Even A Daughter Is Better Than Nothing

by Mykel Board

This is the story of how Maximum Rock'n'Roll Columnist Mykel Board spent a year teaching English at the Mongolian National University in Ulaanbaatar. From getting lost in the Gobi Desert to stirring fights in a Mongolian disco, Board teeters through the heart of contemporary Mongolian culture with the class, humor and buffoonery of a modern-day Charlie Chaplin.

Genres: Travel, Memoir, Nonfiction

344 pages, Paperback

First published January 15, 2005

Reviews

[Tami · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book due to the author's carefree and mostly fearless attitude. I don't want to go to Mongolia in the first place, and every time he made a decision it seemed to be the opposite of what I would do. It was very interesting to read something from a totally different perspective.

[Bob Newman · Rating 3 out of 5]

My Mongolian Career....yeah, me, Mykel, and don't forget it

Well, nobody could say that Mykel Board isn't full of life ! Whoa ! A very interesting guy, ready to try anything, not turning up his nose at anything. Whether it's eating tons of lamb fat, dealing with exploding radiators, grokking the great outdoors by a lake in the heart of Asia, or riding horseback through Mongolian steppes ( not to mention hanging out with punk rockers and wannabe pro wrestlers), Mykel is there. I suspect I'd like him a lot. He's not always trying to show himself in the best light, that's for sure. But being a great guy doesn't mean you write a great book about Mongolia.

OK, maybe it's his adopted writing style. "How I got stuck into Mongolia" (in more ways than one) with the accent on "I". Look at what happened to me !...all this crap I had to put up with....I couldn't get no satisfaction....but the people were, like, so great (though they remain completely overshadowed by dear old moi.) Mykel seems to have had a lot of writing experience, though I'd never heard of him before buying his book. (Yeah, I didn't steal it.) Mongolia in the `90s was wrecked. The Russians had pulled out, stopped paying for stuff, and the place pretty near collapsed. It was a post-Soviet wreckage state. "This is Mongolia."---the mantra of the book---is not so accurate. It wasn't so much being Mongolia, but being a post-Soviet country. But Mykel avoids serious stuff. Mongolia sprang full-blown from the earth the day he arrived. Existential country. Oh, man, how my guts felt, oh man, how my butt felt after all day on a horse, oh man, I was so wasted after that party, damn, I was so miserable for 56 hours in that tiny corner of a clapped out Mongolian truck, wow, all these con men ripping me off....on and on. A great read, I agree, but this is not a book about Mongolia, it's a book about Mykel Board IN Mongolia. If it didn't happen to him, it didn't happen. And then too, Hyberbole is his middle name. I don't know if I trust all these tales, but I did enjoy them. Editing is not the strong suit of Garrett County Press, I suspect----way too many typos. And though Mykel derides CNN for its lousy, simplistic maps (right on !), he doesn't put one in at all. What can I say ? If you're looking for an enjoyable book about an American would-be youth in a faroff country, this is just the ticket. If you want a book with any kind of perspective about Mongolia, try someplace else.

[HeavyReader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cassidy sent me this book, and I tell you, it made me laugh out loud.

This is a hilarious travel tale of a New York punk who gets a gig teaching English in Mongolia for a year. He has incredible, funny adventures and meets a lot of strange and interesting people. Did I mention that it's all really, really funny.

I enjoyed this book so much...

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great journey!

[Erok · Rating 4 out of 5]

I usually hate reading travel journals. For the most part, they seem to be written for people who don' t see other places and are filled with "look how wacky..." and boring stories about leaving comfort zones and french fries. Knowing his column from reading MRR, I knew that Mykel Board would not be a bore to read.

I went to Mongolia in 1999, and after i got back, i would occasionally catch his Maximum Rock and Roll column of his travel stories, and get excited in how similar they were to my own. I often got the feeling that I was reading my own journal, but written by someone who could actually write, like how Alex Haley wrote Malcom X's autobio. I didn't even realize that this book, compiling all of the MRR stories, existed until I was browsing the AK Press catalogue. I was elated to find out that the Carnegie Library had it (Yeah Pittsburgh libraries!!).

