As someone who loves adventure travel, the title and summary of this book immediately caught my attention. And having known some suburban residents who earned money giving travel lectures on cruises when they weren't talking about all the aliens they've met, I *loved* the author's classic scene at the ship's bar with Rachel. I found myself nodding in agreement or entertainment with so many of the interesting sentences. "Survivors make shitty storytellers" made me wonder what was coming. I also smiled at the author's honesty that he traveled a pale, wealthy world to tell stories that convinced pasty they, too, actually had a spirit of adventure. Having read just the sample pages so far, I understand all of the praise from those who have had the pleasure of reading the whole book. I definitely hope to join the ranks of those lucky readers soon.