[2OK]⇒ Download Free The Bird Man and the Lap Dancer Close Encounters with Strangers Eric Hansen 9780679771821 Books

The Bird Man and the Lap Dancer Close Encounters with Strangers Eric Hansen 9780679771821 Books

Download As PDF : The Bird Man and the Lap Dancer Close Encounters with Strangers Eric Hansen 9780679771821 Books

The Bird Man and the Lap Dancer Close Encounters with Strangers Eric Hansen 9780679771821 Books

"Foreplay lasts for hours as they circle each other in a clockwise direction - licking, nibbling, and rasping at each other's genital region. They taste and eat each other's slime; maybe to get turned on, or as some sort of exchange of genetic information. When sufficiently aroused, they enter each other and have continuous sex for up to thirty-six hours." - from THE BIRD MAN AND THE LAP DANCER

Before you click away from this review in disgust thinking the book is about bizarre sex rituals practiced by some weird cult, probably in California, or, rather, become glued to the text out of prurient interest, just realize that the quote above comes from wildlife biologist Oliver Sparrow about the mating ritual of banana slugs, genus Ariolimax. No surprise, the subspecies A. californicus brachyphallus does inhabit the Golden State.

Sparrow is one of the characters author Eric Hansen meets in this unusual compilation of travel essays. Unusual because, while the reader is taken to such exotic locales as Calcutta, the Borneo rainforest, Thursday Island off Australia's northern coast, the Maldives, and the sinister Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, the volume's focus is indicated by its subtitle, "Close Encounters with Strangers". It's a book more about people than places.

The very best chapter, the one which would earn the whole a five star award all on its own because of the lesson on perspective it teaches, is "Life Lessons from Dying Strangers". Here, Hansen recounts the months he spent cooling his heels in Calcutta while trying to arrange with the labyrinthine Indian bureaucracy the shipment home of two enormous steamer trunks filled with souvenirs from his Asian travels. Almost beside himself with frustration, Eric only finds inner peace through volunteering at Mother Teresa's hospice for the dying destitute.

And then there's the chapter about the biologist, Sparrow, who takes lap dancers from the gentlemen's club he frequents on nature hikes. Or the one about the grief-stricken widower who searches for his wife's wedding ring amidst the jungle-strewn wreckage of the executive jet in which she died.

I enjoyed THE BIRD MAN AND THE LAP DANCER more than I thought I would. More than most, it has "the human touch". And you, too, can learn what it means to be on the receiving end of a "T.I. handshake".


Tags : The Bird Man and the Lap Dancer: Close Encounters with Strangers [Eric Hansen] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Eric Hansen survives a cyclone on a boat off the Australian coast, cradles a dying man in Calcutta, and drinks mind-altering kava in Vanuatu. He helps a widower search for his wife's wedding ring amid plane-crash wreckage in Borneo and accompanies topless dancers on a bird-watching expedition in California. From the Maldives to Sacramento,Eric Hansen,The Bird Man and the Lap Dancer: Close Encounters with Strangers,Vintage,0679771824,Hansen, Eric - Travel,Voyages and travels,General Adult,Non-Fiction,Special Interest - Adventure,TRAVEL,TRAVEL Special Interest Adventure,Travel & holiday guides,Travel - General,road trip essentials;travel gifts;road trip;travel gift;adventure;travel writing;anthropology;travelogues;biographies;adventure books;explorers;travel book;fitness;travel;travel books;history;travel diary;bucket list;travelogue books;travel memoirs;caves;mountain climbing;travel memoir;exploration;travelogue;adventure book;adventure gifts;travel adventure books;traveling books;travels;essays;biography;autobiography;nature;writing;short stories;wanderlust;photography;beach;culture;walking;family,essays; adventure; travel writing; biography; travelogue; autobiography; sailing; travel memoir; hiking; culture; road trip; writing; wanderlust; nature; family; travelogues; road trip essentials; travel gifts; travel gift; gifts for travelers; travel books; travel gifts for women; traveling gifts; travel gifts for men; travel gift ideas; gift for travelers; gifts for travel; fun travel gifts; short stories; walking; summer reading; photography; beach; journal; natural history; island; vacation; animals; haiti; oceania

The Bird Man and the Lap Dancer Close Encounters with Strangers Eric Hansen 9780679771821 Books Reviews

