An adventurous epic of a cycling marathon undertaken for the BBC Radio 5 Live programme 'Up All Night'. Part travelogue and part personal journal, this book pedals the reader from top to bottom alongside the Mississippi River. Journalist Quentin van Marle’s account of his unique journey, serialised weekly on BBC Radio 5 Live as he went along, will put you in sombre mood one moment, then have you chuckling out loud the next. Along the way, he presents some alarming facts which so poignantly relate to the escalating concern with climate change. But more than that, there is not an aspect of the Mississippi that he overlooks - be it brutal, bizarre, bleak, or bombastically outrageous: its violent past and devastating floods; its grizzly murders and troublesome ghosts; its delights, dangers, and deceptions; its music and literature; its weirdly-eccentric citizens; and its overwhelming might and majesty. The stories are an eclectic mix of the bizarre, outrageous, heart-rending, uplifting, and downright hair-raising.
In 2006, the author made a 2,000 mile cycling trip along the length of the Mississippi, from its trickling source near the Canadian border way down to the swamps of Louisiana where this most mysterious of rivers tumbles into the Gulf of Mexico. Between these two points he encountered many colourful characters and bizarre events, both on the road and in the small towns and river ports which line the banks of this mighty waterway. Quentin describes the Mississippi as - “a river with a mind of its own; an aquatic Action Man, a doer-of-deeds over which humans have no control; a flowing, enigmatic spirit that is the custodian of some amazing tales, dark secrets and a serial killer with the warmest of smiles.” Nothing can be taken for granted alongside the Big River, some people call it the ‘Mister ‘Sippi’. By the time you reach end of this book, you will know why the author sees this river as the most important and alluring river of them all.
The Last Boat on the River can be obtained at the following address:
http://www.pneumasprings.co.uk/
