Rating: 
Summary: Down and Dirty Vietnam
Review: I did like this book. It is not one of the best gonzo travelogues that I've read, but it made its mark for a number of reasons:-Karin did most of the travel on her own - I think that a woman traveling alone has more fears to confront than a man, and in this case, she handles them extremely well; -She went native - eating the food her hosts ate, sleeping in their huts, suffering the same parasites, and learning their language; -She kept her sense of humor; And most importantly, her writing style was very "approachable" and fresh - a style which mirrors the subject of her affection (Vietnam) well.
Rating: 
Summary: Modern Vietnam through Western eyes.
Review: I first got turned onto Karin Muller's trip by her PBS website, http://www.pbs.org/hitchhikingvietnam/ Her story was engrossing and I think that I read every page on the site. I picked up the book a few days later and saw her film footage on PBS shortly after that. One needs to look at all three to get the complete picture. The book is good and stands out by itself, but the film and website add so much flavor and texture to the story. Karin Muller spent seven months in Vietnam as a simple vagabonding tourist. She experienced broken down motorcycles, breathtaking farmland, sketchy border crossings, scurvy, fields of rubies, saving leopard cubs at an animal market, arrests and planting rice with rural farmers. So does dwell a bit on the negative aspects of the "New Vietnam" and the book leaves a lot of the story out. Again, read the book, watch the movie and visit the website (in that order) for the entire experience.
Rating: 
Summary: A most patronizing, superficial & annoying travel story-Ugh!
Review: I found Karin's writing and the attitude it belies untruthful and certainly superficial. Her constant whining and her attempts to "cover up" her Euro/USA bred inadaquacies at dealing with the Vietnamese mentality indicitive of her fakness. On top of that she heaves plenty of patronizing boasts on how she saw the 'real village' life, experienced the "real" Vietnam, etc. I found this subtle yet bragging attempt at exclusiveness and competitiveness (in the worse of an American fashion!) utterly lame and unnecessary. She makes no attempt to tell us about her real life experiences (perhaps empty?) and how they integrate with her travels and experiences in a foreign land. To put it simply, a travel story is only as good as (and explicitly tied) to the authors personality, openess and honesty about themselves. Try reading Annapurna Circuit by Andrew Stevenson, where the story and the author's peronality come togother in a quality, insightful and entertaining manner. Unfortunatly, this is far from being the cast with Muller's book :-(
Rating: 
Summary: Vivid and wonderful-what a journey!
Review: I have had the good fortune to talk to the author and can attest to the fact she has a very bright future. Ms. Muller did what most of us only dream of and she did it very well indeed. It is a misnomer to call this a travel book- it is so much more. I am looking forward to the results of her next journey! If you cannot wait that long then check out her documentary of the same title. It too is first rate.
Rating:
Summary: It's worth the read, but don't expect too much.
Review: I learned a lot about what it would be like to travel Vietnam and so in that sense the book served it's purpose. If you are planning to go, especially on a budget trip there or nearby, I recommend this book. The book is somewhat stimulating and so is the authors' adventurism. However, she often goes on and on about getting ripped off by this person and that person. This is hard to avoid though, since in many countries, people are always forcing you to negotiate for even the most trivial items. FYI, the book also lacks any sexual experiences as well as any explanation about her attitudes towards the subject. 7 months without sex?! Just curious to know. Also, I think she misunderstood "Jay" as a simple minded person, but there must be more too him than that.
Rating:
Summary: A decent first-time effort from a new writer
Review: I read this book for research for my own trip to Vietnam this summer. Although it's not the best travel book I've read, it's helpful by giving readers insight into Vietnamese everyday life. Although Muller sounds sort of whiny at times, her writing isn't cursed with the naive wide-eyed wonderment typical of a lot of travel writers. The book is both interesting, but at times unsettling...I couldn't help feeling at times that the entire nation of Vietnam existed solely to rip off foreigners. But, maybe I took it too personally because I'm half Vietnamese. Her advice on bargaining is something I haven't found in any of my guide books--most tell you simply to do it, but they don't explain HOW to do it. I would recommend this book to anyone who is planning their first trip to Vietnam, but I would hate for someone to base their opinion of the Vietnamese people solely on Muller's observations.
