Just Crazy Enough To Work: How to Fail on the Silk Road

by Stu Nugent

Stu Nugent was never a good candidate for a round-the-world so cycling trip. He was, and remains, a coward. In a flash of uncharacteristic daring, influenced by alcohol and a traumatic brain injury, he attempted to cycle the Northern Silk Road, from Shanghai to Europe. He failed. He failed dramatically. Against a backdrop of the world's most staggering, awe-inspiring landscapes, he was forced to smoke opium at gunpoint, attacked by a snake in a remote Kyrgyz river, robbed at gunpoint by the police, and eventually imprisoned in anonymous jail somewhere in the Kazakh steppe.

How did it all go so wrong?

"An absolutely spectacular spinning account of The Silk Road, from an excellent storyteller." - Wanderlust

"There is an account of beauty here, but also of vulnerability. A very unusual story, that left me dizzy." - Verge

266 pages, Paperback

Published February 20, 2022

Reviews

[Aaron Slocum · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredibly raw, gripping, and honest story. It describes both Stu's physical journey across China and Central Asia, as well as his internal growth and journey.

As someone who's done similar trips, albeit much smaller in scale and risk, and was actually in Xinjiang at the same time, I found this incredibly inspiring and informational, while at the same time a cautionary tale. It made me reflect on my own reasons for wanting to travel, and to leave everything behind and recklessly set out across some silk road type journey. Which I still might do but hopefully less self destructively.

Thank you Stu for recording this journey and your experiences, and for all the work done on your YouTube channel as well. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in Central Asia, Travel, or the study of compulsive behavior in people and what makes us do the things we do.

[Jacques · Rating 5 out of 5]

a raw, emotional, funny well written story. i was gripped from the first page and it didn’t let go until the very end and even a bit after. this intimate look at what it means to give yourself over to the wonder and beauty of the natural world and let impulse takeover was wonderful. to stu, im happy to have read your book and wish you well.

[Jordan Jongema · Rating 5 out of 5]

A captivating near-suicide mission by a willful Alcoholic who eventually succumbs to the stiff uppercuts of an Ethanol fuelled destructive dance with reality. Very colourful descriptions of the straight jaw dropping sights throughout the Silk Road. Nugent’s way of caking on the grime is really just him being natural and recalling the events of this hell-ridden eight month doom spell. No fabrication. He almost lost his life (many times) while embarking on this extreme solo quest.

Holy fuck - Kazakhstan sounds like a complete thug pit…. Or was it the Alcoholism stripping layers of sane flesh from his body/soul and the corrupt officials of power noticed that & tried toying him around?

Enjoyed the tidbits of historical facts with each city he was able to muster through.

Wish the font size was a little larger in this book. Felt myself having to squint at the tiny text for mostly all of it making it a bit of a pain.

[kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 rounded down for the grammatical/spelling errors, really descriptive and entertaining book, never been so enthralled by a travel book.

[Harris Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really good book. Couldn't stop reading it. Enthralling from start to finish I also like all the imagery used in the visions throughout it.