BajaNomad - Graham Mackintosh's Marooned [Book Review]

Graham Mackintosh's Marooned [Book Review]

bajalera - 6-9-2008 at 11:44 AM

When it was revealed on the Nomad board that Graham Mackintosh was going to write a book about being marooned for two months on Isla Angel de la Guarda, my first thought was, "Yeah, right. Self-stranded on an island within sight of the peninsula. And he'll probably convince some sponsors to equip him with a dozen different kinds of radios, laptops, flashlights, searchlights, cell phones, generators, ice-making machines, a Boston Whaler and maybe a desalination plant or two."

I was totally in accord with the thoughtful and perceptive Nomad who said that "the concept of 'preparing' to be 'marooned' escapes me."

It turns out, though, that the concept wasn't a bad one after all. And while the list of equipment included in the Mackintosh Maroonization Project as listed in the book is fairly extensive, it's not extravagant.

Marooned is an entertaining read, largely because Graham avoids the usual descriptions of the peninsula ("The pink sunsets were just awesome!!!"), providing some fresh new views. For example, although I had noticed long ago that certain schools of fish ripple the surface of a calm sea, it had never occurred to me that this looked like raindrops until Graham pointed that out.

He tops off a brief geological description of an island's cliffs with " . . . and there was the inevitable cap of a reddish brown basalt, which from a distance looked as if some mighty Mexican Vulcan had smeared the island with great swathes of refried pinto beans."

Ernest Hemingway Graham is not. But he provides more substance, a more sophisticated writing style, and more real adventure than Uncle Erle Stanley (whose Baja books focus not on the peninsula but on his life and his friends).

Books about Baja are expected to include a few horror stories, and Marooned has some heart-rending accounts of how the Gulf of California's unpredictable weather can do in even experienced visitors, along with some descriptions of Humboldt squid and other potential hazards.

In addition to giving a lot of attention to Angel de la Guarda's environment and its wildlife, Graham takes readers on some interesting side-trips: Emperor Hirohito of Japan as a marine biologist, how the Shell Oil Company got its emblem, and similar excursions.

Like all of us who have spent quiet nights in Baja looking up at all those stars, Graham wonders about what we're all doing here, how God is variously interpreted, and that sort of thing, but his thoughts are expressed clearly and at no great length, so they didn't bore me.

He admits to some moments of paranoia (who ARE those people in the panga that's about to pull in here?). Actually, this is not paranoia. It is justifiable concern. Baja California is not the place it once was, a reality that is sometimes voiced in terms too simplistic to have meaning: "Bad road, good people. Good road, bad people."

A less succinct but more accurate assessment night be "Bad road, few people. Good road, more people. More people, more bad ones."

Camping out along that old ruts-and-rocks road used to be safe, because the people traveling it had some reason to be there. Truckers, guys ferrying cars to La Paz for resale and fayuqueros [traveling salesmen] passed slowly by with a wave unless you seemed to need help. Other travelers included Gringos investigating plants or geological formations or archaeological sites, who were outnumbered by those investigating various types of adventure.

Bad things occurred in the past, but were rare on a road that didn't see much traffic. The increase in criminal activity during recent years has come about because a better road attracts more travelers, including an expectable percentage of bad apples or nut cases. (There's probably a law of averages covering this sort of thing but I don't dabble in Math.)

A new element has also been introduced into the peninsular landscape: drugs.

Narcotraficantes are known to use boats, and I'd say that deliberately setting up camp alone on a relatively accessible island takes some huevos (although I saw no indications in the book that Graham shared this view).

Fortunately, all of his visitors turned out to be Mexican fishermen. He got along well with them, of course, just as he got along in the random encounters of his previous books. (It's a safe bet that Graham's first-grade report card said, "Plays well with others.")

Marooned gives considerable space to the argumentive posts entered on two Nomad threads--one concerned with whether the maroon project was a good idea, the other with whether Graham should have killed a rattlesnake. No IDs are included (although David K in the role of cheerleader is easy to spot). The posts are distinguiched from one another by being set in different type styles (italic, Roman, sanserif), which sort of clutters up the pages.

The Nomad sections would have had more visial appeal (to me, at least) had user names been included, giving the posts some identity and doing away with the need for varying the type (assuming that entering stuff on the Internet puts it in the public domain so this would be legal).

