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"I Wouldn’t Start From Here" is Andrew Mueller’s personal memoir of the 21st century so far. It features any number of exotic locations, and a cast of revolutionaries, rock stars, politicians, hitmen, warmongers and peacemakers. Between ducking for cover in Gaza, running roadblocks in Iraq, getting arrested in Cameroon and hanging out with Hezbollah, this is a search for an answer to perhaps the key question of our time: "What is it with these people?" Australian readers can buy it here, among other places. New Zealand readers can buy it here. UK readers can order it here . US readers can order here. People who'd rather have it read to them can organise that here. And anybody anywhere can read an extract here.
"A gung-ho Candide with a taste for places it is wiser to avoid. . . the reports collected in 'I Wouldn't Start From Here' are graphic, comic, bemused and properly contemptuous of faith and ideology."
- Jonathan Meades, Books of the Year, Evening Standard
"An utterly sui generis report from the world's plague-spots."
- Michael Bywater, Books of the Year, New Statesman
"I can think of no more entertaining companion on a perilous journey than the ever hopeful, wildly optimistic yet clear-thinking Andrew Mueller."
- Rory MacLean, The Guardian
"A tour-de-force of hilarious, harrowing and ultimately enlightening reportage that will remind readers of the work of P.J. O'Rourke, Jon Ronson and David Foster Wallace."
- The Washington Times
"Unafraid to portray the world's warring people not just as victims and sufferers of legitimate grievances, but also as bloody-minded bastards and ill-informed fools."
- The Kathmandu Post
"A mix of dark humour and incisive political discourse."
- CNN Go
"His sardonic, self-deprecating perspective makes for unstuffy company."
- The Los Angeles Times
"Peppered with trenchant observations that reflect a nimble, cut-to-the-chase practicality, Mueller's interviews with everyone from terrorist warlords to international peacemakers are refreshingly irreverent yet astute."
- Booklist
"Travel writing in the danger zone that maintains its hipness and humanity."
- George Dunford, Books of the Year, Readings Monthly
"An addition to the genre founded by P.J. O'Rourke's 'Holidays In Hell', but it is one that pushes the boundaries."
- The Australian
"Mueller is the embodiment of what can happen with a fire in the belly and a desire to write out loud."
- Australian Book Review
"Mueller's travel writing is as incisive and entertaining as anything he's ever written about music."
- TNT
"A joy."
- Financial Times
"Delightfully laconic."
- The New Statesman
"Alternately chilling, funny and surprising, there's some great reportage here as Mueller struggles to reach an understanding of the world, quizzing the highest minister and the lowliest peasant."
- The Glasgow Herald
"His acerbic wit is matched by true empathy. . . we need this kind of gonzo journalism more than ever."
- Wanderlust
"Mueller spins what could have been the grimmest geopolitics into the finest black comedy. Like a print version of 'The Daily Show'."
- FHM
"Lively reporting from a gently humorous narrator."
- Chris Ayres, The Times
"Touching, often blackly comic reportage."
- GQ
"In the grand tradition of Mark Twain, though in a world considerably more hostile."
- The Daily Truth
"Brilliantly observed, articulate, often funny and immensely readable."
- The List
"Snappy, self-deprecating and sometimes outright hilarious."
- The Age
"Indelibly humorous and heartfelt."
- Sydney Sunday Telegraph
"An instructive ricochet between cities and continents and war zones."
- Time Out
"He's a fine writer, telling some fascinating stories."
- Popdose
"He brings to his material the mixture of rage and earthy irony that is the mark of a great satirist
. . . rewarding, thought-provoking and ludicrously funny."
- PopMatters
"Mueller's book is an excellent example of why today's brave, lucid hacks are forced to admit fear and confusion."
- South China Morning Post
"Mueller's humour saves this book from being just another danger travel memoir."
- "The Book Show", ABC Radio National
"His reporting is sharp, his experiences terrifying and funny."
- Melbourne Herald-Sun
"If you enjoy your international affairs and politics with a good dose of cynicism and black humour, then this book is one to read."
- Brisbane Courier-Mail
"Often laugh-out-loud funny, the writing is utterly engaging."
- Launceston Sunday Examiner
"Mueller's irreverent reportage from abroad is fundamentally a clever cover for the author's ruminations on race, religion, revolution, rock'n'roll and other important issues since September 11, 2001."
- The West Australian
"As hilarious and sardonic a host as this ridiculous world of ours demands."
- Shortlist
"Terrific."
- Australian Vogue
"Fabulous."
- Marie Claire Australia
"Terrific."
- Burnie Advocate
"Overlong."
- Washington City Paper
"Mueller busies himself with finding the odd, the surreal and the laughable as much as the shocking and upsetting."
- New Zealand Herald
"One of those rare and wonderful books that entertains and educates in equal measure."
- Readings Monthly
"A real eye for surreal moments of black humour. . . Mueller's work here digs much deeper than the standard newspaper travel essay."
- Sydney Sun-Herald
"His best story, about his brief, bizarre jailing in Cameroon, reads like a 21st century 'Goon Show' script."
- Good Reading
"A rollicking ride through some of the world's scariest scenarios."
- Kalgoorlie Miner
"A strikingly funny book about some seriously unfunny places."
- Perth Sunday Times
"He is a helpless Cats supporter."
- The Geelong Advertiser
"Not bad for a guy from Wagga."
- The Wagga Wagga Advertiser
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Andrew Mueller is a London-based foreign correspondent, travel writer, rock critic, author and general all-purpose hack. His latest book, “I Wouldn’t Start From Here: the 21st Century and Where It All Went Wrong”, is available now. This website is his blog, and evolving archive of articles.
4th February 2010
. . . is to send me o'er the rim of the basin
Today's obtuse lyrical headline does necessitate a bit of explanation, but if you strap yourselves in and pay attention, we'll get there eventually. It's a line from "Brother Brigham, Brother Young" by the very great Corb Lund, alluding to the 1847 arrival by the Mormons at the site... MORE
24th January 2010
Throw another log on the fire, boys
. . . as the very great Drive-By Truckers once had it - because, they continued, George Wallace is coming to hell. Whether or not this rendezvous ever transpired is an open question, but it can be said with no fear of contradiction that Alabama's former... MORE
16th January 2010
Don't be stupid, be a smarty
The above lyric is borrowed from this cinematic masterpiece by way of cueing up this weekend's FT column, which - at the risk of giving away the ending - ruefully submits that Mel Brooks' satire has been rendered mortal by reality.
Elsewhere, rather more decorous lyricists... MORE
11th January 2010
But he never hurt nobody
The source of today's lyrical headline could, perhaps, be sung one day by any offspring of the subject of this past weekend's FT column - though it may necessitate the attachment of a rueful, parenthetical coda to the effect that he really sucked at his chosen... MORE
2nd January 2010
Life: it's not what I thought it was
For those of you who've not already spotted it, the existential anguish conveyed by the lyric excerpted above is linked to the bovine subject of today's FT column by this song - which, I'd like to think we can all agree, remains such a... MORE
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