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| Hold the Enlightenment | 
| Author: Tim Cahill
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy Used: $0.81
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Avg. Customer Rating:  12 reviews
Sales Rank: 171493
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5 x 0.8
ISBN: 0375713298
Dewey Decimal Number: 910
EAN: 9780375713293
ASIN: 0375713298
Publication Date: September 9, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
In his latest collection of death-defying exploits and far-flung travels, Outside Magazine editor Tim Cahill visits the side of an active volcano in Ecuador, the Saharan salt mines and the largest toxic waste dump in the Western Hemisphere. He also ventures to find a Caspian tiger in Turkey and giant centipedes in the Congo. Cahill is one of the last great intrepid journalists, and his thirty wildly entertaining essays display sparkling wit and unstinting curiosity. When not on the move, he debunks hoary notions of the kindness of dolphins and ruminates on religion, death and the perplexing phenomenon of yoga. Charming, incisive and absolutely fearless, Cahill is the perfect travel companion.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
 At His Best October 6, 2008
I've always enjoyed Tim Cahill's books. Somehow, they're both informative, serious and funny. This one is Tim Cahill at his best. A book to share with your friends who read (rare, nowadays) or to keep and read again.
Cahill June 25, 2008
This is as good as the other Cahill collections. Funny with lots of heart. Read them all.
 Going to a Higher Consciousness May 15, 2008
Cracking open a Tim Cahill book fills me with a delicious anticipation of worthwhile hours lerning about mind-boggling physical exertions in exotic locales.
Cahill, who made his bones writing for Outside magazine, fills the reader with an easy humor, a down to earth view of what he is trying to accomplish, and a death defying description of the task at hand.
He is careful not to interject too much of himself into his challenge, at the same time giving enough background so the reader develops an understanding of him.
In this book, most of the stories are about animals he encounters, and not about threats to his personal safety.
However, "The Caravan of White Gold" is a story about a trip through the African Sahara where his party is being trailed by marauders.
I always read Cahill wih a tinge of envy because he has what seems like the best job in the whole world. Visiting exotic locales, and writing witty, relevant thoughts on the subject.
This is not my favorite Cahill offering, but every one is worth the read.
Everyman's Guide February 24, 2004
13 out of 14 found this review helpful
Let's be perfectly honest with ourselves, here, folks. Deep down, we are all Tim Cahill - slightly pudgy, kind of geeky, and always a fish out of water when we travel. Not a single one of us can go anywhere in this world and immediately blend in, feel comfortable, look natural. It's impossible and while some of like to pretend that we are jet-setters, globe-trotters, and travel afficianados, the fact of the matter is that we're usually ignorant of the cultures we visit, the places we see, and the historical importance of the lands we visit. There's nothing wrong with that and Mr. Cahill proves that our ignorance can lead to enlightenment, adventure, and humor - albeit at our own expense.
Mr. Cahill has made a career of poking fun at himself in a way that's self-depreciating but allows his readers to develop and foster an unwavering respect for this man and his persepctive on the world - which I think is a common sense approach to people and places. But more importantly, you like the author. You feel you can call him Tim, meet him at a bar in Montana, throw back a few beers, and tell each other wild stories and blatant lies. He's that engaging, friendly, and comfortable in his style.
Being an avid reader of this type of travel lit., I've read many different authors who all try to emulate Tim in one way or another. But unlike his peers (Bill Bryson, for example) his humor is light-hearted and not caustic or sarcastic. And more importantly, when he does have an opinion about an issue his touch is light and simple - there are no vitriolic diatribes against a developer or policy.
Don't think for one second, though, that he can't turn around and whip off a piece that will leave you in a blubbering mess of tears. I read 'Enlightenment' in one sitting - sure, it was a long sitting, but one single one - at a local coffee shop. I got a plethora of stares and strange looks as I guffawed my way through it. The looks doubled when I finished the book in tears and sat there drying my eyes with a coffee-stained napkin.
No exaggerations here, this book will have you in hysterics one moment and tears the next. Buy this. Read this. Treasure this.
Out Looking for Trouble February 15, 2004
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
This is not a quest for enlightenment, as the title says. Tim Cahill doesn't bore you with touristy descriptions of scenery and high culture that you get from the more button-down travel writers, but diaries of everything that goes wrong with world travel. In Cahill's case this can range from the comical to the disgusting to the downright dangerous. He's not a comedy writer, as some think, but uses humor effectively at key points in his writing to drive his accumulated insights home. Otherwise he is very perceptive and even serious when the situation demands it. This is a loose collection of essays from locations ranging from remote and dangerous third-world hellholes to American commercial adventure destinations. The writings are delivered with a lot of humble pie, which is Cahill's secret weapon. A funny example is when he compares himself to a platypus: "so strange, so different from the rest, so inherently dorky as to be unclassifiable by science." I can identify with that. Some winning essays here, among many, include a trip to a town in Ecuador on the verge of demolition by a volcano, and examinations of the true personalities of gorillas and dolphins. Another winning collection from Cahill, in which he proves that enlightenment is not the travel writer's friend. [~doomsdayer520~]
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