Road Fever

by Tim Cahill

Tim Cahill reports on the road trip to end all road trips: a journey that took him from Tierra del Fuego to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, in a record-breaking twenty three and a half days.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Adventure, Humor, Memoir, Road Trip, Biography Memoir

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Tim Cahill (born 1944 in Nashville, Tennessee) is a travel writer who lives in Livingston, Montana, United States. He is a founding editor of Outside magazine and currently serves as an "Editor at Large" for the magazine.

Reviews

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a road trip! So much of what Tim Cahill describes involves the preparation -- the paperwork, logistics, and financial backing -- that must be figured out before starting a marathon trip such as the one General Motors bankrolled. I understand he was trying to make a point, but I would've enjoyed the book a bit more had he told more stories like this one, which happened while he and his driving partner were driving through Ecuador:

"If we were to be captured by terrorists anywhere, Ecuador was the place. The previous month, during a wildly vitriolic campaign for president, one candidate, Abdala Bucaram ... claimed that he had been abducted secretly, and he told no one of the kidnapping. The videotape released by his opponents, Bucaram said, had been filmed during his captivity. He had been forced, at gunpoint, to have sex with the three women in the video. The evil terrorists who had subjected him to this appalling torture intended to destroy his campaign. And, okay, sure, he appeared to enjoy it, but you had to understand, his life was at stake."

Who wants to hear about stamps and paperwork when there are sex stories about corrupt Central and South American politicians to be told?!

[Rex Fuller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two guys drive from Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, in a 1-ton GMC Sierra pickup, 15,000 and some miles, in 23 days, 22 hours, and 43 minutes. One of them, Tim Cahill, puts you in the cab for the moments of seething tension, giggle fits, crushing despair, and blinding joy inherent in any long road trip, magnified logarithmically by this distance and speed, and the dizzying bureaucracy of getting the truck and the people through customs, immigration, and police checkpoints in (!) eleven Latin American countries. In fact, they came to feel they were not so much drivers as "documenteros," document bearers. This is good enough to read twice.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

The subtitle of this book is "A High-Speed Travelogue, which it certainly is. Tim Cahill tells how he and speed-demon Garry Sowerby managed to drive a pickup truck from the southernmost tip of South America to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska in just under 24 days, thereby earning a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Now imagine what such a trip of some 15,000 miles would be like. It would involve whizzing through all the tourist sites, stopping only for repairs and, more dreadfully, border crossings. Road Fever is a delightful read because Tim Cahill saw the humor in what really wasn't a fun trip. Imagine it, very few stops for rest or for meals, and endless finagling with border officials.

Because there is no highway across all of Panama, Cahill and Sowerby had to put the car on a boat between Cartagena, Colombia, and Panama City. The paperwork, according to Cahill, seem to involve thousands of signatures in documents that made Russian 19th century novels slim by comparison.

No, they never made it to Machu Picchu or Teotihuacan or Yellowstone, but they saw a lot of border crossing officials, and that's where the book really shines.

[Marcus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tim Cahill's writing and humor really make this tale of his trip from Ushuaia to Prudhoe Bay a great story. His sense of humor is great--I found myself laughing out loud over and over though the book. The writing is clever and insightful. In a book that is composed almost entirely of descriptions, it never feels forced or boring. Cahill masterfully weaves in insightful and compelling mini-tours through the socio-political situation in the various countries that really add to the story. They were some of my favorite parts of the book.

There were a few times where the collision of world events and their arrival on the scene seem to happen, very improbably, at just the right moment. They were probably exaggerated for the sake of the story, but it was fine. It worked. Their trip wasn't extremely eventful but it had enough excitement to be really enjoyable.

The only downer for me was that while there were a few very real human moments in the story, Tim and his professional driving companion Garry Sowerby seemed to be at odds with each other more than not. Garry is, or at least is portrayed as, a very good driver, but moody, stressed out and generally not someone that you'd want to spend every hour of 24 days with socially. They lacked 'chemistry.' Even so, the story was wonderful and makes me want to hop in a new FJ Cruiser (not the GMC Sierra they drove) and give it a go myself.

