| View Larger Image | The Man Who Swam the Amazon: 3,274 Miles on the World's Deadliest River | Paperbackby Matthew Mohlke (Author), Martin Strel (Author)
| List Price: | $16.95 | | Price: | $6.78 | | You Save: | $10.17 (60%) | | | Available: | Usually ships in 24 hours |
| | Binding: | Paperback | | Publisher: | The Lyons Press | | Page Count: | 224 Pages | | Publication Date: | October 01, 2007 | | Sales Rank: | 154,389th |
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Product Description
On Sunday, April 8, 2007, a 52-year-old self-described fat man in a Speedo by the name of Martin Strel swam 3,274 miles of the Amazon River. The Fish Man, as he was called by locals, almost died in the process several times. At the finish his blood pressure was at heart attack level, his entire body full of subcutaneous larvae, and besieged by dehydration and diarrhea and exhaustion. Strel undertook this epic swim to call attention to two issues he is concerned about: deforestation, and river pollution. Along the way he suffered from blisters, sunburn, exotic stomach illnesses, all the while trying to avoid piranhas, anacondas, crocodiles, alligators, river sharks, and a small fish known as the canduru, which when attracted by the smell of urine releases razor-sharp spines into the human orifice it has crawled into. |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 20 reviews)
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The Man Who Swam the Amazon by Steven Munatones (Huntington Beach, California, U.S.A.)  5 Stars
November 01, 2009
A very inspirational story with reams of interesting information about the obstacles overcome during the longest swim in the world. The insider details about Martin Strel's incredible physical abilities and unbelievable mental focus presented a fascinating look of the potentially deadly 66-day venture. The color and uniqueness of the Amazon was a great backdrop to the trials and exploits of one of the world's most unsung adventurer.
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well written, exciting adventure by carol allen (the world & beyond) 5 Stars
January 20, 2009
Strel's fascinating attempt to swim the entire length of the Amazon River is brought to life by navigator/author Matthew Mohlke. Feel the agony of day to day hand over hand endurance. Smell the fear as you hear the cry the jaguar or the sound of a boat motor coming too close for comfort in the darkness of night as drug runners or pirates patrol the area. Share in the triumph as throngs of onlookers cheer our heros on as they strive for a new world record and environmental awareness. This is the adventure of a lifetime. You will not be disappointed.
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Poorly written by Armchair Adventurer  2 Stars
December 31, 2008
An interesting story but not at all well written. Matthew Mohlke writes from a very "young guy" perspective and could have stood to have a lot more editing done to his work, not only because of the numerous typos. I was aghast that he described one of the Amazon women he saw on his journey as "incredibly ugly". I had to read the sentence over a few times to make sure I read it right. An unnecessary and gratuitous comment.
The telling of the story would have been much better served if it had been written as a straight account of the swim, and not drawn from the Mohlke's diary entries. Usually I think the book versions of stories are much better than the movie versions, but this is one story that I look forward to seeing the movie version of (filmmaker John Maringouin's upcoming "Big River Man") and hope that it is a much better documentation of Martin Strel's swim than Mohlke's account.
As an admitted "armchair adventurer" this book was a big disappointment and it was only because of wanting to find out how Strel finished his swim that I even finished reading it.
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Interesting story, boring read by EMM (Long Beach, CA) 2 Stars
August 30, 2008
I celebrate the effort in the swim and the writing, and the author seems like a nice guy, but I could not finish this book because it was so boring.
The story takes a while to get into the meat of the journey and from then on reads like a travelogue of a very uneventful trip. The key tension in the story seems to be the 'Real World' like relationships on the support boats.
Sorry, I wanted to like this but the writing is dry, the trip seems uneventful as described and it manages to suck the athletic effort out of the subject.
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Amazing Journey by Rob Rickaby 5 Stars
December 27, 2007
I followed Martin's swim via his web site from start to finish. Needless to say I couldn't wait for the book. I read it in just two sittings and found the insites into the man and his crew to be simpley amazing. Matthew wrote this as a day to day diary, just as the web site did. For those of us that will never experance the Amazon in person, it gives you the feel of the jungle and the strength and determation of this man. He has to considered one of the greatest and most unselfish people on this planet. To do this, to open the eyes of the rest of us to what is really happening with the inviornment is an accomplishment that no politican or hollywood movie could ever do. If we had Martin Strel running the governments of this world it would be a better place for all of us. Martin proves that anything is possible if you really want it. A must read for anyone who say's "I just can't do that".
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