{"product_id":"minus-the-journey-michael-n-sever-9780578311586","title":"Minus the Journey: A Journal through Europe-a Redemption in Serbia","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn the fall of 1993, Author Michael N. Sever embarked on a 2-month mission to honor his late father. During that time, he experienced the whole gamut of Europe, from artistic to atrocious. However, most of his experiences were light-hearted as he relates them through self-deprecating humor and sometimes obscure cultural references. Mr. Sever's story demonstrates the self-reliance and resourcefulness that innately define many aging Gen-Xers. This humor and those traits enabled the author to see his goal to the end.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSome examples of his travails in France: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI was stuck.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLost forever in France.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI would buy a beret and a loaf of long bread. I would wear black clothes and smoke clove cigarettes. Existentialism would become my mistress. The Selecty Home Pension would fade from my memory.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIn Austria: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt was a horrible walk with a heavy-almost painfully heavy pack-yoked to my bent and near broken back. At a few points I caught myself talking to myself, alternating from encouragement to scolding. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI felt my face contorting into scowls.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI had gone mad in Vienna. I would be placed in the sanitorium that housed Dr. Caligari. I would befriend a somnambulist who lived in a cabinet. My world would consist of odd-angled doors and hallways.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJust as I was about to give up and wait for the men in white suits, I saw civilization. I saw a woman walking and grunted, \"Hotels?\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShe told me, in broken English, that I could find them in the \"ring,\" and she pointed me the way.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn my near-animal devolution, I offered her no thanks; I just snorted and knuckle-walked down the \u003cem\u003estrasse\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBut never forgetting the beauty: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI did that all the way to Piazza San Marcos. From there, I walked and walked and walked. I walked down large tourist filled avenues, down small desolate side paths-I took in the city. I saw laundry hanging out of medieval windows, and I saw flood-scarred buildings. I walked over odd canals and tiny bridges. I saw red and white poles measuring the depth of the water, and gondolas and scows racing about the lagoon.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI finally got it. \u003cem\u003eThis\u003c\/em\u003e was what it meant to be lost in Venice. Not when you had to use the bathroom, but when you wanted to feel the city-to experience every last nook and dead end. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt was beautiful to not be in a rush.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Michael N. Sever\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0578311585\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780578311586\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Amms Publishing\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 12\/07\/2021\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 282\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.25lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.75d","brand":"Michael N. Sever","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":44051595329791,"sku":"9780578311586","price":32.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_07a72369-3a30-4a10-86c6-150da88807a2.jpg?v=1685014022","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/minus-the-journey-michael-n-sever-9780578311586","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}