---
Page 127 - The drive begins. The first 126 pages describe preparations for the trip.
Page 261 - They cross the Mexican border into the US.
Page 267 - They cross into Canada.
Page 277 - End of book.

[Anne Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book would be a travelogue about traveling from Ushuaia, South America, to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. Like, in depth information about these places.

It's not in depth information about these places. I was a little disappointed at first.

The book is about two guys trying to set a Guinness Book of World Record by traveling, via truck and road, the least amount of days from Ushuaia to Prudhoe Bay. I didn't realize that from the book description until I started reading the (e)book. How in depth can you get with that time frame?

Not much. I was not so happy when the first 100 pages focused on researching how to verify a world record, how to procure the truck (from General Motors in this case), how to get love letters from embassy officials so that you could cross borders, and how to basically survive what amounts to living with a roommate over the course of almost a month in the proximity of an SUV. Oh, and all those sketchy border check points along the way.

But this guy - Cahill? He can write.

I'm giving it four stars (but it's five stars worth of quality writing) only because, despite 300 pages of text, he didn't write enough. You basically feel like you're in the truck with these guys as you drive through thirteen countries. No, he doesn't give you every detail. But he gives you more than enough to whet your curiosity and start planning your own road adventure.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

I grabbed this book from the Peace Corps libary in San Jose, and it is an okay travel narrative full of some standard adventures. And that is pretty much my problem with the book, its a by the numbers adventure for Americans. I also found the author's descriptions of the towns and countries they drove by to be oddly detailed and informed considering how quickly they were racing by everything. Also annoying is Cahill's personality, he seems like an annoying know-it-all you might meet at a party, but the kind who exagerates or might often be wrong. His grasp of Latin American history (Evita Peron wasn't president or even alive in the 1970's) and politics (he likes to pretend every country is full of Mad Max style gangs) is poor, yet he writes like he has total mastery of the subject. Still, towards the end I couldn't help but get caught up in their race to the finish.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tim Cahill is part of a two-man team who set the land-speed record from Tierra Del Fuego to the northern coast of Alaska. This book is absolutely fascinating, a view into a kind of travel that even those who are devoted to seeking out exotic locales almost certainly never get near.

The trip itself is only part of the book: Cahill also chronicles preparations and tangents, and devotes a considerable amount of space to the tensions involved in stuffing two guys in a car together for 25 days straight.

It's a compelling read, very narrative and not at all dry. Even if you ordinarily stick to fiction, you won't find this one a chore. I absolutely recommend it for anyone interested in travel in general, Latin America, or just unusual experiences. My one reservation is that it's now somewhat dated.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read this about once a year since it was published. I used to give it a five star rating, and it wouldn't be right to give it three, but it's getting a bit dated now. Conditions have changed in every country on the trip, dictatorships have come and gone, but the humor is still fresh. I consider it less an exciting travelogue and more a humorous historical odyssey.

[Kristopher · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is barely readable. The author takes what could be a great concept and destroys it with droning.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I generally liked the book, and enjoy Cahill's work for the most part, I felt a little let down with this one. One of the downsides of writing about a driving adventure based on covering a lot of miles quickly is that so much of the fun of reading travel literature is left out, Interesting, but maybe I'm more of a touristy guy. A bit too much on the preparation, which some might enjoy, but I like when he was on the road, providing information on what he sees and the people he meets.

[Mark Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book seemed a “must-read” after writing “Tschiffley’s Epic Equestrian Ride” and my 15,000-mile trek through Latin America, “Traveling Solo,” which is part of my new book, My Saddest Pleasures. Cahill takes us on a “hellarious” trek with professional long-distance driver Garry Sowerby from the southernmost tip of Tierra del Fuego to the northernmost point of the Dalton Highway in Alaska in a record-breaking 23 ½ days (which allowed them to convince Guinness Believe It Or Not” to underwrite the trip, as well as confirm their record) …..and they convinced corporate sponsor GMC to give the Sierra truck and support the entire journey.

