A Wolverine Is Eating My Leg
A Wolverine Is Eating My Leg
By: Tim Cahill
Publisher: Vintage Departures
Have you ever lived in a gorilla research camp? watched a full solar eclipse in a snow covered field? Dove (or is it dived) for poison sea snakes? Hiked from the lowest point in the US (in death Valley) to the highest point? Tim Cahill has and in his book, A Wolverine is Eating My Leg, you will feel like you have been there.
I picked up this book from the library because I was wanting to read some travel writing. I dream of being a travel writer. What could be a better life than getting paid to go on worldwide adventures and then writing about it? Tim Cahill lives the life I dream of. All of those crazy things that I dreamed about doing as a kid but my mom wouldn’t let me, he has done.
The thing that strikes me the most about his writing style is that he is irreverent without being crass, and he travel writes without over philosophizing. The book is arranged in a series of short essays divided up by the type of adventure: Jungle, scuba, caving, etc. I think my favorite essay was the fish story about his adventures fishing for northern pike. The last sentence is, “This is a true fish story.” What does that mean? Does that mean it’s a true story or that it’s a true fish story and everybody knows fishermen are liars?
Whether Tim Cahill is writing a bunch of fish tales or not, this book is a thoroughly enjoyable read. He has done a bit of everything and lived to tell about it. Read it yourself and see.
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September 9th, 2007 at 10:48 pm
Your mom wouldn’t let you? I think you were the little girl who used to go camping in the woods with just her dog, had a motorcycle, learned to weld, flew to Nebraska by herself for a summer, enjoyed fishing and hunting, had hobbies of music, art, photography, sewing and crafts, helped build a house… Maybe there is a reason you still love an adventure — you are among those who are not afraid to try something new. Enjoy life!!!