This is wonderful book--it is beautifully written, varied in its topics, and, most important of all, intensely human. My favorite chapter is the last, when the author accompanies the karaoke-crazed crew of an Indonesian tall ship in a race off the west coast of the USA. Eric Hansen quite obviously likes and respects the people he comes into contact with, and there is too little of that in today's world. Don't miss this one!
Terrible book. Rekindled my wander lust and I almost walked out on my business and family. Beware of contents!
Eric Hansen's provides a mix of unusual stories in "The Bird Man and the Lap Dancer Close Encounters with Strangers." The stories occur over a number of years in a variety of situations. What makes this a fun read is that his adventures are unpredictable. As a reader, you sense that in living his life, Hansen needs to get outside of himself. In his quest, he kindly brings you along as well. Hansen does the dirty work for you so that you take a safe trip sitting in your arm chair or at your kitchen table. This was my first read of anything by Eric Hansen. I am now on the prowl for other works by him.
I first heard about this book when it was reviewed as the book of the week on public radio. I borrowed it from the library and read it in one day. That was several years ago and since then I have not been able to get it out of my mind. If you are inclined to exotic adventures and travel to places such as Borneo, this is irresistible. Now, years later, I wanted to read it again and relive some of those adventures. It is no longer available in the local library so -- I ordered it from . Don't miss it!
Highest recommendation! How much living can one man fit into his years? I'd guess Eric Hansen can answer that as well as any person alive today. Some reviewers have praised the chapter "Life Lessons from Dying Strangers" as the best of the book. While I thoroughly loved it, "Cooking with Madame Zoya" brought a lump to my throat as I read about this spunky, independent woman making a life in a neighborhood most men would never consider entering--and receiving help from the most unexpected of sources! What a story!

"Three Nights on the Mountain" will give you chills. "The Ghost Wind" will renew your faith in native intelligence and perception. And "The Bird Man and the Lap Dancer" will leave you shaking your head in wonder at the amazing variety of people in the world.

Read this book!
My Aunt Dagmar once told me - `All of my stories are true and some of them actually happened.' I strongly believe that is a sentiment shared by Eric Hansen.

"The Bird Man and the Lap Dancer" is an excellent read. Hansen is a first-rate writer and has no problem holding the reader's interest from one page to the next and from story to story. I was somewhat surprised to find that the first story was a character study about a relationship between two women rather than a travel story per se. However, as I read on, Hansen made me realize that travel is not just about place, but also about the people the traveler will come across in his or her journeys and I grew to appreciate the subtitle - "Close Encounters with Strangers."

I am not at all disappointed in the tales the author has to relate. But, deep down I feel that is mostly what they are - tales. This is especially true of the title story. Perhaps I come to this conclusion because in this story Hansen at times seems to lose his narrative thread and delve a little too deeply and a little too long into the psyche of the characters rather than the encounter. This story, to me, feels like a fantasy and firmly embeds this book in to the growing genre of "creative nonfiction."

While I would not place this book in the Travel section, I do highly recommend it to any one who is interested in reading about colorful people in exotic settings.
"Foreplay lasts for hours as they circle each other in a clockwise direction - licking, nibbling, and rasping at each other's genital region. They taste and eat each other's slime; maybe to get turned on, or as some sort of exchange of genetic information. When sufficiently aroused, they enter each other and have continuous sex for up to thirty-six hours." - from THE BIRD MAN AND THE LAP DANCER

Before you click away from this review in disgust thinking the book is about bizarre sex rituals practiced by some weird cult, probably in California, or, rather, become glued to the text out of prurient interest, just realize that the quote above comes from wildlife biologist Oliver Sparrow about the mating ritual of banana slugs, genus Ariolimax. No surprise, the subspecies A. californicus brachyphallus does inhabit the Golden State.

Sparrow is one of the characters author Eric Hansen meets in this unusual compilation of travel essays. Unusual because, while the reader is taken to such exotic locales as Calcutta, the Borneo rainforest, Thursday Island off Australia's northern coast, the Maldives, and the sinister Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, the volume's focus is indicated by its subtitle, "Close Encounters with Strangers". It's a book more about people than places.

The very best chapter, the one which would earn the whole a five star award all on its own because of the lesson on perspective it teaches, is "Life Lessons from Dying Strangers". Here, Hansen recounts the months he spent cooling his heels in Calcutta while trying to arrange with the labyrinthine Indian bureaucracy the shipment home of two enormous steamer trunks filled with souvenirs from his Asian travels. Almost beside himself with frustration, Eric only finds inner peace through volunteering at Mother Teresa's hospice for the dying destitute.

And then there's the chapter about the biologist, Sparrow, who takes lap dancers from the gentlemen's club he frequents on nature hikes. Or the one about the grief-stricken widower who searches for his wife's wedding ring amidst the jungle-strewn wreckage of the executive jet in which she died.

I enjoyed THE BIRD MAN AND THE LAP DANCER more than I thought I would. More than most, it has "the human touch". And you, too, can learn what it means to be on the receiving end of a "T.I. handshake".