I’m a big fan of lists of challenges one will face on the way, as they are both revealing and humorous:
Dodge gasoline bandits for fun and profit!
Outrun drunken bus drivers on slippery mountain roads!
Thrill to mind-numbing poverty and desperation!
Zorro Uzi-toting terrorists in remote jungle locales!
Enjoy the staccato sounds of exotic war zones!
Joke with armed teenaged soldiers!
Experience the excitement of an automatic weapon at your neck!
Join the gay, mad festivities inside typical Peruvian jail!

And yet their record-breaking pace is contrary to what much of Latin America’s culture and values are about, and you miss so much. I felt sorry for Cahill and Sowerby and wanted to tell them to take a few days off to explore unique places like Buenos Aires and Guatemala City, which they barely mentioned. However, they did have a meal at my favorite steak house, “Rodeo,” in Guatemala City. The author describes their diet for three weeks: “…We would, out of relentless necessity, live on coffee, beef jerky, and milkshakes”.
Although they occasionally stayed at luxurious hotels due to their corporate connections, they spent most of their nights driving or sleeping in the back of the truck! As someone who suffers from claustrophobia, I wanted to see them at least take a stroll in one of the many spectacular parks or colonial boulevards they drove by.
The author aptly describes the final irony of the adventure-driving business, “The essence of our adventure was to avoid adventure at all costs” to stay on schedule and according to the master plan.
And yet, the most significant barrier to meeting their goal of traversing Latin America in the least amount of time was passing through a dozen borders by land. Each crossing had a limitless array of differing regulations and laws guarded by undertrained soldiers, usually heavily armed. I experienced this in the early 1980s while passing into Nicaragua from Honduras. I was told I needed to return to Guatemala City to obtain the necessary smallpox vaccination—a vaccine which had been discontinued in 1973 and the disease eradicated worldwide in 1980…fortunately, my Guatemalan partner took the time to sort out the “misunderstanding” and work out an acceptable solution (a bribe).
The author had a seamless strategy of border crossing based on their many corporate connections. Upon arriving at the Canadian embassy in San Jose, Costa Rica, they would pick up official letters of introduction from Nicaragua and Honduras. And someone was waiting for them on the southern border of Honduras, “With the seemingly unhurried help of Luis, we cleared customs and assembled a Russian novel’s worth of paperwork in the hours between six in the morning and noon. Six hours to write War and Peace...”
Halfway through the book, I was thrilled to come across my two favorite authors on Latin America, Tom Miller (Panama Hat Trail) and Moritz Thomsen (Living Poor). They presented the dangerous world of bus transportation in Latin America. Miller advised his readers that the driver’s sobriety isn’t a factor, but the presence of his wife or girlfriend is.
She will usually sit immediately behind him, next to him, or on his lap if she's alone. He will want to impress her with his daring at the wheel, but he will also go to great lengths not to injure her. If he has no girlfriend or wife, the chances of a gorge-dive increase.

