravado inspires middle-aged, and typically rather cautious, journalist Mike Carter to take off on a life-changing six month motorcycle trip around Europe. Never mind that he hadn't been on two wheels since an inglorious three-month teenage chapter involving a Lambretta, four crashes and an 18-month ban for drink-driving, a plan had begun to loosely form...And so, having completed a six day residential motorcycle course and hastily re-mortgaged his flat, Mike sets off alone, resolving to go wherever the road takes him and enjoy the adventure of heading off into the unknown. He ends up travelling almost 20,000 miles and reaching the four extremes of Europe- the Arctic Circle in the north, the Mediterranean coast in the south, the Portuguese Atlantic to the west and the Iraqi border of Turkey in the east.But really it's a journey inwards, as, on the way, Mike finds his post-divorce scars starting to heal and attempts to discover what he, as a man in his forties who hasn't quite found his place in the world, should be doing. Self-deprecating, poetic and utterly engaging, his is a heroic journey taken for the rest of us too scared to leave our 9 to 5 office-bound existence. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)914.04561History and Geography Geography and Travel Geography of and travel in EuropeRatingAverage:
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Just a couple of problems to start. No bike, and no bike licence. Time and money solve this problem, and he sets off. h manages to travel all the way round Europe, from the very north of scandinavia through Bosnia and down through Italy and Spain.
Quite enjoyed it, he was definitely suffering from the divorce and mid life, and does the odd foolish thing. but nothing too stupid.
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