The only serious criticism I have of Marooned is that the author set out for two months in an isolated spot with only 30 cans of beer and a bottle of vodka.

What kind of planning is that!

POSTSCRIPT :
Advice that should have been added: Skip the first chapter, which dumps on the Bush administration and will probably irritate some Democrats as well as all Republicans. As a newly naturalized U.S. citizen, Graham is apparently unaware of the Gringo attitude toward the criticism of politicians: "Sure, he's a dunderhead. But he's OUR dunderhead."

[Edited on 6-10-2008 by bajalera]

David K - 6-9-2008 at 06:04 PM

Very nice review Lee!

Available from http://grahammackintosh.com

Roberto - 6-10-2008 at 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by bajalera
A less succinct but more accurate assessment night be "Bad road, few people. Good road, more people. More people, more bad ones."

Exactly -- something I've thought for a long time.

Great review, and very well written, Lera, but I'm not surprised. :cool:

Paula - 6-10-2008 at 11:18 AM

You've persuaded me, Lera. I'll read the book after all, if you can say it is as enjoyable as your review.

Skipjack Joe - 6-10-2008 at 03:15 PM

I thought I saw a considerable amount of paranoia in Graham's first book. I thought he often overreacted and often saw danger where little seemed to exist. I attributed this to his personality. The endless rattlesnake beheadings on that trip seemed needless and paranoid in nature.

David K - 6-10-2008 at 04:35 PM

"endless rattlesnake beheadings"?

How many??

He was living off the land and sea... the rattlesnakes were dinner.

Also, maybe just maybe he reacted the way he did because this was his first adventure after leaving England and he had read all he could find on desert survival... just doing what the 'experts' had instructed.

Into a Desert Place (his first book) is an absolute must read, before any of his others... Meeting Graham and hearing him at one of his slide shows is worth the effort and he will be doing another show at Discover Baja Travel Club soon. http://www.discoverbaja.com

ELINVESTIG8R - 6-10-2008 at 05:13 PM

I can attest that rattlesnake is delicious. I have killed and cooked a few in my time over the coals. I did the same with Jack Rabbits. All good protein when you are out and about living off the land.

bajalera - 6-10-2008 at 08:21 PM

While living in La Paz we once shot a rattler, which I cut up after it was skinned, dipped in an egg wash and cracker crumbs, and fried in butter. My sons, then aged around 10 and 12, gave some to two Mexican boys of similar ages they had been playing with--I told them it was "pollo de desierto."

The Mexican kids were at first not too pleased to learn they had eaten rattlesnake. Then they laughed, and both of them asked me for a piece of pollo de desierto to take home for their fathers.

Sigmund Freud would probably have made something out of this, but I don't know what.

[Edited on 6-11-2008 by bajalera]

Roberto - 6-10-2008 at 08:24 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bajalera
Sigmund Freud would probably have made something out of this, but I don't know what

You're on a roll, Lera, keep it up. Just stay away from the off-topic, and you'll be fine.

Skipjack Joe - 6-10-2008 at 11:22 PM

No, I'm afraid it was more than just protein behind all this. After all he was releasing fish right and left. There was plenty of protein around. Besides, why risk danger for that specific type of protein. No, to me it seemed that there was a sense of evil about these snakes and their destruction was 'good' in some way. Much like sharks are viewed by many.

David, I'm not detracting from Graham's book. I am merely stating that there was a fair amount of paranoia on his part about the desert on that first trip. An exaggerated sense of danger from spiders, scorpions, and snakes. I believe even he himself mentioned several times that he was a city boy from England who found himself in a land that was nothing he was accustomed to.

Yes, rattlesnakes are fine eating ....

Sharksbaja - 6-10-2008 at 11:46 PM

Yes they have a right to live. I like em dead too, sorry. It goes waaaay back.

capt. mike - 6-11-2008 at 06:09 AM

wasn't there a lot of snake tales in Scottish lore? or is it just the emerald isle?
maybe there is a cultural link driving such intent.

Byron - 6-11-2008 at 11:12 AM

After reading graham's book I am convinced he also killed two of those three cats!

Martyman - 6-11-2008 at 01:51 PM

I'm going to Italy next week and am hoping to eat some horse.

Graham - 6-11-2008 at 03:09 PM

Thanks Bajalera for a thoughtful and thought-provoking review of Marooned. And thanks David for your good points. And you’re right Skipjack, there is definitely an element of “paranoia” in Into a Desert Place… especially in the first few months of the journey.