Moritz Thomsen was a Peace Corps volunteer in Ecuador who stayed to farm the land and listened to his neighbor’s endless bus-plunge stories in his classic book, Living Poor. One story reveals that when an Ecuadorian bus driver runs off the road and kills several passengers without killing himself, he immediately goes into hiding. And “There are rumors of whole villages down in the far reaches of the Amazon basin populated almost entirely by retired bus drivers.”
The authors follow the Pan-American Highway on their 15,000-mile trek, a network of roads stretching across the Americas for 19,000 miles. According to the Guinness World Records, the roads link almost all the Pacific coastal countries of the Americas and, according to the Guinness World Records, are the world’s longest “motorable road.” And what made it such a challenge for Cahill and Sowerby was its passing through diverse climates and ecological types—ranging from dense jungles to arid deserts to high barren tundra.
The author describes it as a form of entertainment. “Whole families—men, women, toddlers—stood on the side of the road, watching semis howl by two feet from their faces. Children dodged traffic for fun and kicked soccer balls to one another across the Pan-American.”
The one 66-mile gap is a rainforest break across the border between southeast Panama and northwest Colombia, called Darién Gap. The last town in Colombia is the first outpost in Panama, which is a challenging, dangerous hike of at least four days through one of the rainiest places on earth. The notion of an Inter-American highway linking countries in North, Central, and South America is a “gringo” idea.
The author has traveled to Panama several times over the years and provides a plausible explanation for this gap in the road despite the many technological advances in road building over the years. The “official” reason for the gap in the roadless wilderness is that South American cattle have the hoof-and-mouth disease. A more realistic explanation is, “…Why build a road for the convenience of paid assassins?” That seemed to be the attitude. So the gap was there because the Panamanian people didn’t want a road—and according to the author, General Noriega didn’t want a road.

“Conde Nast Traveler” sums up what makes this book special, “Droll, wonderfully quirky…Tim Cahill [has] the what-the-hell adventurousness of a T. E. Lawrence and the humor of a P.J. O’Rourke.” And the author follows the definition of “adventure travel,” which is anything that’s more fun to read about than to endure yourself.

The Author
Cahill attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison on a swimming scholarship. His epic trip from Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, is the source material for this book. He has written several books, such as Wolverine is Eating My Leg, Jaguars Ripped My Flesh, and Buried Dreams. He is a frequent contributor to National Geographic Adventure magazine.

The Reviewer
Walker was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Guatemala and spent over forty years helping disadvantaged people in the developing world. He’s worked with groups like CARE and MAP International, Food for the Hungry, Make-A-Wish International, and was the CEO of Hagar USA.

His book, Different Latitudes: My Life in the Peace Corps and Beyond, was recognized by the Arizona Literary Association. According to the Midwest Review, “…is more than just another travel memoir. It is an engaged and engaging story of one man’s physical and spiritual journey of self-discovery.”

His articles have been published in Ragazine and WorldView Magazines, Literary Yard, Scarlet Leaf Review, and Quail BELL. At the same time, the Solas Literary Award recognized two essays, including a Bronze award, in this year’s “Best Travel Writing” adventure travel category. Two of his essays were winners at the Arizona Authors Association Literary Competition, and another was recently published in ELAND Press’s newsletter. He’s a contributing writer for “Revue Magazine” and the “Literary Traveler.” His column, “The Million Mile Walker Review: What We’re Reading and Why,” is part of the Arizona Authors Association newsletter. He's working on his next book, Moritz Thomsen, The Best American Travel Writer No One’s Heard Of. He continues to produce a documentary on indigenous rights and out-migration from Guatemala, “Trouble in the Highlands.” His wife and three children were born in Guatemala. You can learn more at www.MillionMileWalker.com.


Product details
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Vintage; Reprint edition (March 3, 1992)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0394758374
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0394758374
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.2 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.2 x 0.7 x 8 inches
• Best Sellers Rank: #353,838 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
o #1,193 in Humor Essays (Books)
o #1,330 in Travel Writing Reference
o #1,486 in Travelogues & Travel Essays
• Customer Reviews:
4.5 out of 5 stars 83 ratings

[Katherine Cuevas · Rating 5 out of 5]

The great book called Road Fever by Tim Cahill is about a trip in the American continent. All the chapters in the book describe different situations that happened through the trip that started in Argentina. Tim, the author and the protagonist, narrates his experience of being a foreign in Latin countries and the difficulties of traveling in a truck with his partner. Road Fever presents multiple examples of rhetorical appeals. Firstly, rhetorical appeals are logos, pathos, and ethos. Those rhetorical appeals have the function of using the language or words to effectively persuade the audience. Therefore, the following paragraphs show three examples of logos, pathos, and ethos, and also the effect on the audience or reader.

