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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 who feel themselves able to stand the wait can pre-order it for delivery in August 2008 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
"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
"In the grand tradition of Mark Twain, though in a world considerably more hostile."
- The Daily Truth
"Snappy, self-deprecating and sometimes outright hilarious."
- The Age
"Indelibly humorous and heartfelt."
- Sydney Sunday Telegraph
"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
"Terrific."
- Australian Vogue
"Fabulous."
- Marie Claire Australia
"Terrific."
- Burnie Advocate
"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: A Misguided Tour Of The Early 21st Century”, is available now. This website is his blog, and evolving archive of articles.
12th May 2008
Nashville-on-Thames, again
Yes. We hear the train a-comin', largely because we're right underneath Highbury & Islington tube station. We ain't seen - or, at least, can't see - the sunshine, as the Buffalo Bar, in which we are stuck, is in the basement. And while time indisputably keeps draggin' on,... MORE
7th May 2008
The truly detestable summer festival
It's genuinely satisfying to consider that, in an average summer, I now make almost as much explaining why I don't go to festivals as I used to make going and reporting on the ghastly things. Last year, I did a point-counterpoint thing on Sky News with one of the revellers... MORE
4th May 2008
Beneath the pavement, the beach
I've just been to the excellent exhibition of riotous posters currently showing at the Hayward Gallery as part of the widespread 40th anniversary beard-scratching regarding the uproar that occurred in Paris in May 1968 - an uproar so fervent, indeed, that even Parisians thought it remarkable.... MORE
25th April 2008
Staunch to the end against odds uncounted
Ninety-three years ago today, a somewhat confused collection of Antipodeans descended upon a beach in Turkey. Ten years ago today, something broadly similar occurred, as it does every Anzac Day. To my unending gratitude, I was with the latter, rather less hazardous, invasion, something I originally covered for The Sunday... MORE
22nd April 2008
Aieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Such, such was my internal monologue for the first 10 or so seconds of my first venture down the Cresta Run, back in January 1998, at the behest of The Sunday Times' travel section. In response to an honest-to-goodness request from an honest-to-goodness member of the general public... MORE
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