This could have been a 5+ star read. There were so many outstanding things about it. It’s a memorable book, filled with quirky characters, as it follows the narrator on a quest to find “up.” The adventures he experiences are refreshingly unique. Seemingly random events somehow conspire to connect in the end. I think my favorite chapter was “Ruffled Feathers,” just over ½ way into the book: “Vision quests prohibited!” For real. I also cracked up during “Life Isn’t a Breeze” for the Italian sign that I had to translate online myself.

Two fun quotes that help to demonstrate the eccentric and poetic aspects of Darrell Mulch’s writing are:

“The carved sandstone walls were etched with the colors of carotene and cyan. The setting sun knifed its way through the cuts in the cliffs, and blasted bands of burgundy into the evening sky.’

“I didn’t leave the military with much, but I didn’t leave the military with much either.”

I can only fault this book for one thing: editing. I wish I could say it was a mild annoyance, but once the text became conversation dense, I wanted to throw my Kindle across the room! A semicolon does not replace a comma! “There” is not the same as “their” (or “they’re”)! For someone who clearly has an impressive vocabulary and a gifted storytelling voice, Darrell Mulch really needs outside help with editing.

Regardless, I highly recommend this book which at times reminded me of Douglas Adams and at other times of Tom Robbins. I am very thankful to have gotten a free copy from NetGalley, but I’ll be the first to say it is worth full price. It’s a great read!