Smile, You're Travelling

This is the first Rollins I've read.I found him very easy to relate to which worries me.The book is set out like a reverse order journal.The first part is a travel journal where he races around at a frantic pace coming down off a year long tour.He seems to be trying to find peace of mind by by torturing himself into a caffine based fury and constantly avoiding personnal contact with people so he can play the lone hero. The second part is a tour journal when you can begin to see how he's wound up in the state he's in during the first part,and how he's managed to accumulate 550,000 air miles. The guy could obviously do with some therapy but would not be half as interesting or a comfort to those like himself who probably make up his readership. After reading this I feel a conection and am encouraged to read some of his later work to see how he has developed both in a literal and psychological sense.

Compared to some of Henrys later books, this is surprisingly easy to read. Like most of Mr Rollins work, this is his edited Journal, but Henrys work just gets a whole lot more funny and interesting when he is travelling. The section on travelling in Africa is just magic, and while you will get the trademark "alone in my room" Rollins style, you also get a lot of extremely funny and high powered writing. This, and "Do I come here often" is perhaps the best books to begin with, if you're not already a Rollins fan.

No words to describe it.

The title refers to how I felt after reading this book and it is rarely if ever a book will do that for me. With such blatant honesty and humility Mr. Rollins struck a cord with me. As he desrcibes his journey and his thoughts on the world, he makes you see things in a more black or white context.He enlightens the reader to what he thinks robs him of life and the faults of the average human that will keep them average for the rest of their life.In doing so he has inspired me to get off my ass and follow some of my dreams. If you are looking for a literary kick up the ass and some thought provoking reading, look no further. Henry Rollins has come to save you whether you like it or not.