Reviews

The Bird Man and the Lap Dancer: Close Encounters with Strangers by Eric Hansen

kiminindy's review against another edition

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4.0

Very good. Non-fiction. Stories from his world travels. Funny, quirky, poignant.

sawyerbell's review against another edition

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4.0

Eric Hansen is a born storyteller. In this collection of travel essays, he paints beautiful, moving portraits of people he has met on his voyages: for example, a cat loving women who befriends a homeless woman, a Russian émigrée who lives in the ghetto and cooks for royalty, dying people who taught him about life in Mother Teresa's hospice in Calcutta and so on. Highly recommended for those who enjoy travel literature and storytelling

msjoanna's review against another edition

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4.0

These stories were suprisingly touching. He writes honestly about his own less-than-ideal feelings and choices and describes the people in the stories with vivid and frank vignettes. But even where some humor is found in cultural differences, Hansen writes with recognition and celebration of difference rather than just poking fun. The author seems to have collected these stories from a lifetime of travel and travel writing. Some of the stories seem to have been written many years after the events described, which added a bit of a whistful nostalgia to some of them. I will definitely look for more books by this author.

debnanceatreaderbuzz's review

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3.0

This book was just pure fun. Hansen drinks intoxicating kava with native islanders, helps a widower search for the diamond ring his dead wife lost during a plane crash, and visits with a bird watcher who loves to take exotic dancers out on hunts.



beedoc's review

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4.0

Are these stories real?

cspiwak's review

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3.0

Enjoyed the opening story about the homeless woman and the ballerina and the story that contributed the title.
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