As David suggests, that is central to the story. I’m fresh over from England knowing little firsthand about the desert, but having read and researched all the hazards I’m likely to confront.

Mercifully the tale doesn’t end with that mindset. Much of the rest of Into a Desert Place is about dealing with my fears, transcending them and becoming one with the desert and the wonderful hospitable folks I met along the way. Judging by the tone of the many positive reviews I’ve had for the book, it’s precisely that transformation, timid couch potato to competent confident wilderness explorer, that captures the imagination.

And remember that journey around the coast took the best part of two years. Off the top of my head, I recall I might have killed and dined on a dozen or so rattlesnakes over that time… considerably less than one a month.

In Marooned, I spend a good part of the early chapters describing boating and kayaking tragedies and the amount of drug trafficking rampant around the Midriff islands. A necessary process for me to learn the lessons… and as a writer to set the scene for what I’m likely to confront on the island in the months ahead. I definitely went out to Guardian Angel deeply respectful if not paranoid about the wind and currents and other hazards of the region.

In the chapter on “The Nuts and Humboldts of Safe Baja Kayaking,” the final of my 29 points to consider states: “Be paranoid. Come home safe.”

I keep returning to Baja not because I’m scared to death of the place but because on each of my long lonely introspective journeys, in spite of some pretty profound initial doubts, I always find strength in a descending sense of peace and revel in the process of spiritual discovery and developing compassion.

Each of my books recounts that transformation… which is hard to convey in a few paragraphs… and I’d like to think there has been considerable evolution over the years. I’m definitely not the same person that set out walking south from San Felipe in 1983.

I wasn’t the same person one month into that journey.

Ophidiophobia

Skipjack Joe - 6-11-2008 at 04:17 PM

I have to admit I'm not very fond of them myself. My best friend kept them in his room and would try to have me touch them. There was something about that cold smooth skin slithering across my forearm that just freaked me out. It was just soooo creepy. I've also had schoolmates who, upon seeing a snake, immediately pick up rocks and hurl them at the thing. It's almost an instinctive reaction. It looks as though something just takes over.

my kind of guy

capt. mike - 6-11-2008 at 04:33 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Byron
After reading graham's book I am convinced he also killed two of those three cats!

gato tacos.........it's what's for dinner!!

Byron - 6-12-2008 at 05:53 PM

Poor George and Dick the two felines truly "marooned" on Guardian Angel Island, turned into tacos by Graham Gulliver Mackintosh. Hopefully he didn't torture them in the manner he fanastasizes about in his book!

Graham - 6-12-2008 at 08:55 PM

Hi Byron,

I’ve tortured a few audiences with my slide shows over the years but I wasn’t aware that I was “fanastasizing” about torturing the feral cats of Guardian Angel Island. Forgive me if I’m missing a joke here, of if I'm missing a more obscure reference, but if you’re serious I’d be interested to know what led you to that conclusion?

To help you in your search you can go to Amazon.com, bring up “Marooned With Very Little Beer,” and click on the “Search Inside the book” feature. Type in “cat” and you’ll bring up every reference to cat in the book. Let me know which one bothers you.

Graham

Graham - 6-13-2008 at 09:18 AM

By the way here's a picture of an island feral cat after a little friendly waterboarding session went too far... But as we all know that ain't torture.

For some reason the Mexican poachers I ran into called them Dracula cats... can't imagine why!

There are probably many thousands of them on the island. And they are seriously impacting the native species out there. An ecological calamity. The once ubiquitous endemic angel island deer mouse is now likely extinct. Some tough choices are going have to be made.

Amazing how they can survive on a practically waterless island where not even coyotes can make it. A fascinating research project.

Dead Cat.jpg - 26kB

Skipjack Joe - 6-13-2008 at 12:24 PM

I can see how their introduction would have caused havoc for the other critters. Some of them have lived in isolation so long they've evolved into different subspecies. Getting rid of these cats may not be that easy, I would think.

Thank you for keeping us informed.

Graham - 6-24-2008 at 01:27 PM

Bajalera,

thanks again for the kind review of “Marooned With Very Little Beer,” though I was puzzled by your added postscript and recommendation to skip the first chapter, saying it “dumps on the Bush administration,” and will “probably irritate some Democrats as well as all Republicans.”