At the beginning of the book, most of the agreements and requirements about the trip were presented. Tim did accept the contract with the company, and he clearly stated that “[he] would not endorse or participate in advertising the truck… [but] if the truck fell apart on the record run, [he is] free to write about it” (Cahill 10). Because Tim gave a reason for when he could write about the characteristics of the truck, the reader can understand that the contract did not say that he could or could not talk about the truck. Therefore, Tim’s reason appeals to logos because the audience believes or understands it. In others words, all the logical arguments appeal to logos by making the reader to comprehend. The appeal was effective because I, as the audience or reader of this book, understood Tim’s argument to write about the features or the result of the truck in the trip.

The rhetorical appeal called pathos make a different effect in the audience than logos’ effect. Words that get the audience’s feelings appeal to pathos. The effect on the reader is that he/she can feel an emotion. When Tim said to himself that “Most anytime I leave home, however, the weather turns spitefully glorious…why the hell I would ever want to leave”, he shows that he is not happy with this situation (Cahill 74). Consequently, the words that Tim said about his home town make the reader feel sorrow for him. By reading it, I feel depressed and melancholy because Tim loves his house and the weather there, but he cannot be there all the time that he wants. Therefore, the appeal was truly effective because the audience feel a sentiment by Tim’s words and phrases about his suffering of not being in home.

For some people, the faith in God is really important because it completes their lives. For Tim too, he considered a huge part of his beliefs and decisions. One time he said that “You get your inspiration where it falls, and for my part, Michael Morgan’s faith is inspirational” (Cahill 125). By saying this words he is being sincere about what he thinks is inspirational for him that in this case is the father’s faith in God. Therefore, the sincerity of Tim appeals to ethos because the audience can trust the author. I can believe his words because he demonstrates sincerity and honesty when he tells something about his personal life or his job in the trip. The appeal was effective because the reader did trust Tim as the author and the main character of the book.

The three rhetorical appeals that were presented in the paragraphs below demonstrate ways to persuade the reader by the author or characters’ words. Logos is author’s arguments that the reader would understand. Pathos is characters’ words that would make the audience feel a sentiment. Ethos is how the reader can believe the author or character, and some of the ways is by the sincerity. Therefore, Road Fever shows logos, pathos, and ethos by Tim words and explanations of the trip from Argentina to Alaska. In conclusion, all reasons, emotions, and sincerity are ways to persuade and make the audience trust and believe in Tim Cahill and his book, Road Fever.

[Marvin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tim Cahill has long been my favorite travel writer from his stint with Rolling Stone to his articles in Outside. Some of his best essays ae collected in his strange titled books of his trilogy, being Jaguars Ripped My Flesh,A Wolverine is Eating my LegPegged to Death by Ducks. Cahill is sort of a cross between Hunter S. Thompson and Paul Theroux with a taste of Dave Barry thrown in for laughs. However Road Fever is not an essay collection but a memoir of his record breaking drive on the Pan-American Highway from Terra De Fuego, Argentina to Pruhoe Bay in Alaska in 1987. One of Cahill's strength is that he can find humor in anything. But he is also good at transmitting his and the other driver's apprehension and fears in what was some of the most dangerous parts of the world in the 80s. Cahill effectively account their obstacles in completing their run ranging from horrendous bureaucratic BS (still there) to bribe-obsessed government officials (definitely still there) to constantly feared bandits and terrorists (significantly reduced). I also enjoyed the first third of the book which focused on preparation. Hint to further adventure. This is a very good travel book and a nice one to read if you are not familiar with Tim Cahill and his quirky style of riding.

