Running the Amazon

By Joe Kane and KANE Joe

Book Overview

The voyage began in the lunar terrain of the Peruvian Andes, where coca leaf is the only remedy against altitude sickness. It continued down rapids so fierce they could swallow a raft in a split second. It ended six months and 4,200 miles later, where the Amazon runs gently into the Atlantic. Joe Kane's personal account of the first expedition to travel the entirety of the world's longest river is a riveting adventure in the tradition of Joseph Conrad, filled with death-defying encounters- with narco-traffickers and Sendero Luminoso guerrillas and nature at its most unforgiving. Not least of all, Running the Amazon shows a polyglot group of urbanized travelers confronting their wilder selves -- their fear and egotism, selflessness and courage.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 067972902X
• ISBN13: 9780679729020
• Release Date: May 1990
• Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.68 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Review by nat'l news mag wrong!

The "Time", or was it "Newsweek", review was wrong. This is an exciting, thrilling adventure full of human drama, insight and a look at a world 99% of US citizens know nothing about. I usually do not read books of this genre, but the "bad" review in one of the country's leading 'news' magazines was intriguing enough for me to order it from my local book store. I was fascinated by Kane's descriptions of the local citizens in Peru with coca juice running out of their mouths, mile-high canyons where the sun can barely be seen, rebels shooting at them from cliff tops, to supposed head-hunters chasing them on the river. This is one book where I am glad I did not follow the advice of a "professional" reviewer and ignore it. I enjoyed it so much, I gave my only copy to my mother, who put it into her retirement community's library for others to enjoy.