Product Description

Bill Drummond and Mark Manning's first trip together, to the North Pole, resulted in the classic book Bad Wisdom. Their second trip was to Zaire, a jungle hell on the verge of bloody civil war, where they travelled up-river in search of the ghost of Conrad's Kurtz. With trusty adjutant Gimpo, they underwent all manner of adventures and ordeals before finally fleeing the country the very day before rebels blew up the only international airstrip.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #30885 in Books
• Published on: 2005-08-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 432 pages

Customer Reviews

Another masterpiece
An even better work than 'Bad Wisdom'. Drummond and Manning's contrasting writing styles compliment each other perfectly, with the former's sulky, spare, thoughtful and engaging and acting as a necessary ballast to Manning's powerful, electric and depraved fantasies.

Both are brilliant for very different reasons. As with Bad Wisdom, Manning's constant desire to shock does get a touch tedious and predictable towards the end, whilst Drummond suffers from a lack of confidence (he confesses that he thinks his account of their trip to Europe probably needed editing down - but I thought it was amongst his best stuff). But those are quibbles. This is another astonishing book.

Here's to part three...

Not the literary superstars they think they are
This book is much weaker than the first volume in this 'real-life adventure series', "Bad Wisdom". This book lacks the sense of fun in the first, and yet it also lacks in terms of philosophical impact.

It also lacks editorial control- Drummond seems incapable of writing anything except dates, times and dialogue, and Manning seems only capable of writing about twisted sex, which had novelty shock value on the first book, but is mostly worthless here. Drummond and Manning regularly question the quality and worth of each other's writing within the text, and far too often Drummond crosses that line into amateurism by writing about writer's block.

The adventure up the Congo that they actually took, which forms the basis of this book, would have been a goldmine for any decent travel writer and could have been a classic in the making- yet in the hands of Drummond and Manning you're left with reams of self-referential nothingness and a wish that somebody else was there to tell you insightfully what really happened.

Both writers seem convinced that because they once produced rock records, they have a fanbase of unquestionning product-buyers that will lap up every word. At times they seem determined to stretch that loyalty to the limit by producing 400 pages of awkward, uninspiring, worthless prose.

It's not without its funny moments but unless you decided that "Bad Wisdom" is a work of literary genius, don't bother.

Save Literally Our Soles
Another work of genius from Drummond & Manning. Keenly awaited follow up to "Bad Wisdom", the self declared Zen Masters retread the journey from Conrad's Heart of Darkness in an attempt to reclaim their misplaced souls.

As with the previous book, the narrative alternates between Bill's introspective self loathing & Z's more lavish (disturbingly pornographic) passages. In fact there seems to be a lot less of Bill, and a hell of a lot more Z.

If constant references to "bumming" aren't your thing, then it may be best to avoid. If on the other hand, you found the Marquis de Sade a little tame, then this should be your next purchase.

Constantly amusing, extremely well written & very eloquent. I'd hesitate to say educational, but why not. A true journey to the heart of all darkness.