Men of Salt book reading New York June 27th

New Mexico author Michael Benanav will be reading from his new book Men of Salt June 27th in New York. The book is based on his trip across the Sahara Desert on camel exploring an ancient salt caravan. Great book. Cool guy. Here’s the info:

For 1,000 years, men and camels have crossed the most severe terrain on earth to bring salt from mines deep in the Sahara to market in the fabled city of Timbuktu. Author Michael Benanav joined a caravan for this grueling 1,000-mile trek, traveling as the nomads do—by foot and camel, 18 hours at a stretch through searing heat, eating one disgusting meal a day—to experience their ancient way of life and investigate reports that this caravan was going extinct. What he discovered was as surprising as it was profound, including an Islamic culture in which men, not women, veil their faces, and an economy based on salt, not cash. He will be showing slides from his journey and reading from his highly praised book, Men of Salt, which has been called “that rare work that takes readers beyond their imaginations” (Publisher’s Weekly) and “a vivid, electric glimpse of a rarely seen culture at its rawest” (Men’s Journal).

$12 in advance, $15 at door

Date & Time: Tue, Jun 27, 2006, 7:00pm
Location: Steinhardt Building, 35 West 67th Street Directions
Code: T-MM5LF67-01
Price: $12.00

by Ben Chrisman at Thu Jun 08 17:48:39 UTC 2006 (ed. Mar 12 2008) Santa Fe, NM, United States | Bookmark this | Digg this |

27 Jun 2006 00:06

I would love to read this book. I have always wanted to make a similar trip. Salt by the way as the basis of an economy is universal to the ancient world. Salary comes from the word salt, as does the phrase, “worth his salt”. Roman legionaires were paid with salt. Wars were fought over salt. (Cortez was able to defeat Moctezuma in part because the latter had denied a neighboring tribe access to much needed salt, so they revolted and threw their lot in with Cortez).

Another great book about crossing the desert in a caravan was written by Robyn Davidson, called Desert Places. She crossed the Kutch with the Rabari of India. Originally it started as a Natl Geo article with photos by Dilip Mehta. A marvelous book that was severely criticized by the PC types.

by Jon Anderson | 08 Jun 2006 18:06 | Back Home, Dominican Republic |

A marvelous book that was severely criticized by the PC types.
Talk about synchronicity, right? We were chatting about the North of Africa the other day… As for Mrs. Davidson’s book (which I haven’t read), can you elaborate on the reasons for such critics?

by Luis E. Andrade | 08 Jun 2006 18:06 | Philly Metro Area, Jersey Side, United States |

is this at the 92nd St Y?

by Tewfic El-Sawy | 08 Jun 2006 19:06 | New York, United States |

It’s at Makor, which is part of the 92nd Street Y.

by Ben Chrisman | 09 Jun 2006 00:06 | Santa Fe, NM, United States |

Ah, Luis, it was a while ago I read her book (books actually), so I dont remember the details, but she was unfairly subjected to some of the shallow academic PC crap that was prevalent in the early 90s, like how can you travel with these people, you are just a “tourist” (despite the fact that she shared all their hardships and she was already an experienced camel handler, which is not easy), and you dont really understand these people, how could you, you come from outside, blah blah blah. really it got quite out of hand, and she was taken aback by it all. Now the book is still there to be read and the critics have all gone back under their rocks.

But yeah, talk about synchronicity. Actually my thing was to travel with nomads who still made their own rugs (I am obsessed by rugs), but I dont know if I will ever get to do it. I am dying to read this book though.

by Jon Anderson | 09 Jun 2006 01:06 | Back Home, Dominican Republic |