[Dustin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have wanted to read this for quite some time, but have been a little weary. The thing is, I love Tim Cahill, but all of his writing is short-form journalism style. I was worried that a longer narrative would lose its luster for me and Cahill would drop in my standings. Not at all. The book was delightful. Mostly because of the detail he describes of what it takes to be an adventure writer. As for the adventure itself, the book is truly exciting, with vivid detail of the gorgeous landscapes he traversed and interesting people he met. The book focuses almost exclusively on getting through South and Central America, but that is where all the fun happens. US and Canada took them just a few days, and he devoted about 20 pages to it. A really fun book, and a must-read for anyone harboring plans to take on this type of profession/adventure.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is pure travel literature candy. I have an affection for adventure travel stories in which travelers pursue risky goals and endure challenging conditions. Written in the late 80s, the book chronicles the pursuit of the World's Record for shortest time to drive from the southern most tip of Argentina to the end of the road in Alaska. Cahill's language brings to life the absurdity of their pursuit, along with the humor and challenges of racing on dangerous roads and enduring paperwork shuffles at every border crossing.

[Nathan Albright · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you have ever taken a lengthy road-trip with somewhat dodgy company, as I have, you will be able to understand some of the charm of this kind of book.  Reading this book reminded me of a 25 hour trip that my father and I took in the spring of 2004 from rural Western Pennsylvania (where he lived) to West Hartford, Connecticut, where my girlfriend at the time lived.  Like the co-drivers here, we wanted to drive in several hour shifts, but the bad driving of one of the parties made it difficult for the other to sleep.  In my case, it was my father's errant going back and forth between the median and the sleep strips as we made our way through rural New York and southwestern Vermont around the town of Barre into western Massachusetts that made it impossible for me to sleep.  My father ended up doing a marathron drive with one hour of sleep in the parking lot to a grocery store in the suburbs outside Boston and we both made sure to get plenty of sleep as soon as we arrived at our destination exhausted and not entirely sane.  The author shows a similar sense throughout this trip and, for this reader at least, it was entirely relatable.

This particular book is the tale of how two men, a somewhat fussy Canadian long-distance driver who already had a couple of notable trips that had gone of well, and the author, managed to set a record traveling from the southern to the northern ends of the Western hemisphere and the experiences they had a long the way.  The author shows the logistical planning as well as financing for the trip, which are certainly interesting to some readers and help this book reach about 250 pages, as it would be fairly short if it only discussed the journey without any other context.  Once the journey itself begins the author shows what it is like to drive up the Pan-American Highway, how one deals with terrible terrain, crazy drivers, and the corruption involved in border crossings.  The author also shows the temperamental problems that result when two tired people driving in difficult terrain in shifts get on each other's nerves before embracing the brokenness of the experience with terrible food and coffee and the need to stay awake and to keep driving with occasional naps and bathing until one reaches one's destination triumphant, which they do.

Reading this book was an interesting way to compare this particular journey with others.  The author's experiences can be compared, for example, to that of the noted long-distance horsemen of Argentina [1], and the author's brief trip on the Stella Lykes can be compared to the lengthier trip of John McPhee on that same ship.  It does seem that when one commits to a life of adventure driving or adventure writing that one is involved in a very small world where one's paths may often cross with other writers, and where readers may be able to place a book and a writer within a larger constellation of related people and adventures, for even when it comes to such matters as making record-breaking runs, one is still not doing anything that is particularly original because so many of the records and adventures one is seeking are in competition with others who are also writing about these events and seeking the same sort of attention and memory themselves.  This is certainly an account that one can relate to, even if the author failed to prepare adequately when it came to the logistics of feeding oneself on such a journey.

[1] https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2018...

[Kate McKinney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Firsthand marathon-drive from Tierra del Fuega to Alaska, to set a world record! Snarky tone, which works well for the situations the author presents. The first few chapters are boring, covering the financial & legal aspects of setting up the trip. Next, a chapter on security considerations (since the author plans travelling thru politically unstable, dangerous areas), which is a bit more interesting. Really, I was eager to just start the road-trip, which didn't happen for at least 100 pages or so (almost halfway into the book). It seems crazy that this book has no maps, for a trip across 2 continents. This makes it difficult for the reader to orient to the many new & changing locations. The narrator places way too much emphasis on the complicated bureaucracies of the trip (ie; paperwork, passports, vehicle repairs/maintenance), which become all-consuming & take away from the quality of the reading experience significantly, by subjecting the reader to the stresses of planning & execution, instead of enjoying the adventure of it all. Since it's a marathon race, there isn't much time for fun or adventure, so most of the book is a drone on & on: about their problems, inconveniences & mishaps. Admittedly, they used a lot of ingenuity to push thru these situations. Still, reading about a true slower-paced road-trip would probably be more satisfying. The end of the book is premature, abruptly concluding, foreshortened & anticlimactic, reserving only a few pages for the entire final North American segment of the trip. Overall, the book is unfortunately a disappointment giving the feeling of being "thrown together" hastily.

