Frost on My Moustache: The Arctic Exploits of a Lord and a Loafer

Rating:
Summary: I really wanted to like this book, but...
Review: ... I could only suffer through 17 pages before putting it down for good. The prose seemed deliberately obfuscated and gossipy, and the way it was presented was so far from compelling that I had to read the back cover to figure out what he was droning on about.

Now if the book delivered what the back cover promised, that would have been great. And maybe it did. But I found myself easily distracted and completely without any understanding of what he was talking about.

Maybe if I was English, some of the names and places would have been more familiar. So I can't recommend this book, even though it sounds like it would have been fascinating, to hear reviewers tell it.

Rating:
Summary: Whinging and Cringing After Dufferin
Review: It says everything about this book, really, that the title comes from an intensely colloquial joke that is too obscene to repeat here. Frost on My Moustache is a travel humor book that focuses far more on humor and cursing than it does on the travel. But what it lacks in actual information it more than makes up for in laughter - the kind of oh-god-just-let-me-take-another-breath laughter that can lead to hospitalization, insanity, and inexplicable joy. However, Moore - and his book - aren't for everyone.

Moore is very colloquially British - he uses lots of pop culture references that will not be obvious to most Americans (or Europeans or Australians or...). He's also very much like a certain kind of aging college student: perpetually intoxicated, foul-mouthed, inclined to rant and whine. But despite it all, he's lots of fun, and while you might not like him, you'll love reading about his travels.

The word that most often gets used in Tim Moore book reviews is "Bryson." The comparisons between Tim Moore and Bill Bryson are apparently unavoidable. And, to a certain extent, they hold true: both writers are very funny, both are extremely tightfisted, both spend an awful lot of time complaining. But Moore is not Bryson. At most, he could be described as an embryo Bryson - he hasn't yet learned the secrets of a wide appeal, a cultivated air, or a dignified approach to life. Moore curses, he wails, he throws regular temper tantrums, he's sulky and lazy and fixated. And he eats a lot of hot dogs. Don't expect thoughtful cultural exposition, insightful observations, or descriptions of the local cuisine from him.

But I promise you: if you pick up Frost on My Moustache, you will experience frequent bouts of all-out hysteria. This book is well worth buying and reading, not once, but again and again.

Rating:
Summary: The components of this book didn't quite gel
Review: This book had the ingredients of a great travel book. First, the author is very witty at times. Second, he chose Iceland, which is one of Europe's more intriguing nations, and the fact that his wife is Icelandic gives him some bicultural insights. Third, travel books need some sort of 'hook' or theme, and Moore's theme is to retrace the travels of Lord Dufferin, a 19th-century adventurer. Moore starts with an overview of life in Iceland (the best part), discusses a cross-Iceland bicycle journey (too many pages dedicated to a fairly uneventful trip), then describes a boat trip from Iceland to Norway (during which he's incapacitated by seasickness), and eventually works his way north to the Norwegian island of Svalbard. One of the reasons this book didn't 'work' for me is that the author comes across as a disagreeable person. He tries to be funny and entertaining, but refers to his outbursts of temper directed at others often enough that one is left wondering how disagreeable Tim Moore really is in real life.

Rating:
Summary: Its funny, very funny
Review: Tim Moore has written one of the best travel books I've read in the last five years. His humour is contagious and one finds oneself urging him on as he battles across the northern seas in the footsteps of a 19th Century British aristocrat. Icelanders with a sense of humour about their own country's idiosyncrasies will find the book a delight. The remaining 98% of the population will demand the author is detained and given the full bottom inspection treatment next time he passes through Reykjavik airport. If you enjoy Bill Bryson then you will enjoy Moore. Moore is as funny but is significantly more insightful and ruder! As a regular traveler to Europe this is one of those books I would recommend packing to read as you zip over the pond to the UK (or even Iceland!)

Rating:
Summary: Embarass yourself - laugh out loud!
Review: You will enjoy this fumbling traveller's tribute to a personal hero. Tim Moore's trials and tribulations are too comic to be tragic. His dogged determination to complete a journey in the footsteps of Lord Dufferin keeps him going through graphic sea sickness and prolific pronunciation problems (try Icelandic & Norwegian on the same trip!). The heavy dose of British references means some jokes will be wasted if you don't know much about the UK, but literary slapstick a la Jerry Lewis will keep you giggling anyway.

This is a great book to read as you embark on any journey that looks a bit daunting. If he can survive, anyone can (don't worry, he knows this, too!).