The Promised Land: Travels in Search of the Perfect E

by Decca Aitkenhead

In the spirit of Alex Garland's The Beach, Decca Aitkenhead travels around the world in search of the perfect E and the perfect clubbing experience, 10 years after her first clubbing days in Manchester. Her journey links downtown Detroit with the townships of Cape Town, and beatnik San Francisco with Thailand's beach parties. While searching for the perfect pill, unintended encounters with dubious characters sometimes reveal she has travelled far from transcendence. While in Cape Town she meets the most notorious South African gangster and finds herself staring down the barrel of a gun in the hands of a dealer who is neither sober nor sane.

Genres: Travel

224 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2003

About the author

DECCA AITKENHEAD is an award-winning journalist who conducts interviews with leading figures in public life for the Guardian. She lives in rural Kent with her two young sons.

Reviews

[Richard Nicholson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this little book. Not a work of great literature but enjoyable if you want an insight into one couple's journey for the 'pure bliss' in clubland.

The wife, Decca is the protagonist and leads herself and husband on a merry search around the world for the perfect E. As much about meeting new people in new lands as it is about dance culture and euphoria.

A touch 'journalistic' and 'travelogue' style of writing (well she is a journalist/broadcaster) but all the same an easy and decent enough read.

[Ian Fiddes · Rating 4 out of 5]

8/10. Predictable but enjoyable chemical travelogue from the Guardian journalist.