Facing the Congo - Hardcover

Tayler, Jeffrey

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1886913447 ISBN 13: 9781886913448

Publisher: Ruminator Books, 2000

Synopsis

Tayler's haunting travel adventure follows his 1,100-mile trip up the Congo River on a barge teeming with merchants, deckhands, prostitutes, mothers, spiritual followers, fishermen, and children. Readers feel the oppressive heat hanging wet in the night air over the floating marketplace, and shudder at the slither and crunch of the stir-fried worms that Tayler reluctantly injests. On his trek downriver, Tayler is met with even greater challenges as he battles for survival, paddling through the adverse elements on a tiny pirogue. At times lost in the fog-covered backwaters, at others faced by tribes of people whose ancestors were murdered by those with white skin, Tayler's level of comfort is pushed to its limits, transforming his adventure into a journey of discovery.
Praise for Jeffrey Tayler:
"The establishment media is full of official half-truths that ultimately get exposed, whether of Russia's fledgling democratic success or sub-saharan Africa's economic renaissance. Jeffrey Tayler goes off the beaten path to give us a much deeper version of the truth, whether along the Congo River or in Siberian flophouses. And unlike so many other gonzo travel writers, he is not politically naive."-Robert D. Kaplan, correspondent for the Atlantic Montly, and author of An Empire Wilderness and Balkan Ghosts
"Tayler is a skilled craftsman who could become a significant new voice in travel literature. Compelling and deeply unsettling reading."-Booklist
Jeffrey Tayler is the author of Siberian Dawn. He has published numerous articles in such publications as Atlantic Monthly, Spin, and Cond Nast Traveler, and is a regular commentator on NPR's All Things Considered.

About this title

From the Inside Flap

"Immensely Gripping" --Bill Bryson

"Captivating and wonderfully suspenseful." --Alison Humes, Features Editor, Conde Nast Traveler

"In Facing the Congo Tayler portrays the people, landscapes, and dilemmas he encounters with a vividness that has stayed with me long after I put the book down. The life-and-death challenges he confronts and overcomes--and the stripped-to-the-bone humanity with which he confronts them--are epic and epically moving." --Don George, travel editor, Salon.com

"Tayler goes off the beaten path to give us a much deeper version of the truth, whether along the Congo River or in Siberian flophouses. And unlike so many other gonzo travel writers, he is not politically naive." --Robert D. Kaplan, correspondent for the Atlantic Monthly and author of An Empire Wilderness and Balkan Ghosts.

"Reminiscent of Paul Theroux, adventurer-writer Tayler [has] a style that is both exciting and humorous. His subject, the Congo River, soon becomes a metaphor for his own personal search. A great effort and a highly enjoyable read." --Roger Cossack, CNN legal analyst

"Tayler is the journalistic equivalent of one of those highly charged particles that scientists fire through mysterious substances in order to determine their qualities. On his travels through the world's little-visited and poorly understood regions, Tayler picks up all sorts of crucial trace elements and then brings them home in his writing with eloquence and wit." --Toby Lester, executive editor of nonfiction for DoubleTake

About the Author

Jeffrey Tayler is the author of Siberian dawn: A Journey across the New Russia. He writes for such publications as Conde Nast Traveler, Spin, Harper's Magazine, and the Atlantic Monthly, and he is a regular commentator on NPR's All Things Considered. Two of Tayler's travel essays were selected by Bill Bryson for the 2000 inaugural edition of The Best American Travel Writing.

About this edition

• Publisher: Ruminator Books
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 1886913447
• ISBN 13: 9781886913448
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 300