From the acclaimed author of Dispatches From Pluto and Deepest South of All comes a rollicking travelogue from East Africa. NO ONE TRAVELS QUITE LIKE RICHARD GRANT and, really, no one should. In his last book, the adventure classic God’s Middle Finger, he narrowly escaped death in Mexico’s lawless Sierra Madre. Now, Grant has plunged with his trademark recklessness, wit, and curiosity into East Africa. Setting out to make the first descent of an unexplored river in Tanzania, he gets waylaid in Zanzibar by thieves, whores, and a charismatic former golf pro before crossing the Indian Ocean in a rickety cargo boat. And then the real adventure begins. Known to local tribes as “the river of bad spirits,” the Malagarasi River is a daunting adversary even with a heavily armed Tanzanian crew as travel companions. Dodging bullets, hippos, and crocodiles, Grant finally emerges in war-torn Burundi, where he befriends some ethnic street gangsters and trails a notorious man-eating crocodile known as Gustave. He concludes his journey by interviewing the dictatorial president of Rwanda and visiting the true source of the Nile. Gripping, illuminating, sometimes harrowing, often hilarious, Crazy River is a brilliantly rendered account of a modern-day exploration of Africa, and the unraveling of Grant’s peeled, battered mind as he tries to take it all in.

Robyn Catchlove wasn't destined for married life and two and half kids in the suburbs of Adelaide. So, in her early twenties, she walks away from a passionless marriage to seek out adventure and lead the life she always dreamed of. As a spunky 25-year-old, she meets her match, Les Coles, in balmy Cairns, and together they set about building the boat of their dreams. By the time the Jean King launches, Robyn and Les are fiercely in love and ready to take on the challenges of the professional fishing game. This is the start of a gripping eight-year sea journey set in the hallucinogenic tropics of Far North Queensland. It also takes Robyn deep into the heart of the exclusively male world of professional fishing. It is physical, tough, and often perilous, but Robyn won't give up until she has not just silenced, but completely won over, even her toughest critics. Along the way, Robyn develops a remarkable bond with the environment, experiences a deep relationship with indigenous Australians, and collects a swag of colourful and gutsy fishing mates. But when her one true ally unexpectedly turns on her, Robyn is going to need more resilience and courage than she ever needed - even in the toughest storm at sea. Robyn's is a quintessentially Australian story about passions: where they can take you, how to walk away from them if they threaten to destroy you, and what is left if you have the courage to do so. Somewhere Down a Crazy River is also the only factual book ever written about the wild rivers area of Far North Queensland - hers is a wonderfully vivid and exciting adventure, recounting a true story of the land, as well as the amazing people who inhabit it.

When Clyde Eddy first saw the Colorado River in 1919, he vowed that he would someday travel its length. Eight years later, Eddy recruited a handful of college students to serve as crewmen and loaded them, a hobo, a mongrel dog, a bear cub, and a heavy motion picture camera into three mahogany boats and left Green River, Utah, headed for Needles, California. Forty-two days and eight hundred miles later, they were the first to successfully navigate the river during its annual high water period. This book is the original narrative of that foolhardy and thrilling adventure. “The point of his great adventure is not to make a name for himself, or to profit from a documentary film, or even to prove that quiet men of intellect can be as courageous as brawny frontiersmen. The point is the journey itself, the satisfaction of attempting the near impossible, and of surviving to tell the tale.”--Peter Miller, National Geographic Magazine, from the Foreword

A powerful exploration of grief and resilience following the death of the author's son that combines memoir, reportage, and lessons in how to heal Everyone deals with grief in their own way. Helen Macdonald found solace in training a wild gos­hawk. Cheryl Strayed found strength in hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. For Carol Smith, a Pulitzer Prize­ nominated journalist struggling with the sudden death of her seven-year-old son, Christopher, the way to cross the river of sorrow was through work. In Crossing the River, Smith recounts how she faced down her crippling loss through reporting a series of profiles of people coping with their own intense chal­lenges, whether a life-altering accident, injury, or diag­nosis. These were stories of survival and transformation, of people facing devastating situations that changed them in unexpected ways. Smith deftly mixes the stories of these individuals and their families with her own account of how they helped her heal. General John Shalikashvili, once the most powerful member of the American military, taught Carol how to face fear with discipline and endurance. Seth, a young boy with a rare and incurable illness, shed light on the totality of her son's experiences, and in turn helps readers see that the value of a life is not measured in days. Crossing the River is a beautiful and profoundly moving book, an unforgettable journey through grief toward hope, and a valuable, illuminating read for anyone coping with loss.

Newbery Honor author Rodman Philbrick sends readers rushing down a raging river on a life-or-death adventure when a white water rafting trip goes terribly wrong! Daniel Redmayne is fast asleep on the first night of a white water rafting trip, when he's awoken by screams. The dam has failed. The river is surging, and their camp will be under water in a matter of moments.As the shrieking roar of the river rushes closer, the kids scramble to higher ground. They make it; their counselors do not.Now they're on their own, with barely any food or supplies, in the middle of the Montana wilderness. Do Daniel and his four classmates have what it takes to stay alive until they can get rescued? Alone in the wild, they forge powerful bonds -- but develop dangerous disagreements. If nature doesn't break them, they might just destroy each other.This gripping survival story from the Newbery Honor author of Wildfire is filled with adrenaline-pumping adventure and moments of true bravery.