

SHEILA B. (SheilaB) reviewed on + 188 more book reviews
Widely considered a jewel of contemporary travel literature, Equator is Thurston Clarke's magnificent, witty account of his solo journey along the Earth's torrid midsection-a grueling 25,000 mile odyssey that spanned three years and as many continents. His was a perilous trek across an almost surreal landscape-where a first class hotel appeared smack in the middle of a leper colony and a one-time Pacific island paradise stood as a hideous, bomb-blasted testament to nuclear folly. Along the way Clarke encountered the world's heaviest rat, the Earth's highest volcano, and the king of a Micronesian island wearing flip-flops and a novelty t-shirt. Throughout, Clarke's unflagging sense of humor and wonder make this make Equator a classic of its kind.