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A review by blevins
Lost Cosmonaut: Observations of an Anti-Tourist by Daniel Kalder
2.0
This book has an interesting hook--Kalder goes to the unknown void of Russia's fringe republics and writes about his experiences. The problem is Kalder is such a total ass that his personality nearly ruins any desire you might have to read more about his trips--I made it through but was tempted a few times to stop because of Kalder himself. When he's writing about the people's history from the area it's better but when he's mocking the locals it's kind of absurd. This is a travel book but Kalder doesn't even want to talk to locals or eat locals only food (he wants McDonalds!) and at least half the time he's insulting them. I was hoping that one of the locals would just punch him in the face and be done with it!
There's a section in the beginning of the book about the rules of being an anti-tourist that allow Kalder to get away with not doing any of the usual things a travel writer might do but still...this is a travel book!
Kalder really annoyed me when he'd put in his ridiculous ideas for movies, when he'd make desperate attempts at humor or just make stuff up--there's a paragraph about a sex change in Berlin that I don't know if it was a joke or serious that was flippantly brought up and then never brought up again.
The only thing that saves this book is the places that Kalder is writing about are places no one goes and that I'd never even heard of. The complete unknown is intriguing to me--too bad Kalder is such an ass whose style seems to be to irritate as much as inform or entertain.
There's a section in the beginning of the book about the rules of being an anti-tourist that allow Kalder to get away with not doing any of the usual things a travel writer might do but still...this is a travel book!
Kalder really annoyed me when he'd put in his ridiculous ideas for movies, when he'd make desperate attempts at humor or just make stuff up--there's a paragraph about a sex change in Berlin that I don't know if it was a joke or serious that was flippantly brought up and then never brought up again.
The only thing that saves this book is the places that Kalder is writing about are places no one goes and that I'd never even heard of. The complete unknown is intriguing to me--too bad Kalder is such an ass whose style seems to be to irritate as much as inform or entertain.