The Idiot, who launched his walk around the Mediterranean Sea in January 1998, is giving YOU a FREE copy of his first book, The Idiot and the Odyssey: Walking the Mediterranean, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the beginning of his MedTrek.
Get it FREE on Kindle.
Now! And until Saturday, December 16.
The path around the Mediterranean described in The Idiot and the Odyssey: Walking the Mediterranean.
And next week you’ll be able to get a FREE copy of the Kindle edition of The Idiot and the Odyssey II: Myth, Madness and Magic on the Mediterranean!
The Idiot with the first two books in his The Idiot and the Odyssey trilogy in Geneva, Switzerland. The third book — The Idiot and the Odyssey: Twenty Years Walking the Mediterranean — will appear next July.
(Photo: Liz Chapin)
Watch this space.
To get you in the mood to read, here’s a review of The Idiot and the Odyssey: Walking the Mediterranean that appeared in Australia’s leading newspaper when the book was published in 2008.
Armchair Journey, The Idiot and the Odyssey, Joel Stratte-McClure, Fast Thinking, 358 pages, $24.95
“This is one of those seductive books that, as you read, slowly insinuates itself into your consciousness and becomes more and more compelling and entrancing.
The premise is simple. As Stratte-McClure explains: “I’m in the midst of existential self-examination that, following a divorce and general weariness after 30 years as a working journalist, has me wondering where I’m going and why.” Or, in more detail, after his marriage of 20 years collapses, Stratte-McClure, a US citizen who has lived in France for three decades, decides to clear his head by walking around the Mediterranean.
He is accompanied, at least for part of the journey, by his dog, Bogart, and a copy of Homer’s Odyssey, which he quotes regularly. It is a journey of the mind, the body and the soul. It is also a reminder that a leisurely stroll, even if it does involve walking thousands of kilometres, is a wonderful opportunity to see and experience different cultures and to think about your own life.
In reality, Stratte-McClure doesn’t walk around the Mediterranean. He walks along the coast of France, Spain, Morocco and then up the western coast of Italy. That is not really the point. Stratte-McClure belongs to a generation that was entranced by the road journeys of Jack Kerouac and Robert Pirsig (Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance). These were journeys where the landscape and the exploration of the author’s psyche were blended artfully. Stratte-McClure has done the same thing.
It is a high-wire literary act that is always in danger of collapsing into pretentiousness but Stratte-McClure is so knowledgeable about the paths he walks and so sensitive to the history and landscapes around him that what he produces is not only a interesting travel book but a compelling story about a simple attempt to overcome a midlife crisis and make some sense of the world.” — Bruce Elder, The Sydney Morning Herald.
The Idiot being interviewed about The Idiot and the Odyssey: Walking the Mediterranean by Nancy Wiegman on NPR in Chico, California.
The Idiot signing and selling copies of The Idiot and the Odyssey: Walking the Mediterranean in Cannes, France.
Get it FREE on Kindle. Now! And until Saturday, December 16.
The Idiot and the Odyssey: Walking the Mediterranean hits No. 1 on Kindle’s “Best Sellers in Adventure Travel.”
The Idiot and the Odyssey: Walking the Mediterranean hits No. 1 on Kindle’s “Best Sellers in Spiritual Self-Help.”
Come back next week to get a FREE copy of the Kindle edition of The Idiot and the Odyssey II: Myth, Madness and Magic on the Mediterranean!
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