Rohit Kumar Kumar itibaren Tunapuy, Venezuela
This book is put out by an anarchist collective, www.CrimethInc.com, that eschews the use of such trivialities as bar codes and ISBNs. It's a little cliche, I know, but this is the first-ever book recommendation I've received from my sis, a notorious non-reader, so I had to see what it was all about. The book was originally a zine, put together by two girls who were hitchhiking & squatting their way across Europe. They position themselves sometimes as witches, sometimes mermaids, sometimes dirty, tired, lonely girls. But always they are seeking, and dreaming, and trying to find something inspiring or just lovely in everything around them. They include episodes of despair and disappointment, along with tales of kindness and imagination. One chapter finds them playing house in an abandoned building that's still full of its previous owner's old photos, letters, and clothes; in another they're sleeping in a cave on a nude beach; they're picked up by all manner of crazies, including a ecstacy-addled French guy and an organic farmer from Germany. They work on a community garden, find a mysogynist train squat, move through France, Spain, Germany, Prague, Belgium, etc, etc, etc. I have to admit that my jaded/cynical side found this all a little overly sentimental at times, but on the whole, the partially smothered naive dreamer that still sometimes peeks out through my bangs thought Off the Map was really really beautiful.
I've enjoyed all the BDB books I've read so far but this one ranks with the first four in the series - those I loved. Nothing better than reading about an apparent 'bad boy' who has a heart of gold and loads of integrity (at least within their world). Just like Butch, Rehvenge is a nice addition to the BDB community.