Take Me With You : A Round-the-World Journey to Invite a Stranger Home

Rating:
Summary: Very good
Review: I read through most of the customer reviews and feel the need to add mine to this list because there seems to be such mixed opinions regarding the quality of the author's writing. I've read many, many travel books, and this one comes close to being my favorite. Only Bill Bryson's name goes before Brad Newsham's on my list of favorite travel writers. I read the softbound edition and found no errors, so perhaps the continual references to editing problems were cleared up with the publication of the softbound edition. He really can evoke the feeling of being right there with him on his journey. I've only been to one of the countries he chose to go to; Kenya, and I must admit he did a much better job than I did of truly seeing the country. And he does tell you who he invited home (again something that might be missing in the hardbound first edition) but it took several years for him to make this happen so again a good reason to skip the hardbound version and get the soft cover instead.

Rating:
Summary: A memorable travel book
Review: I read through most of the customer reviews and feel the need to add mine to this list because there seems to be such mixed opinions regarding the quality of the author's writing. I've read many, many travel books, and this one comes close to being my favorite. Only Bill Bryson's name goes before Brad Newsham's on my list of favorite travel writers. I read the softbound edition and found no errors, so perhaps the continual references to editing problems were cleared up with the publication of the softbound edition. He really can evoke the feeling of being right there with him on his journey. I've only been to one of the countries he chose to go to; Kenya, and I must admit he did a much better job than I did of truly seeing the country. And he does tell you who he invited home (again something that might be missing in the hardbound first edition) but it took several years for him to make this happen so again a good reason to skip the hardbound version and get the soft cover instead.

Rating:
Summary: A travel story with real heart
Review: I really enjoyed this travel memoir. If you like travel adventures then read this book. Once you start this book it is hard to put down and don't cheat, the ending is the best.

Rating:
Summary: Doesn't Measure Up
Review: I was quite disappoined that this book failed to inspire me due to its insipid writing style. Also, I hate the idea that this white guy from America goes off to find some poor brown man from a poor country so he can bring him back to the good ole USA to show him what he's missing. The book drags on and on and on and I only stayed with it to find out who he'd take home. It turns out he doesn't take anyone home after all. What a let-down.

Rating:
Summary: Can't get it out of my head
Review: I'm not a big reader of travel books, but if they're all this good I think I may have to become one. I was charmed from the beginning by the book's premise: an off-duty cab driver wandering the world with something special in his pcket, a magical gift he is going to give away to a complete stranger. And then I was repeatedly charmed and touched by Newsham's interactions with the people he tucked so vividly between the covers of this spellbinding book. And the scenery! I've always wanted to see the animals in Africa and now I feel like I have, feel like I've slept in a tent on the edge of the Serengetti with hyenas and lions and elephants lurking in the bush. I feel like I've stood beside the flaming funeral pyres on a dark night on the banks of the Ganges and watched bodies being cremated and the ashes and remains pushed into the river. I feel like I've stood at the southern tip of Africa and listened to the waves of the Atlantic Ocean crash up on one side of me and the waves of the Indian Ocean on the other. I feel like I went around the world and came back a different person.

Rating:
Summary: A gem!
Review: I've recommended this book to anyone I come across who has an interest in travel. It is a terrific travel book with a twist - the desire to find someone from the author's travels, who would not outwise be able to swing it, to them bring home and share a bit of his world as they have shared theirs. Don't skip forward - read it as it comes, let it unfold, and then look at your life though a different set of eyes. Fantastic book.

Rating:
Summary: Review
Review: If Steinbeck had lived in the Haight he'd have written a book like this one. Most travelers focus on physical surroundings while the local residents, and even fellow travelers, are instinctively kept at bay. Newsham vividly describes the places he's been -- in itself worth the price of the book -- but his rare ability to look 'inside' the people he meets is priceless. I suspect even experienced travelers who've already traveled Newsham's itinerary (Philippines, India, Egypt, Southern Africa) will, at least grudgingly, admit they've only experienced half as much as Newsham -- having missed out on the people -- than an odd 'thank you', 'good morning', or 'what time does the train leave?' Get a room full of accomplished globetrotters together and ask for a show of hands of how many have ever chatted with a just-circumcised South African tribesmen (with a balding South African racist translating) and I'll have proved my point. This is a fine book, for travelers and non-travelers alike, as Newsham thoughtfully brings alive characters who never make it into books, and offers us a glimpse of their basic humanity -- for better or worse. I suspect contemporaries complained about Steinbeck's Tortilla Flat, "Why does he write about these kinds of people?" I don't have a response, other than to note that we should thank goodness that some writers do. Newsham takes us on a fine journey beyond Monterey. I look forward to seeing where he goes next.

Rating:
Summary: A refreshing find
Review: In search of a new book to read, I was listening to a weekly book review on National Public radio. Take Me With You was mentioned, I bought it, and it did. Newsham knows how to travel and how to bring you along for the ride. He does not sit back and just look at where he is going, he gets close to the people, the land and the cultures. How refreshing for the reader to just sit back and be taken along for a great trip around the world. One thing that was obvious in the book was that Brad is a seasoned traveler and has little or no fear of strange cultures and people. Highly recommended!

Rating:
Summary: a great book
Review: My husband and I read this book together and had such a great time discussing the different countries and the people the author met there. The author's insights are so close to our own that we felt like we were there with him (without staying in the $1/night hotel in Calcutta). Overall the book makes the reader grateful to be sharing the planet with such wonderful people and sad at the same time that so many have such limited opportunity in life.

Rating:
Summary: Nice Surprise
Review: My three year old son insisted that I buy this book & I'm so glad I did! Brad Newsham really captured that crazy feeling of travel, and brought me into his experience in a way that made me feel like I was on the journey, too. What was even nicer was that inside there was a photograph/story of someone I had met while traveling, too! I'm buying this book (NEW) for all of my friends and family! I sincerly hope you get a chance to read it.