I started out Team Vali, but I think by the end I was more of a Team Steve-er. Vali, while telling the funnier anecdotes, was way worse at describing the wonders of the world. Steve Hely made me not only feel like I was a moron for not doing what he was doing, he also made me have a clear picture of just how awesome what he was doing was, which leads into that first thing I said. I've been coffee-jacked all day, I'm not at my best of descriptive power myself. A modern day Vali, this guy! Anyway, this book is awesome. I saw a snippet of a review that was like "this guys aren't funny, these guys don't do shit" but I'm very much like "wwwwwhhhhhAAAAAATTTT?" to that line of thinking. They did everything! They're both so cool! Read this fucking book and wanna be these dudes big time. On the basis of what we find in the biographical notes, we'd expect that Hely and Chandrasekaran ought to have created a work in the great tradition of travel humor. However, they fall far short of the mark. The premise is delicious: two men race around the world in opposite directions without the aid of aircraft. Problems: they really aren't serious, and one flagrantly cheats. They're seemingly more interested in drinking, partying and carousing than anything else. And both behave like middle school truants. Want a really funny travelogue? Go back to Twain's "Innocents Abroad" and see how it's done. I'd avoid this one.
What do You think about The Ridiculous Race (2008)?
I enjoyed this quite a bit and laughed out loud in a few places.
—Fany
Hilarious! It was a perfect book to read while traveling.
—Redvelvet13
Could have been better if one guy didn't cheat early on
—Aaron