Rating:
Summary: Candid and Absorbing
Review: I was born in Viet Nam and left when I was eight years old to grow up in Kansas. I have been back several times and plan to go back as often as I can to visit relatives and know more of Viet Nam. When I walk through the streets of Saigon, I tried to blend in with the crowd but find it next to impossible. As a result of a calcium-rich Kansas diet and a life sheltered from the searing sun, I'm easily recognized as a "Viet Kieu," which is Vietnamese for a person born in Viet Nam who grew up outside of Viet Nam. Many of the vendors whom I walk by constantly offer me their products for sale. In some of the transactions, I learn too late that I paid a very inflated price. In some of the transactions, I try to pay an inflated price only to have the vendor decline my contribution because "it wouldn't be right." Having read "Hitchhiking Viet Nam," and the other reviews of Karin Muller's book, I am surprised at how harsh many of the reviews are in regards to Ms. Muller's accounts of the people she encounters in Viet Nam. Ms. Muller was an American woman in an impoverished paternal society. She was destined to have many of the people she encounter either want to shelter her or to exploit her. She experienced the favorable and the disenchanting, and she relates her accounts with appropriate candor and admiration. I have seen and experienced many things Ms. Muller recounted. I can attest to the fact that some aspects of Viet Nam can be unflattering just as many aspects of Viet Nam can make me wish I could return for more than just brief visits. As the saying goes, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." I would prefer to have someone tell me the way it is and let me decide the beauty for myself. Anything less would be an attempt to veil my eyes and an insult to my perception.
Rating:
Summary: The cover photo is pretty.
Review: I was really looking forward to reading this book after seeing it featured on the pbs.org website. My friend had it on her bookshelf so I asked to borrow it. She does write very well and is easy to follow but that is the only positive I saw. It felt like she wrote more about her negative experiences and I kept reading on thinking it would get better but alas never did. It seems to me she had a horrible time and would probably never return again. I also went out and checked out the film version from the library. Besides the title it didn't even look like it was based on her book. Her travel campanion, Jay, wasn't even in it although she was nice enough to acknoledge him in the credits. The book was bland and the film was even worse. I returned the book to my friend and told her to keep it at the bottom of the stack. Read "Catfish and Mandala" for a better travelogue.
Rating:
Summary: Good grades for style, loses points for half-truths and ego
Review: I watched Karin's video before I read the book, both of which were passed on to me by an acquaintance who is in the travel business. I'm always intrigued by women who have the mettle to travel alone, and the fact that she was in a country that is as mysterious to me as Vietnam was irresistible. I found Karin's writing style to be entertaining and descriptive, and I thought that she did an impressive job for a new author. However, I couldn't ignore some very evident inconsistencies with this work. The first is the title, claiming that she is on a solo hitchhiking journey. Hmmm. Sounds like she was traveling with Jay quite a bit. And I believe that the majority of the trip was done on motorcycle or train or bike. Where's the hitchhiking? Second, she seems to be trying to convince the reader that she is a seasoned adventurer due to her Peace Corps stint and European birth. Her narrative of her trip through Saigon and the Mekong Delta left me with the distinct impression that she was not a very savvy traveler. But, I am sure a new author wants desperately to make a good impression on her audience, so I believe that Karin is just suffering from the very human trait of self-consciousness. Perhaps she felt that her wanderings in Asia didn't measure up to what she thought was good adventure writing and embellished a bit here and there. I would tell Karin that good writing comes from within and doesn't depend on heroics to attract an audience. She's got the tools to be a good writer. With experience, I hope, will come insight, and the need for self-aggrandizement will naturally fall away.
Rating:
Summary: Made me want to drop everything and hop on a plane to Saigon
Review: I've always wanted to do what Karin Muller did. So what a joy her book proved to be! It's inspiring, thoughtful, and is clearly the product of someone who travels with an open mind and an open heart. I wish I could follow in her footsteps!
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