I wrote: “However, having just become a US citizen, and feeling saddened and disturbed by some of the actions of the government, my government, and finding myself alienated by the abysmal level of political discussion on the airwaves, the negativity, the anger, the name calling—scum, vermin, maggots—I got into my head that I was going to hike across America to respectfully listen to and document the views of those with whom I found myself disagreeing.”

I can’t imagine how that is dumping on anyone. OK, there are a few (often self-effacing) jokes in chapter one about publicans and sinners and family values, but they are obviously light-hearted comments to get the readers into the story. My serious point was the importance of trying to understand our opponents rather than hastily concluding that they must be either evil or mentally sick, even if they are Democrats or Republicans or whatever.

I’m not sure if you mean to imply that new citizens shouldn’t voice political opinions. As a Brit I always thought it was my birthright to express my reasonable and forthright views about my government or any government… I’d hate to think that I’d lost that privilege when I became a US citizen. For better or worse, when I took the oath of allegiance to the US I regarded myself as a full and hopefully contributing member of the body politic.

Chapter 1 introduces a philosophy (“Why can’t we have genuine debate instead of slogan shouting, mindless labeling, and ridiculous rhetoric?”) and sense of humor that permeates the book, and highlights some of the negativity displayed in the many Nomad comments later quoted. I think it would be sad to skip it and miss out on how, thank God, the “Walk Across America” plan morphed into the Guardian Angel Island trip.

I’m going to post Chapter 1 on my new website -- grahammackintoshbooks.com -- if anyone cares to take a look. Also, it’s often available to read on the Amazon.com listing for Marooned.

Hope to chat with some of you at my Discover Baja slide presentation at 7 pm this Weds, June 25.

Graham

Skipjack Joe - 6-24-2008 at 03:13 PM

http://bajadetour.books.officelive.com/Chapter1.aspx

From Chapter 1:

Vilification and demonization and suggesting your opponents are either evil or mentally sick seems to be the preferred approach. No wonder Americans are so fond of shooting each other!

It seems to me that the Brits are pretty good at demonization themselves. Tony Blair did a spectacular good job of that in the Kosovo 'war'.

There's a fair amount of verbiage about Bush's war on Iraq. But Britain sent 40,000 troops to the war as I recall .....

They say that wars fought for practical reasons were much more humane than they've become. Once land was exchanged all went home. There was no good and evil. No intefadas, no zealots. No democracies vs autocracies. Demonization - that's how we prep the public for a war. Throw in a couple of lines about democracy. A dash of freedom and liberty. Stir real well. And you're ready for a modern war.

Graham - 6-24-2008 at 05:24 PM

Skip,

I find that one of the great things about being isolated and alone in Baja is the different mindset that inevitably descends...

Maybe Steinbeck put it best in his "Log from the Sea of Cortez":

“We had been drifting in some kind of dual world—a parallel realistic world; and the preoccupations of the world we came from, which are considered realistic, were to us filled with mental mirage. Modern economies; war drives; party affiliations and lines; hatreds, political, and social and racial, cannot survive in dignity the perspective of distance.”

bajalera - 6-25-2008 at 06:23 PM

Graham --

My main objection to Chapter 1 was a practical one, based on demographics. I assumed that you want to sell your book, and it's obvious to anyone who spends much time on the Nomad board that quite a few of us are conservative. Why start out by alienating an important segment of your target audience?

From an editorial viewpoint, the opening chapter of a book about a Baja California adventure is expected to relate to this region in some way, to provide a setting. What you provided, instead, was a totally incongruant rant on U.S. politics.

David K - 6-25-2008 at 06:37 PM

What I think was relevant in mentioning politics in the beginning of Graham's book was that he FIRST was thinking of walking across the USA in a protest of the liberation of Iraq by allied troops... Thank God he abandoned that plan and returned to Baja instead!!

So, that is why politics appeared in the first chapter... Sure, it could have been left out as it had not much else to do with living on the island for two months... But Graham was passionate about his beliefs and shared them with his readers. I hope the conservative and anti dictatorship/ pro free Iraq fans don't get too down on him... The past is the past, and every four years you can make your opinion known... no need to make enemies over politics. :light:

bajalera - 6-25-2008 at 10:25 PM

No need to make enemies over a book review, either, but when sent a free copy and asked to review a book, my personal opinion is what you get.

