Title: Mediocrity and hypocrisy
Product review: I approached this book as a (former) Matthiessen fan and came away disappointed by the mediocre prose. This was basic, boring descriptive travelogue, repetitious at times, with absolutely no noteworthy or novel insights. But the final telling failure of this book was an element of momentous liberal hypocrisy. Matthiessen chastises the Bush administration for its stance on global warming and places the blame for the impending global destruction at the feet of W, but chooses to ignore his own contributions. Pray tell, how does he justify the carbon emmissions he contributed to the atmosphere to drag his sorry carcass from the Northern hemisphere to Antarctica not just once, but twice? What would he think if the first carbon-reduction agreement was to ban all recreational travel to Antarctica as has been proposed by the Obama administration? (And don't tell me he planted a tree somewhere as a carbon-offset balm for the guilty consciences of the jet-setting liberal elite)
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