A Man's Life: Dispatches from Dangerous Places | Mark Jenkins

A Man's Life: Dispatches from Dangerous Places | Mark Jenkins | Why is this man not more famous?

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A Man's Life: Disp...

	A Man's Life: Dispatches from Dangerous Places Mark Jenkins Rodale Books, 2007 - 256 pages average customer review:based on 5 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

"Brought to life by a poetic and muscular style, Jenkins?s writing is a brew of history, philosophy, and raw emotion. His journeys are as intellectual and spiritual as they are physical, and we are by his side, in his head." So wrote Robin Russin for the LA Times about Mark Jenkins?s last book, The Hard Way.

In A Man?s Life, Jenkins walks across northern Afghanistan, retracing the ancient route of Marco Polo; clandestinely enters northern Burma, slipping along the forgotten Burma Road; climbs a new route in Uganda?s Mountains of the Moon; bicycles across Lithuania with a long-lost friend; canoes through Surinam with the Maroons, descendants of escaped slaves. Described by critic Bill Berkeley as having a "Whitmanesque openness to experience," Jenkins?s desire to explore and understand the world has pushed him to extremes most of us cannot imagine?being arrested in a dozen different countries from Tibet to Tajikistan, breaking a dozen bones, climbing inside glaciers in Iceland, narrowly escaping falling glaciers on Mont Blanc. Through his willingness to put himself out there, Jenkins captures profound glimpses of our chaotic, contradictory, ever-morphing world.

A Man?s Life shares how these experiences change Jenkins from a reckless young globetrotter to a mature, contemplative family man who seeks adventure because he viscerally must, and yet is constantly aware of the dangers of the world and its cool-faced indifference to one man?s life. Each departure from home could be permanent and each homecoming is layered with pathos?his latest journey might have cost him his daughter?s first steps or his wife?s birthday. The tales in A Man?s Life explore the razor?s edge between life and death, as well as the nature of love and friendship, failure and redemption. Together, they unite Jenkins?s stunning travels with his lucid contemplations on the meaning of it all.

Praised by Richard Bernstein in The New York Times for being able to "[transform] a common sight into a moment of pure magic" and by Amanda Heller in the Boston Globe as "blessed with a rare combination of physical and intellectual grace ? he makes us understand what pushes the man who pushes the envelope," Jenkins is one of the rare writers who channels action-packed adventure into lyrical, evocative storytelling.

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"A Man's Life" indeed

While I'd read and enjoyed Mark Jenkins's writings in "Outside" magazine for a long time, this is the first of his books I've read and I was sorry that it had to come to an end. I now look forward to reading his older books. Jenkins's writing style makes for easy, enjoyable reading and his adventures that he shares make me wish I've experienced even half as much as he has in his life - although there are a few sufferfests and life-threatening chapters I would be happy to pass on, such as his attempt to follow a historic route in Southeast Asia which involved getting past an outpost of Burmese soldiers who were itching to kill him. If you like outdoor/adventure stories, you'll love this book.

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Why is this man not more famous?

Mark Jenkins is my favorite author. I have read all of his books, and this one and Off the Map are my favorites. Buy this simply because Mark Jenkins is one of the most incredible authors ever. Period.

Very good book

If you like to read of adventure travel then you do not want to miss this book. If you are already familiar with Mark Jenkins you will definitely not want to miss this book. Jenkins has the ability to transport you along on his journeys with him. You finish one chapter fatigued from a 100 mile bike ride and the next overwhelmed by the beauty of a summit view at 15,000 feet. He has a writing style that conveys the sights, sounds and emotions of the moment without sounding cliched and sappy. In one chapter he writes of a Lithuanian friend whom he felt an instant connection with when they first met. You will feel that same connection with Jenkins when you read this book.

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A Man's Life

This is a book any outdoorsman would enjoy. It is full of adventure and outdoor experiences.

Excitement and Danger on Every Page

It was this book's subtitle that first captured my attention -- Dispatches from Dangerous Places. If you like great travel writing, you'll really enjoy Mark Jenkins's A Man's Life. Jenkins walks across northern Afghanistan, following Marco Polo's ancient route. He bicycles across Lithuania with a friend he met there years before. He climbs Mont Blanc and explores deep inside Icelandic glaciers. Some climbs are aborted short of the summit, but Jenkins wisely learns to accept such failures. This from the book's dust cover: "The tales in A Man's Life explore the razor's edge between life and death, as well as the nature of love and friendship, failure and redemption. Together they unite Jenkins's stunning travels with his lucid contemplations on the meaning of it all." This is very good travel writing -- definitely worth a read.

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