Book Review: The Masked Rider by Neil Peart

[A version of this review was posted on the now-defunct http://blogs.bootsnall.com/flexible/ on December 13, 2005 and has been revised and posted here in a gratuitous attempt to add some quick content]

After almost seven years, I finally got a chance recently to sit down and re-read the first travel narrative I ever read. Perhaps my favorite travel book (by one of my favorite writers), The Masked Rider chronicles Peart's month-long bicycle tour through Cameroon, West Africa, as part of a five-person group. Being a fan of both Peart’s band RUSH (Peart is the drummer and lyricist) and Peart's various essays, I was very excited to grab a copy at one of their shows (much better choice than a $25 shirt). With a friendly conversational tone, Peart describes in colorful detail the numerous local characters and modern inconveniences his group encounters along the way.