MexicoTed - 6-26-2008 at 12:12 AM

All politics aside, I just came back from Graham's presentation at Discover Baja Travel Club's office in San Diego. The slide show and Graham's descriptions and levity made me want to jump in my truck and cross the border for LA Bay right away! Great job Graham and kudos to Carol and Hugh Kramer for putting it on. If you haven't been to one of Graham's lectures on his books, you gotta catch him next time.

Ted

David K - 6-26-2008 at 06:54 AM

Agree with you there Ted... Elizabeth and I have seen it 3 times, so that was why we didn't do the nearly 100 mile round trip drive last night... but it is worth it if you haven't seen Graham's show.

Lee, yes I understand your opinion and agree with why you gave it... I only wanted to add the explanation for the purpose of Graham mentioning the president, so the hard core patriots might still give the book a chance at being a good buy. Graham in no Jane Fonda, afterall!

Skipjack Joe - 6-26-2008 at 11:09 AM

Graham has repeatedly stated how important baja has been to his personal well being. It's isolation and bareness puts life into perspective and is spiritually uplifting. I believe the 'political' statements are just a way of emphasizing why he values baja so much. He's contrasting the two worlds. I don't see the comments as a polemic.

Eugenio - 6-26-2008 at 12:19 PM

Why didn't Graham immigrate to Mexico?

David K - 6-26-2008 at 06:53 PM

Because he fell in love with an American nammed Bonni, who lived in San Diego... It's all in the second book! 'Journey with a Baja Burro'

Graham - 6-26-2008 at 07:44 PM

Ted, glad you enjoyed the slide presentation. Hugh and Carol at Discover Baja always host a terrific evening.

Appreciate your viewpoint Skip. Thanks. I should leave it to others to decide whether those three short pages at the beginning of "Marooned" are “an incongruent rant.” They’re now up on my website -- grahammackintoshbooks.com

You could also argue that the last chapter of the book, describing the death of Penny, the canine heroine of my earlier book “Nearer My Dog to Thee” was likewise incongruent -- doesn’t have much to do with Guardian Angel Island – but I would submit it was equally a vital part of the story, and part of the same process of spiritual development.

By the way, my beef was with some of the specific policies of the current administration, not with conservatives. I have plenty such leanings myself. I was 100 per cent behind Gulf War One, for example.

And I appreciate your perspective Bajalera, if we keep an open mind and maintain respect for each other's reasonable convictions, there's no sense making enemies over book reviews. We authors need all the help and insight we can get.

I may be naïve, but I’d like to think that I’ll never change my opinions for fear of losing book sales... but I'll always be open to persuasion by the facts, or being shown the weakness of my argument.

And I guess, as David said, I never immigrated to Mexico partly because I fell in love with a wonderful lady and chose to get married in the US and help raise her two children.

bajalera - 6-26-2008 at 10:14 PM

If you were naive, Graham, you wouldn't be elevating a piddly difference of viewpoint to a status it doesn't merit. I in no way suggested that you change your opinions, but merely questioned where you chose to place them.

To me, the Letters-to-the-Editor section of the Union/Tribune is a more fitting forum for political views than the opening chapter of a My-Baja-Adventure book.

Although there's not much fuel for enmity in that, for me to find myself sticking up for the Bush administration is certainly good for a giggle or two.

Eugenio - 6-26-2008 at 11:57 PM

Soooo....Graham didn't immigrate because of any love or respect felt for his adopted country or it's people. Or for any feelings of freedom or opportunity.

It must be interesting living trapped in a country which one disdains.

Seems to me it'd be easier to immigrate to Mexico (or whatever other country that one prefers) and live in the US on a visa. That way the citizenship slot could be filled by someone who really wants to be a citizen - after all - there are quotas.

Oh well.

Graham - 6-27-2008 at 10:00 AM

Bajalera, it comes down to a simple issue about the relevance of that first chapter. I would contend that chapter one serves many functions in the book. You disagree. I respect that.

When you say… “From an editorial viewpoint, the opening chapter of a book about a Baja California adventure is expected to relate to this region in some way, to provide a setting…” those are wise words, but you have to remember that I’m not writing a guidebook to Rosarito Beach or Los Cabos. If it serves my purpose as a writer then I’m willing to experiment and break with any such expectations. If no one wants to read my book – that’s fair enough. I willingly put my head on the block. Doing things “by the book” has never been my forte -- that’s probably why I’ve come through all my Baja adventures unscathed… and also why I do them in the first place.

