By Doug Lansky
“Doug Lansky does all the things the rest of us want to do – or think we want to do. Whether attending Ascot or climbing Kilimanjaro, Lansky brings indefatigable good cheer and a sense of wonder and curiosity to the task that is entirely inappropriate for a man of his age. Which is very good news for his fans!”
— Rudy Maxa, host, The Savvy Traveler
With an unwavering taste for the absurd, nationally syndicated travel columnist Doug Lansky takes the reader on a global odyssey. In Naples, Italy, reputedly the world’s worst place to drive, he defies the odds and rents a car. In Berlin, Germany, he dons a latex jumpsuit and spiked collar for a visit to the notoriously erotic Kit Kat Club. And in Tokyo, determined to deepen his appreciation for sumo wrestling, Lansky takes lessons from a master, and rediscovers how it feels to be lifted into the air by a wedgie. Other adventures in Lansky’s latest book, Last Trout in Venice: The Far-Flung Escapades of an Accidental Adventurer, include climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in ill-fitting hiking boots, competing with the masses at 4 a.m. for the chance to be a contestant on The Price Is Right, bellhopping at an underwater hotel off Key Largo, and enrolling in France’s famed Cordon Bleu cooking school.
Last Trout in Venice recounts 46 of Lansky’s wackiest adventures, including the title essay about his tumble into Venice’s Grand Canal while training to be a gondolier. A modern-day George Plimpton, Doug Lansky takes on the world with pluck, irreverence, and a great sense of humor. From the dangerous to the cultural, the tourist-y to the everyday, there’s nothing that Lansky won’t try…at least once. And no place he won’t go. And fortunately, nothing he won’t share with his readers!
More praise for Last Trout in Venice:
“Traveling with Doug Lansky might result in a considerably shortened life expectancy…but what a way to go.”
— Tony Wheeler, Lonely Planet
“Doug Lansky’s urge to participate is just good journalism. I didn’t realize this at first, however, because I was too busy laughing.”
— Tim Cahill, author of Pass the Butterworms
“For anyone who has ever traveled, or thought of traveling, or has even left the house, Doug Lansky is the funniest writer this side of P.J. O’Rourke.”
— Michael Finkel, contributing writer, New York Times Magazine
About the author
Doug Lansky is a nationally-syndicated travel columnist, correspondent for public radio’s The Savvy Travel, a Discovery Channel host, contributor to various magazines, and editor of the award-winning travel-humor anthology There’s No Toilet Paper on the Road less Traveled. He presently lives in Norway with his Swedish wife, Signe, a medical doctor, and their new daughter, Sienna.
About Travelers’ Tales
Founded in 1993, Travelers’ Tales publishes the best in travel and spiritual writing from world-famous authors as well as new writers. Our goal is to inspire and enlighten readers through true stories by travelers who have explored the depths of their experiences. The series includes: country and regional guides; books which explore the themes of women’s travel, spirituality, food, humor, and adventure; travel advice books; Footsteps: The Soul of Travel, a series that features single-author travel narratives; and Travelers’ Tales Classics, a new series which introduces out-of-print favorites of travel literature to a whole new audience.
Last Trout in Venice: The Far-Flung Escapades of an Accidental Adventurer
By Doug Lansky
Travelers’ Tales, May, 2001
$14.95 ($23.00 Canada), trade paperback, 286 pages, 5 1/8″ x 8″
ISBN: 1-885211-63-5