[IAmTheHolly · Rating 5 out of 5]

A perfect book for summer - a grand road trip from the southernmost tip of South America to the northernmost tip of North America in an attempt for a 1988 world record.  Over half the book is the preparation, but isn't true for any long journey?  If you do your homework in advance the journey goes a lot smoother.  Tim reminds me a little bit of Bill Bryson - the dry humor, the sarcasm - and while I'd say Bill is a little more amusing (check out The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America by Bill Bryson and especially I'm a Stranger Here Myself - I've bought at least 3 copies of this book for gifts for people, it totally cracks me up), I definitely appreciated Tim's humor and storytelling ability.  Also - it doesn't make me want to visit much of south or central America anytime too soon, especially by car, but it makes for a good story.

I've definitely got to check out more Tim Cahill in the future!  If you like travel, travel writing, or adventure stories, check this one out!  I'll go 9 of 10 overall and 3 of 5 for readability.  It is a bit dry at parts, but mostly just an interesting story of a pretty intense journey.

For more reviews, check out bedroopedbookworms.wordpress.com!

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, a good read. I loved the whole idea of a road trip from the southernmost road to the northernmost road in the Americas. The fact it was done in 1987, when cell phones were hardly an option and people like Noriega were in power, also makes it interesting. Cahill's writing is pretty good. My only two complaints were (1) the pacing of having the trip begin at the midpoint of the book, and limiting basically all of North America to the final 10% of the book (it's obvious that after the drivers' perpetually paranoid trek through South America anticipating Mad Max gangs that there was just nothing to say in the comfortable countries.), and (2) Cahill himself. What is it with travel writers like Bill Bryson and Tim Cahill who not only have to act like immature jerks, but think it's something worth noting in their books? Cahill is no Bryson in terms of material, but that aside - that's one heck of a road trip!

[Jackie Rubbo]

Driving 15,000 miles from Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, in a record-breaking twenty-three and a half days, Tim Cahill's Road Fever is a hilarious account of a preposterous journey, a breathtaking tour of North and South America, as well as a veritable how-to for pulling off cheeky scams to get ahead. All in the spirit of getting his name written into the record books.

Told with the humour, knowledge, and propriety-be-damned attitude that have made his other adventure books such critical and popular successes, Cahill embarks on his fastest, funniest trip yet. He reveals everything there is to know about surviving South America on a diet of beef jerky and Farmer's milk shakes and getting General Motors and the Guinness Book of World Records to subsidize his wanderlust.

[Heep · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much of this book is now dated and not like good aged wine. Parts that are descriptive of landscape and weather hold up very well and make the book worth reading. Those dealing with culture and human interaction are not as successful. In an effort to be humorous, the author frequently adopts a blithe and irreverent tone. With the passage of time, these portions often seem unduly dismissive or disdainful of people and culture. To be fair, at his best, Cahill does establish context by explaining the background or history of place and nationality, but it is uneven. Still, the book is an artifact of a time that I lived through, and despite faults it is a candid journal of an epic roadtrip.

[Bea Mantel · Rating 3 out of 5]

In het Nederlands als Asfalthonger.