There are other “settings” I’m trying to establish. Who I am, what I’ve done, who my family members are, how I think, how they think, how humor is going to be a big part of the story… and how ultimately the reader is hopefully about to experience a journey of the heart and the mind as well as a journey to the island. All included in three easy pages.

Without introducing the readers to my baseline mental state and political perspective, so much in the book won’t have the same impact. For example when wildly fearful and paranoid in the face of the threat of drug runners paying me a nocturnal visit on the island, I wrote: “Evil doers abounded. I was ready to engage in any preemptive strike, endorse any extraordinary rendition, back any enhanced interrogation techniques, to take out any potential aggressor before they could even think of attacking me.” Bush and Cheney would have loved me at that point. Mercifully that mindset didn’t last. And then I was able to quote with approval Abraham Lincoln’s words “I destroy my enemy by making him my friend.”

And Eugenio you’ll have to explain to me by what logic you concluded that my love for an American citizen means I must be “trapped” living in a country that I “disdain.” I have been living the best part of twenty years in a country that I have come to respect and love and appreciate. It would take another book to tell you about that. That’s why I used the word “partly.” You seemed to have missed that.

[Edited on 6-27-2008 by Graham]

Eugenio - 6-27-2008 at 10:46 AM

As a matter of fact I didn't miss the word "partly" Graham - it made your statement ambiguous - which is why I questioned it.

It's good to hear you love, respect etc. your adopted country - if you had been forthright about your feelings earlier there would have been no problem.

Cheers paisa.

bajalera - 6-27-2008 at 11:18 AM

You'll have to pardon me, Graham, but I don't really give jack squat about your baseline mental state and the journey through your heart and mind and all that other good stuff.

What I have given you is the kind of advice you would have received from an editor, had you submitted your manuscript to an established publishing company like those I have spent the better part of forty years working for, instead of publishing it yourself.

At least you now know who NOT to ask to review your next literary effort.

Graham - 6-27-2008 at 11:47 AM

Thanks Bajalera. I have no regret asking you to review my new book. I still appreciate your thoughtful opinion and expertise. My books are never going to fit any formula but my own.

Graham

bajalera - 6-27-2008 at 01:16 PM

I'm sorry to hear that. It wouldn't really take much effort to remove that "amateur self-published" stigma.

Graham - 6-27-2008 at 02:23 PM

Over the years my books have been published by Unwin Hyman in London, W.W. Norton in New York, and Sunbelt Publications in San Diego. And it has been a wonderful, positive experience working with the various editors.

However, now I just prefer working on my own and producing the book that I want. You're right, there is a cost to that.

bajalera - 6-28-2008 at 01:31 PM

Good luck to you. It's great to be living at a time when computers allow us to make our own decisions on what we put into print.

ELINVESTIG8R - 6-28-2008 at 02:44 PM

I edited myself...

[Edited on 6-28-2008 by ELINVESTI8]

dtbushpilot - 6-28-2008 at 03:46 PM

Graham'

Being a long time fan of your books I've been eagerly waiting for the new book. Thank you for putting the first chapter of the book on your web site. I must agree with previous posters that your political rant really should,nt have been included unless it had a message pertaining to the rest of the book. I guess I'll assume that the rest of the book will include jabs at the current administration of my government (and apparently yours as well). Guess I'll save my money.....dt

bajalera - 6-28-2008 at 05:48 PM

Pilot, the reason I mentioned the opening political stuff was to give notice that the rest of the book is NOT like that. If you enjoyed the other books, I think you would like this one, too.

Harsh? My book review was positive, and it would have been courteous to have criticized it in a U2U. When my professional judgment was questioned on this forum instead, that is where I put my replies.

What the subsequent exchange of viewpoints demonstrates is the traditional, same-old conflict between a writer and an editor.

Writer: "I have these really great ideas that I want to share in a book."
Editor: "Okay, let's fix it so people will want to read it."

Although the job of an editor is to be helpful, help is the last thing many writers feel they need. People with ideas they would like to share often get attached to their efforts, in much the same defensive way parents get attached to their children. When a proud dad displays a picture of his daughter, he doesn't expect anyone to say, "Yes, she's very pretty, although a bit cross-eyed--and those ears are really big." (After all, his friends have been assuring him that she's perfectly lovely.)

