- Paperback: 220 pages
- Publisher: Chineway Press (1 Dec 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0954649303
- ISBN-13: 978-0954649302
- Product Dimensions: 20.6 x 14.6 x 1.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,969,468 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Book Description
What do you do when you hit fifty-five and discover you’ve turned into a grumpy and obsessive old git? For a post-war baby-boomer – a member of the ageless rock generation – this is a desperate situation in need of a radical solution.
John Caunt concludes that the answer to his affliction lies in a new challenge, a trip on footpaths and minor roads from Land’s End to John O’Groats that will give him the chance to sort himself out and recover the spirit of his lost youth. Zen and the Art of Hip-Joint Maintenance is a wry and entertaining account of his bumbling progress through Britain, with his undersized walking boots, oversized cycling shorts and outsized collection of hobby-horses. He reflects upon the people, places and experiences of the journey, the engaging as well as the enraging, and attempts to grapple with some of the great questions of life – why do starlings drop dead on supermarket forecourts, and what is the precise biological function of ear hair in mid-fifties males?
WARNING: Don’t buy this book if you are hoping to learn about Zen or hip-joints.
About the Author
John Caunt is on his fourth career, but is still unsure what he wants to do when he grows up. This is his first foray into humour and travel writing. Previously he has written four self-help books, on sale world-wide in eight languages, and has also co-authored a best-selling autobiography.
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Customer Reviews
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Journey Worth Taking,
This review is from: Zen and the Art of Hip-joint Maintenance (Paperback)
This book is a humorous, entertaining and fluent account of the author's journey from Lands End to John O'Groats. He cleverly combines the trials and tribulations of his journey with colourful, interesting descriptions of the people he meets and the places he visits. It includes personal reflections which engage the reader, and his historical anecdotes add a further interesting dimension - a thoroughly enjoyable read.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great book to give a fifty something friend.,
By
This review is from: Zen and the Art of Hip-joint Maintenance (Paperback)
I thoroughly enjoyed sharing this journey, during which John Caunt did what many of us would like to do, namely to walk and cycle the footpaths and byways from Land's End to John O'Groats. The trip would be an expedition with a purpose; a quest to rediscover the person he felt he had lost. The idea came as a consequence of his 55th birthday, and a flood of 'Victor Meldrew' cards. Could it be that he was becoming a bit obsessive? Did he need to get some balance back into his life? He would meet some new people too. It would stretch him. Hey! It could be a voyage of discovery in lots of ways! During the journey he pondered, wrestled with, and aired some of his frustrations with life in a reflective, humorous and wry way.He captures and expresses many of the thoughts that will be recognizable to those of us caught up in the perplexity of our own personal mid-life confusion. I found many of his opinions reassuringly familiar. I caught myself laughing not only at the attitudes that I shared, but also at additional ones of my own, which his words brought to mind. A question I was left with - did his 1000 mile socks live up to their name?
5.0 out of 5 stars
antidote for the blues,
By A Customer
This review is from: Zen and the Art of Hip-joint Maintenance (Paperback)
As the blurb says, what do you do when you're 55 and find that you are turning into a grumpy old git? Answer: get out your (inadequate) walking boots and tramp from Land's End to John O'Groats (for one stage he travels by mountain bike to add a bit of variety). The record of John Caunt's journey makes up “Zen and the Art of Hip-Joint Maintenance”. It is a refreshingly informative and funny book. Even when he's complaining about such discomforts as poor pub food or being stuck behind irritatingly-slow dawdlers while queueing in his wet walking gear to check into a youth hostel, Caunt remains consistently amusing. Although a self-confessed “grump” and “post-war baby boomer”, he comes across as surprisingly tolerant in his behaviour and still very young at heart. The book is an interesting and uncomplicated read and is a good advertisement for physical exercise, travel and meeting new people as antidotes to the kind of blues we might encounter in middle age, or at any other time, come to that
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