Tayler's haunting travel adventure follows his 1,100-mile trip up the Congo River on a barge teeming with merchants, deckhands, prostitutes, mothers, spiritual followers, fishermen, and children. Readers feel the oppressive heat hanging wet in the night air over the floating marketplace, and shudder at the slither and crunch of the stir-fried worms that Tayler reluctantly injests. On his trek downriver, Tayler is met with even greater challenges as he battles for survival, paddling through the adverse elements on a tiny pirogue. At times lost in the fog-covered backwaters, at others faced by tribes of people whose ancestors were murdered by those with white skin, Tayler's level of comfort is pushed to its limits, transforming his adventure into a journey of discovery.Praise for Jeffrey Tayler:"The establishment media is full of official half-truths that ultimately get exposed, whether of Russia's fledgling democratic success or sub-saharan Africa's economic renaissance. Jeffrey Tayler goes off the beaten path to give us a much deeper version of the truth, whether along the Congo River or in Siberian flophouses. And unlike so many other gonzo travel writers, he is not politically naive."-Robert D. Kaplan, correspondent for the Atlantic Montly, and author of An Empire Wilderness and Balkan Ghosts"Tayler is a skilled craftsman who could become a significant new voice in travel literature. Compelling and deeply unsettling reading."-BooklistJeffrey Tayler is the author of Siberian Dawn. He has published numerous articles in such publications as Atlantic Monthly, Spin, and Cond Nast Traveler, and is a regular commentator on NPR's All Things Considered.