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Away From My Desk: A Round-the-World Detour from the Rat Race, the Tech Wreck, and the Traffic Jam of Life in America [Paperback]

Rif K. Haffar (Author)

4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (26 customer reviews)

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Product Details

Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Ameera Publishing; illustrated edition edition (Sep 28 2002)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0971545111
ISBN-13: 978-0971545113
Product Dimensions: 23 x 15.6 x 2.3 cm
Shipping Weight: 544 g

Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (26 customer reviews)

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,883,148 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Product Description

From Library Journal

Former telecommunications executive Haffar treats readers to a whirlwind tour of 45 countries spanning six continents in this sometimes funny, often sarcastic account of an unusual trip around the world. Haffar's yearlong excursion by air, motorcycle, camel, and elephant bears little resemblance to the usual package deal offered to tourists with money to burn. Dusty caf s often substitute for four-star restaurants, and back-alley lodgings are as commonplace to this traveler as Hilton Hotels. Despite a grueling schedule, the author finds a way to pack more sightseeing into his journey than any tour guide could possibly offer. From the crowded streets of Florence to the Batu Caves of Kuala Lumpur, Haffar explores not only the well-known landmarks of each city but also the less obvious but often more pleasing haunts of the local gentry. His comments on these sites and the people who guard them are at times biting and provocative and at other times almost wistful. This book is an adventure guide as much as a travelog, and as such, it succeeds quite well in entertaining while informing. A good addition to libraries with travel collections. Mary V. Welk, Chicago
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"An especially recommended travelogue and rewarding reading for the armchair traveler, as well as anyone . . . leaving . . . for an around-the-world adventure!" -- The Midwest Book Review

"Another fine book...worth searching out for Haffar's wit, erudition and charm." -- Sun-Sentinel

"Any armchair traveler will enjoy this book and real travelers will doubtless find that it provokes memories of their own past trips." -- Rambles

"Filled with hilarious anecdotes and delightfully intelligent tongue-in-cheek observations . . . Relentlessly engages and entertains the reader." -- Daily Star

"Instinctively the reader feels a rush of wind from figurative bullets barely dodged . . . definitely recommended." -- NewPages

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Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
Our motorbike is already here. Read the first page

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Customer Reviews

26 Reviews

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

Average Customer Review

4.3 out of 5 stars (26 customer reviews)

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Most helpful customer reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Utterly wretched, May 26 2004

Mark Hammond (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Away From My Desk: A Round-the-World Detour from the Rat Race, the Tech Wreck, and the Traffic Jam of Life in America (Paperback)

Whether you're a motorcyclist or not, stay far away from this awful book. This guy is not a rider -- he takes a leisurely luxury tour aboard an ST1100 from Lisbon to Istanbul and that's it. The bike is shipped from Istanbul to Bombay. Haffar didn't even know what a carnet is! So his bike -- which any rider guards with his or her life -- gets stuck in Bombay, and he evidently lacks the wherewithal and ingenuity to extract it.

Travels thru the Middle East, Asia, Oceania, South America, Central America, and the U.S. are accomplished via public transit, plane, and rental cars. Yawwwwn.

Worse still, this book is worst variety of insipid amateur travelogue -- unless you like tedious crybaby complaints about bad tea, inadequate restrooms, and tepid showers. Ugh! Don't look here for insights into culture, or conversations with locals. Haffar is too busy looking for his next cup of tea, about which he is bound to offer some banal observation.

The little good that can be said of the regrettable work is that Haffar will occasionally spin a pleasant phrase. Other than that, this self-absorbed loser of a book annoyed the bejeepers out of me. Grade: F.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Great find, great read!, Jan 10 2004

"lsb1lsb" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Away From My Desk: A Round-the-World Detour from the Rat Race, the Tech Wreck, and the Traffic Jam of Life in America (Hardcover)

I've read many travelogs but none quite like this one. Most of the time I was amused and amazed by Haffar's witty and informative account. Occasionally, I was mildly shocked by the graphic and perhaps too honest descriptions of certain places and people. Great read!

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5.0 out of 5 stars Very hard to put down, an excellent read, Jan 8 2004

John R. Juge (Kirkland, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Away From My Desk: A Round-the-World Detour from the Rat Race, the Tech Wreck, and the Traffic Jam of Life in America (Hardcover)

What a great book. Rif's ability to put the reader in the location that he is writing about is flawless. When reading about the filth and grime of Bombay it is like you can actually smell the air, or listening to him describe riding through New Zealand you almost feel yourself leaning with the cycle around turns. Rif Haffar has a unique gift of description coupled with a sharp and funny wit that makes the most desolate places entertaining and the most vibrant locations appear almost live and in Technicolor. I feel like I was there with them. Great Job!

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Most recent customer reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Maybe 'Away from my desk' but NOT away from his ego
One of the worst travel books I've read of late. Rif is an insensitive writer who seems to be obsessed with trying to be funny and has no capacity to be anything but a self... Read more

Published on Sep 2 2003

1.0 out of 5 stars Annoying, judgemental, unfunny and worst of all, dumb.
The one claim the author doesn't make that he should is the sad but true fact that you can go around the world these days without planning or a brain. Read more

Published on Aug 30 2003