So there you are.

And with this I'm signing off, having already wasted entirely too much time on this pointless thread.

dtbushpilot - 6-28-2008 at 10:13 PM

Editor: "Okay, let's fix it so people will want to read it."

I couldn't agree more......
When I pick up a book that I'm not farmiliar with I usually read the preface or a little bit of the first chapter to see if I might be interested in it.

While I appreciate Graham's decission to do his own editing I will excersize my decission to put it back on the shelf.....

Too bad, I'll bet there are some great Baja stories in there......dt

David K - 6-29-2008 at 07:35 AM

dt, if you can get past the politics in the first chapter, I know you will enjoy the book.

I did have a nervous feeling when I read it (the first chapter) because although it is 'popular' and common to make fun of our president and protest the military action overseas... most Americans and specially most Baja travelers probably did support the end of the Saddam dictatorship and the success that we are now having in Iraq (Based on the nearly total lack of news reports lately... we must be doing well! lol).

Like watching a movie with Alec Baldwin, Sean Penn, (or most other actors...) try and enjoy their work without thinking about the politics they promote...

Yes, Graham is my friend... and politics or religion need not change friendships. It is fine to respectively disagree without the need to boycott a fine adventure book!

standingwave - 6-29-2008 at 08:08 AM

I read Graham's first book in 2001 - borrowed from Shari's collection - and was amazed at the perseverance of this relatively sedentary Englishman. What a story! I've been meaning to follow up and acquire his other books but had been put off by not being able to do this online at his website (instant gratification IS nice :lol:

Bajalera's review was the push I needed (thank you). I contacted Graham, ordered all four of his Baja books and mailed him off a money order. I look forward to reading them and sharing them with my son, also bitten by the Baja bug. As far as the political stuff, I daresay I've dug through worse in other books to get to the paydirt.

ELINVESTIG8R - 6-29-2008 at 08:36 AM

I am a staunch you know what (No cat calls from the gallery please) and his comments did not offend me in the least. Graham is entitled to his opinion as we all are. As one alleged famous person said "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do." I figure if he could forgive what they were doing to him, I figure I can forgive Graham for what he wrote. So he made a Faux Pas in his book, nobody's perfect.

Eugenio - 6-29-2008 at 04:03 PM

Well stated Elinvesti - what Gramaham stated did not offend me - but I have to agree with Lera (aka "the "troublemaker") that his comments seem a weird way to try to hook readers on his book. I for one won't be reading/purchasing it - and yes I might have. I read about anything I can get my hands on regarding Mexico.

If Graham was really intent on expressing his political views I guess he could have slipped them in some other place in the book - but personally I think they should be dropped as irrelevent/unnecessarily alienating/who gives a hoot.

Theses are like a-holes.

David K - 6-29-2008 at 07:02 PM

Graham goes on adventures... mostly to Baja (as we all know).

This adventure was going to be a protest walk across America... or maybe just a walk (like Forrest Gump likes to run)... Graham changed his mind and decided on Baja (thank goodness). THE book is about his adventure (HIS adventure) and that began in planning for a walk across the USA. It quickly changes to a book all on Baja in the first chapter.

Graham's not a commie... relax you guys! :!:

dtbushpilot - 6-30-2008 at 12:10 PM

Actually, I don't believe I could be more relaxed than I am here on the beach in Buena Vista.

I never considered that Graham was a commie. Graham is entitled to his opinions and because of the government of his adopted country, he not only has a right but an expectation to express them. I wasn't offended by them, and, frankly, couldn't care less. My view, as I stated before was that I wouldn't be interested in reading a book that used a political opinion as the "hook" in the first chapter....dt

David K - 7-1-2008 at 08:48 AM

That's fair... But, I didn't at all find it as a 'hook' to the book's contents because the first chapter mention of his original plan has nothing to do with the rest of the book.

That is perhaps Lera's professional concern... that the first chapter of any adventure book is "supposed" to set the mood for the rest of the book... and in 'Marooned With Very Little Beer', that tiny part in Chapter One does not have anything to do with the rest of the book... it was just Graham letting the reader know his course of thinking that year, before deciding not to walk across America.

With as much mention of Baja Nomad as there is in it, including a chapter called 'Nomads', I would think all Nomads would want a copy!