I wouldn't recommend reading this if you are planning on going to Mongolia, wait until you get back to compare stories. Before you go, read some other books on the history, politics and culture of the country, it's fascinating. This book is light on most of that "extraneous" stuff (a detriment in my opinion as it's all super interesting), and focuses more on the adventures and cultural oddities as they are related to Mykel. This isn't surprising considering his personality, self centered, but fun loving and adventurous. I also found it a bit difficult to get past his misogyny and the "I'm so profound" attitude that he has. I got the feeling that he didn't care about stuff that didn't pertain to himself, rock and roll, sex, and heavy drinking. How can you spend a year in Mongolia and not even know what the Naadam Festival is? Did he only hang out with expats and not make any close Mongolian friends? In his defense, he was there only 4 (5?) years after the Soviets left...and started allowing foreigners into the country at all.

Either way it was an entertaining and often laugh out loud read. I'm not sure if that's because I could relate, or if the stories were genuinely incredible. So if you're sure that you're never planning on going to Mongolia, read it and let me know what you think. And if you've been there, let's hang out, drink vodka and swap stories. I got lots of pictures and there's now a local Pittsburgh vodka.

[Staci · Rating 3 out of 5]

Board's unique year in 1990s post-Soviet Mongolia is hilariously personal and riddled with bumbling disappointments. One may call his style raw, but I'd like to think of it as one of the most realistic treatments of a new place I've read in awhile. None of that awed reverence ubiquitous in most contemporary popular travel writing. My favorite part is his account of a conversation between himself and two other Westerners and Bishbataar, their student and guide through the Gobi. Bishbataar kept telling them that no matter how cheaply they traveled, they were still tourists. Of course, they had no real argument against it, since they were indeed temporarily living in Ulaanbataar and traveling to places many Mongolians did not. At the end, the westerners could only brood and sulk, since they knew Bishbataar was right. Haven't yet seen a more realistic treatment of this theme in western travel books. All-in-all, this is a lighthearted read on a not often traveled region.

[Elisabeth · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's not that I didn't like this book, I just didn't like the author. When he wasn't drooling over 14 year old girls, or sizing up everyone as either chubby or someone he wants to fuck, what was left led little to be desired. Through his desperate nature, I'm not surprised he ended up quite alone. (maybe that felt a little too savory for me..)
I'm supposed to review the book, but I guess that's all I recall.

[Pete · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is Mykel Board--longtime MRR columnist--writing about his year-long experience teaching English in Mongolia. The writing can be subpar, and he is pretty grating, but it's a quick read, and brought back a lot of memories of the head-scratching "WTF, mate?" moments that go along with living and working in another country.

[Janine · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a fan of Mykel's work in the punk zine MRR, I simply had to pick up this book. I loved it. It is a great story of Mykel's time teaching English in Mongolia, where nothing ever goes according to plan. A funny look at how Mykel tries to adjust to a new and different culture while at the same time trying so hard to get laid. Good times.

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this up when I had thoughts of traveling to Mongolia. Entertaining for three or four chapters or so but eventually it all starts to read the same....basically, Mongolia is a hard country to live in...and they really like their vodka, thanks to the Russians.

[Rocktopus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mykel Board's voice sounds very honest - sometimes grumpy, but generally good-natured. The whole thing is very straight forward. This dude spends most of his time drinking vodka with Mongols and teaching english, taking side trips, sometimes schemin' on sex.

[Robb Roemershauser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Board needs to keep his zipper up and NOT down.

[Denice · Rating 4 out of 5]

As if the title of the book doesn't capture your eye... the rest of the book was an interesting look into the life of an ESL teacher in Mongolia. I just like saying Ulaanbaatar.

[Alvin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is very entertaining but it will not want to make you go to Mongolia.

[Harriet · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not expect to like this book, and I admit that I didn't actually finish it, but it surprised me pleasantly. High fives, Mykel Board!

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

funny and simple. I like these kind of travel books. It's much like what I imagine my travel blog would read like.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mykel Board rules! :) The book was a perfect travelling companion.

[Heather · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too crude for me.