Reisboek over race tegen de tijd op de PanAmerican Highway, een netwerk van wegen tussen Vuurland en Alaska. Ruim een derde van het boek wordt besteed aan de voorbereidingen, de rit zelf gaat zowat alleen over de onderweg nog benodigde documenten en hoe daar aan te komen. Het boek is van 1991, de reis van 1987. Ook in het licht van die tijd blijft de trip zelf niet meer dan gebral over de staat van de weg en over de fysieke conditie van de roadrunners. Lees een willekeurig stuk terug en geen idee waar ze zijn (kan ook niet als je uiteindelijk in minder dan 24 dagen ca. 27.000 km overbrugt, inclusief slaapsessies en persconferenties).

[Suzanne Fournier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tim joins World Record driver Garry Sowerby to break the record for driving the Pan-American Highway tip to tip.

I've read a few other Cahill books and when I read an excerpt of the this one to my Mother, she said "I went to University with Garry Sowerby, which indeed she did. It gave a different perspective on the book and especially the time Tim spends in New Brunswick (where I live) preparing for the drive. This was an interesting read, but I couldn't help wonder what the drive would have been like if 2 women had organized and driven it. These two men seem to get a little loopy almost immediately without proper sleep or food.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a person that loves travel memoirs. I always find that they drive me to keep pursuing and working to achieve my goals of seeing the world. This book was fun mostly because at the time he traveled from Tierra del Fuego to Prudhoe Bay in record time.

At the time this was amazing and that is why I love this book. Going on an adventure like this was not the norm.

Very well written book. I laughed so much in this book. Anyone that has ever traveled will understand the perils he went through because they still exist today, so a great relaxing book to read!

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

definitely made me want to hit the road and drive to Chicago... I miss those trips. Also reminded me why I shouldn't travel alone. They have a lot of people helping them stay on plan. I always mess up the plan by misscheduling so it was nice reading that even with lots of planning, they still are winging it as they travel.

"A tight budget is the mother of adventure. It generates tense situations, confrontations with unsavory characters, hysterical desperation, and uncomfortable sleeping arrangements."

He forgot to go see Iron Maiden, I would have timed the drive around a couple shows.

[Steve Fox · Rating 3 out of 5]

A simply written book about a topic I love: Road trips! Writer Tim Cahill and adventure driver Garry Sowerby drove from the southern tip of South America to the far northern tip of North America in a brand new 1989 Chevy Silverado pickup truck in just under 24 days to set a Guinness Book of World Records new mark. Along the way the real adventure was in South and Central America, not surprisingly, especially regarding border crossings and sketchy night driving in countries where it simply was not safe to be on the road. Cahill's retelling of the ultimate road trip is witty and insightful.

[Edwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had been reading Tim for quite some time in Outside magazine, so I was well aware, and something of a fan, of his candid, self deprecating style of adventure writing. Road Fever is something of a departure from that in which he reveals the secret of Adventure Driving. To get to the end of the drive you have to avoid adventure. But that is a tale in itself when you are driving whatever road exists to get you from one end of the Americas to the other.

[Spencer Belyea · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun and easy read on the roadtrip of a lifetime - driving from the tip of South America to the top of North America. The book is shorter than you might think for a journey of that length, but it is about setting the speed record for the drive, so there's not a lot of sightseeing happening. What Cahill is great at is describing poignant, memorable, or funny scenes and giving snapshots of the characters they meet along the way.

[Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book put me off ever wanting to travel in South or Central America, and certainly not to drive through non-stop. I learned more than I ever thought I would want to know about how to organize an attempt at a Guinness world record. I don't even have a place in my genre list for this kind of travel.

But was it an interesting book? Yes, it was. Was I sorry I read it? No, in the end it was very interesting. Reading isn't always about things one already knows.

[Caroline Weber · Rating 5 out of 5]

So funny! So much fun to read this!

Driving from Tierra del Fuego to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, in under 30 days, with a Canadian "professional adventure/distance driver" from New Brunswick, Garry Sowerby! Who knew?

Might be worth having a look at the book by Sowerby, "Sowerby's Road: Adventures of a Driven Mind".