Joe KaneRunning the Amazon

I first became aware of writer Joe Kane when the New Yorker a few weeks ago reprinted an article of his from 1993. This was about the Huaorani tribe of Ecuador and their efforts to hold off big oil companies from destroying their land. It was heartfelt work by the author. This led me to his other books, Savages, which is a deeper study of the Andean Indians, and Running the Amazon.Running the Amazon is a page turner. I ordered it from Amazon, started to read and could not put it down. Kane was attached to an expedition of ten, mostly Europeans, who planned to raft the Amazon from its headwaters high in the Peruvian Andes all the way to the Atlantic Ocean, 4200 miles. Kane gives a vivid narrative of the country they pass, the locals they encounter - including armed Sendero Luminoso Maoist guerillas - and the divisive relationships within the expedition. The effort was poorly planned and the team badly organized. Some members were world class white water experts while others - including the expedition organizer and Kane himeself - were unskilled or even complete novices. Their lives were put at risk thereby. The upper Apurimac river is one of the most violent and dangerous cascades in the world; Class Five does not begin to grade it. About half the international whitewater expeditions over the past fifty years have lost members by drowning, some within minutes of putting boat to water. From Kane's account, it seems clear he and others should have died on the river, and narrowly escaped several times by sheer good fortune. Only four of ten made it to the Atlantic six months from the start. The book slows down when the river does, but is still interesting as Kane and his Polish partner kayak all the way to Belem. A thrilling story and classic of outdoor adventure. Highly recommended.Kane is a passionate advocate for native peoples and wild lands, and I was disappointed that he appears to have abandoned serious writing after the two books. His career now is administrator of a land trust and environmental organization in Olympia, Washington. Thanks for your books Joe and best wishes.

This book arrived quickly, in great shape and is a riveting read. Highly recommend.

My first adventure read. A book well worth it. It tells about the small moments of happiness, and big moments of scare, anger, amongst other emotions. Very well written. You learn a lot along the way.

I read "Running the Amazon" because my wife and I were participating in a cruise on the Amazon and an additional two days at the Explorama Lodge, all of our trip at the Peru end of the Amazon, basically in the Iquitos area. Also, my reading tendencies lean toward adventure descriptions, so "Running the Amazon" looked like a book I would finish.It was so much more than an adventure book, although it certainly was that. - This is a personal description of the first expedition to begin in the snowfields of the Andes, at the continental divide, where the first trickle originates, all the way to the Atlantic - 4200 miles. I can imagine, well almost, how treacherous the white water must have been coming out of the Andes, based on how much water we saw flowing down the Amazon even at the junction of its two major tributaries in Peru where the river officially begins.The majority of "Running the Amazon" takes place in Peru (even though in total miles the majority of the trip is in Brazil). I would estimate that 50% of the text is about the history of the area, mostly Peru, and the culture, past and present. Also, the author is pretty funny - intentionally or not - in how he describes the adventures of he and his colleagues. I have always wondered about the revolutionary group, Shining Path, and since the book is set in the late 1980s, a good description of the group and its history is provided.Since Joe Kane is not a man who apparently had been a kayaker, or at least anything approaching a serious kayaker, prior to his journey, it makes his adventures more interesting to the average reader like myself, and this is true also for his descriptions of interpersonal difficulties among some of the expedition.Because "Running the Amazon" is so well written, and so readable, I am going to read Mr. Kane's other book about the area, "Savages," which describes the difficulties of a group of Ecuadoran people with modern culture. I highly recommend "Running the Amazon."

I found this book many years ago in our local library. I liked it so much that I read it twice. Now I want to read it again so I decided to purchase it. I even purchased a second copy for a good friend. I love the way the author wrote this first hand account of the first expedition to explore the Amazon River from beginning to end. His descriptions are so well written that photos are not even necessary. I felt as if I was there with them on the expedition. I really like his use of local dialect for names of foods, plants and other things common in each community they passed through. Exceptional book!

The subject of this book sounds interesting but due to ?Joey Kane's writing style, I cannot judge whether this is going to be a good book or a slog. I'm only reviewing the Kindle sample, which I downloaded to see if the book was worth purchasing. I'm still undecided but leaning towards not, unless it becomes available as art of the kindle unlimited program.

Great read. I found the Authors tone slightly condescending at times, however this in no means detracted from the narrative.

good

Pictures were very greyed out / poor resolution. Story is interesting, but told in meticulous detail

Okay book. Wonder why anyone would want to do this.