Fetherling writes a fascinating account of 19th century gold rushes. What is particularly fascinating about this book is level of interconnectedness that he has unearthed. Americans in Australia, Australians in Canada and more - it is a web of social intercourse unsuspected by most. Yet the impact of that interconnectedness has been significant. Looking for a good read, this is it!

Running Away to Sea attempts to take the reader on an around the world journey. While I'm sure Douglas Fetherling made the actual trip, he left the reader at home.

Mr. Fetherling has done his research on all the places he visits. He knows, and relates, the history and recent political climates of the countries, islands, and areas he passes through on his round the world trip. He spends comparitively little time describing his trip and the people he meets aboard and ashore. When I picked up this book I expected some real escapism. To have my imagination transported to the far away places that I daydream about. Sub-titled, Around the World on a Tramp Steamer, I was ready to relax while I leaned on the starboard rail and watched the world go by. I was ready for adventure and unforgettable characters. Unfortunately I got a history and current events lesson. This is, of course a well written book by a seasoned author. It just wasn't what I expected.

I picked this up because it had a great premise. The book, however, did not live up its title or subject. There was quote after descriptive qoute from other authors about the far away places that Mr. Fetherling touched and some of the historical references were inciteful, but there just wasn't much meat concerning what the author saw and felt during HIS journey. He shyed away from the other passangers and it doesn't seem that he was friendly with the crew. His acount makes it seem like he took up space and made use of the oxygen around him for four months. His trip and the divorce that it probably contributed to was a bit on the depressing side. This is not why I read travel/adventure literature.

I found Running Away to Sea somewhat patronizing toward the reader, but still readable. Fetherling obviously looks at the world through glasses that are skewed to the political left. I'll wager Gore Vidal is one of his favorite authors. I envision Fetherling as a type of mildly depressed, chic-left, middle-aged, pseudo-intellectual ex-hippie who, if the truth were known, must grudgingly concede that the continuing demise of Communism has left us all far better off. His not so subtle put downs of every nationality except his own (Canadian) are particularly irritating. Being a good liberal, he is quick to advertise his holier-than-thou disdain for racism, but I find his arrogant and condescending attitude towards the French, British, and (especially) Americans to be a mild form of prejudice in itself. Too much of the book involves development of historical background for the ports his ship visits - a fact compounded by irritating editorializing from his socialist perspective. Still, the book flows well, and the reader anxiously anticipates each new chapter. I would buy Running Away to Sea again.

For various reasons, there exists a general lack of travel guides describing Taiwan. This beautiful island, with its indefinite political situation, its extensive inroads travel opportunities, and abundant possibilities for expatriate employment is underrated and underrepresented by publishers of travel literature. Seeing Fetherling's book, "The Other China," I was excited to see another book written about this island I had not read. With so few options available for the traveler, it is unfortunately that the deficiencies of Fetherling's 1995 work far outweigh any of the positive attributes of the book.

"The Other China" is certainly not a travel guide in the fashion of Robert Storey's "Lonely Planet: Taiwan," and Fetherling does not pretend it is. However, with so few opportunities for readers to view first hand accounts of Westerners traveling in Taiwan, Fetherling has a duty, I believe, to inform beyond what his book seems to be: a purposeless and brief tract. Within its hundred pages, the book takes on many voices, though none are particularly clear. Primarily but only partly, the book is a collection of personal reflections on the minutia of his two visits to Taiwan. Fetherling wastes space on out-of-place attacks on the US' role in world culture and makes several China-is-to-Taiwan-what-the-US-is-to-Canada references. Also, the two-part book (based on a 1991 and a 1995 visit) seems to attempt to depict some sort of change in Taiwan between these two visits. Fetherling's all-too-apparent animosity toward the US and Americans generally convey a sense that this book is merely a vehicle for him to voice these sentiments to the reader. The above mentioned errors combine with several quips throughout the book such as "...I find my first brush with a Statue of Liberty in Taiwan about as distasteful as my initial encounter with dog meat in a food stall in Beijing" and "[t]he Taiwanese can't compete against the Americans when it comes to visual trash" to detract from his observations about Taiwan (page 54 & 44). I was surprised by Arsenal Pulp Press' willingness to publish a book containing glaring factual errors though hardly surprised by the clichéd anti-Americanisms.

Fetherling purports his book to be a travel narrative that benefits from the author's "personal experience and observation," or alternatively, a "confidential" report that "unmasks the secret life of Taiwan." This reviewer spent more than a year living in Taiwan and found nothing in the book above the level of trite travel observation. Whatever secrets Fetherling unearth in his scant amount of time either do not appear as secret or could be picked up by any visitor within a fortnight. Additionally, a handful of glaring factual errors detract from the book. It is hard to determine if the source of the error is poor research, a level of Canadacentrism that should embarrass Canadians, or an antipathy toward Richard Nixon, but Fetherling incorrectly attributes the formal 1979 embassy switch between Taipei and Beijing to Richard Nixon (page 12 & 33). Though Nixon's travels certainly opened the way for Carter's later decision, Watergate if nothing else precluded Nixon's ability to conduct foreign policy after 1974.

In light of these deficiencies, it is hard to imagine any value in this book. Ask yourself: are you traveling to Taiwan or do you have some interest in its politics or history? Look to another of the relatively few volumes written on Taiwan. Looking for an incomplete travelogue based on two short trips as a hollow premise to trash another nation and culture? Click "order" now before suppliers run out.