Cultured Travel Guide Books - White Waters and Black

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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 918.11045
EAN: 9780226500164
ISBN: 0226500160
Label: Univ of Chicago Pr (T)
Manufacturer: Univ of Chicago Pr (T)
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 422
Publication Date: 1985-08
Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr (T)
Studio: Univ of Chicago Pr (T)

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Spotlight Customer Reviews:

Customer Rating:

Summary: Wonderful reading
Comment: I came across this book in a used bookstore back in 1972. What a find. Reading this story is like no other adventure/exploration book ever written. The humor and honest accounting of the ups and downs of the journey are astonishing and the tale is so inspirational that you may find yourself yearning to travel and experience more of the world. Unfortunately I have lost the hardback copy of this book but this paperback is the same as the early editions and includes all the marvelous photos.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Bungle through the jungle
Comment: Over the Andes and through the jungle to ineptness we go. A quite humorous account of science gone jumbled. But not all is lost here.

In 1923 eight scientists plus the author venture through the South American mountains and rainforests to make further discoveries in their respective fields of study. Touted as, "The most perfectly equipped expedition that has ever started to explore South America", it quickly unfolds into a blundering journey with many problems and mishaps.

Thanks to MacCreagh's sense of humor and wit we see how every imaginable incident went from bad to worse. One by one these scientists quit the expedition to forsake the author and one other to travel up the remote Uaupes and Tiquie Rivers meeting face to face with hostile natives. What transpires is a remarkable short term study into the culture of these indigenous peoples.
Entertaining read.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Amusing
Comment: I am enjoying this travel account very much. It's like Bertie Wooster goes to the jungle.

Customer Rating:

Summary: GREAT BOOK ABOUT AN UNREMARKABLE EXPEDITION
Comment: Mr MacCreagh has maganed to write an outstanding book based on a rather unsuccessful expedition. It is the tale of an expedition of eight eminent scientist in the Amazon, who were put together not for their ability in the outdoors, but for their scientific knowledge.

The author is a helper/manager of the expedition. He manages to describe the expedition from its beginning in the Bolivia highlands out to the Amazon plains and to its disintegration. It is quite clear that the scientist were not sure what to expect, and so had not prepared accordingly. Huge volumes of luggage went unused and were a huge burden. Egos and discomfort made the scientist into bickering children and inept explorers. The author masks their names because apparently these were well known figures of their time.

There is a bit of scientific content in the book, but clearly the main reason to read it is for the good humor of the author in describing the situations they get themselves in. One learns more about people and how they behave when taken to extremes than one does about the Amazon.

Customer Rating:

Summary: A keeper
Comment: I can't believe you can get this book used! I own three copies and I don't even loan it out. This is a terrific expedition book and a wonderful book about being human. My family was thrilled to know that this book was being re-issued. Like one of the other reviewers, I was brought up knowing who the various scientists were because my father had worked with a colleague. It gave us plesure to know the names, some of whom were quite well known even today. It was also nice to know that at least for the eminent icthyolgist and the eminent entomologist the work that they produced from this expedition was very useful. I have recommmened this book countless times, and get copies for friends I really like.

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Editorial Reviews:

With a wicked eye for absurdities, Gordon MacCreagh recounts his adventures with eight "Eminent Scientificos" as they set out to explore the Amazon in 1923 without any idea of what lies ahead of them: rapids, malaria, monkey stew, and "dangerous savages." A combination of Twain's The Innocents Abroad and a cautionary tale for explorers, this is one of the most honest accounts ever written of a scientific expedition.

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