Doug Dosdall
Doug Dosdall founded Travelblogs.com and spends as much of his year immersing himself in foreign cultures as he can. His interests include cycling, foreign development, new literature and art and human rights.Homebases:
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Costa Rica
Websites:
What I'm Reading and Listening To:
Just finished the rather gruesome and lurid new mystery by Christopher Rice (Ann's son) Light Before Day. Once I got into it, it was definitely a can't put down kind of thing although somewhat implausible at times with a very convoluted plot. Recommended.
Meanwhile after my trip to Mexico, I've been listening to a lot of Juanes, check out the album Mi Sangre which includes the song which was playing everywhere in Mexico, La Camisa Negra.
Countries Visited:
Austria, Bahamas, Belgium, Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, France, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States of America.
Places I want to go next:
Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Panama, Turkey, Greece, Southern Italy.
Favourite Books:
Fiction: Three Junes is three tightly interwoven novellas, the second of which is completely mesmerizing writing; the other two merely wonderful! Middlesex is an epic multigenerational family saga which crosses many subject lines and many settings. Incredibly diverse except in the quality of the writing which is uniformaly excellent. Now I'm embarrassed to admit that I collected comic books when I was a kid. Ok, into my teenage years. It all just seems kind of boring in retrospect. But after reading The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, I'm almost tempted to take another look. Hmmm, no maybe I'll just reread this wonderful novel, as daunting as that is, it's no lightweight.
Non-Fiction: When I read non-fiction, I not only want to be informed, I want a good story too. These books all deliver information in a very readable form that gives you real insight into the marginalized in our society. Fast Food Nation how the fast food nation has transformed our culture over the last fifty years. In Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich goes undercover to see just how one lives on those McWages. And in Travels With Lizbeth, writer Lars Eighner tells of his years where he ended up homeless. The best travel writing I've read in years is The Last Heathen...mesmerizing. Check out my review and excerpt. A recent very enjoyable read is The Rice Queen Diaries. Its got great travel tales from SE Asia as well as a lot of thoughtful analysis of sex and relationships between Westerners and people from the developing world.
