12,000 Miles in the Nick of Time: A Semi-Dysfunctional Family Circumnavigates the Globe

By Mark Jacobson

Book Overview

12000 Miles in the Nick of Time is about traveling quick over a great distance in the midst of a crisis - in this case, an emergency of the heart. Author Mark Jacobson and his wife, Nancy Bray Cardozo, decided that their family - the three kids and two parents - had reached a mutual moment of decision. Things were tense in the house. Their precocious, darling oldest daughter Rae was raging through teenagehood, staying out late, flunking out of school. The other two, Rosalie and Billy, teenagers-in-training, were spending way too much time in front of the TV. This desultory equation, the parents thought, in their admittedly slapdash way, could only be changed by the introduction of something radical, something big. The World was big. The World was radical. The World would get everyone's attention. To the World they would go, and too bad about the cries and whines of der kinder. It would be FOR THEIR OWN GOOD. So they went, on their particular baedeker, a journey into what the parentssurmised would constitute a touch of The Real: Thailand, Cambodia, India (dementedly, the parents actually believed the kids would really like Varanasi, where Hindu pilgrims bring the bodies of their dead relatives to burned on massive pyres, the ashes tossed into the River Ganges), Nepal, the deserts of Jordan, Cairo, the soon-to-be seething streets of Jerusalem, and eventually Paris and London.12,000 Miles should inspire wanderlust in all those who ever have taken any sort of a journey, or even contemplated one, but this isn't really a travel book. It's not even an adventure travel book, though the Jacobsons certainly had some harrowing and mind-blowing encounters during their three months abroad. 12,000 Miles is about another kind of travel, about remembering who your family is and how you all got that way. It is about journeying through the often impersonal, frightening, dangerous universe with the people who, for better or worse, share your DNA, experiences, memories, and dreams. It is about the spaces that exist in between you and the people you love, how they sometimes grow too great, and how distances can be closed, simply by reaching out and taking the time to look at each other, sometimes in the most remote of locales. This is the story of an American family.A family comedy reminiscent of The Osbournes, Jacobson's odyssey is also a wider journey. A story about parenting-stretching across generations, an expedition into the minds of five family members as they make their way through a succession of cramped cars, 17-hour train rides, seemingly endless walks through teeming metropolises-and one more bowl of curry.Fueled by Jacobson's trademark mix of candor and sincerity (and by his own daughter Rae's commentary, who has her say in a "Talkback" section) 12,000 Miles in the Nick of Time is a rollicking journey across the globe and a sincere attempt for Jacobson to make sense of his own existential position as: The Dad.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802141382
• ISBN13: 9780802141385
• Release Date: March 2004
• Publisher: Grove Press
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.6" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

The Scared Straight Tour

I liked the idea of this book -- take your kids around the world and reconnect as a family, while opening everyone's eyes to the world around them. I liked the book, but not for the reasons I expected to. The Jacobson parents decide to take the three kids on a round-the-world trip for three months when the kids are in their teens. The kids resist, but end up going. The family does seem stronger after the trip. The trip consisted of places the parents had visited in the past, when they were earnest counterculture humanities students. Lots of third world, poverty-stricken, overpopulated cities. I can't say how much the kids got out of places like that, but it certainly made them stick close together for safety. And they were really glad to get back home. The best parts of 12,000 Miles were the chapters written by the daughter, Rae. Even though she was going through some rough times as a teenager in New York, she still seemed more together than her father. And I'll bet twenty years from now, she doesn't drag her kids through filth-infested streets trying to save them from the horrors of television.

traveling with teens

i really enjoyed this book, mark jacobson is down to earth and funny. reading about his experiences with his children felt very open and honest, i really felt the intensity of emotions when he described how his relationship changed with his older daughter. i have two daughters and i can see how bittersweet their growing up has been and will continue to be. this was a funny account of his trip and also an emotional ride about being a parent, i loved this book.

A Treasure At Every Level

Jacobson is a comedic genius with serious intent. Give this to a friend with "problem" kids...after you've read it. It is a hillarious travelogue thesis on parenting with social commentary. It documents the "advance" of civilization into the 4th world. To examine its pages is to examine cultural values through a myraid of "fun-house mirrors" all relating to how a family finds truth in their internal and private communications. Only in honest writing can these subjects be broached and Jacobson gives us rare insights on "How love, time and concern will make a family work".Is there any subject that is more important?

Terrific stuff!

I can't agree more with the writer above. I read this in one go. Then my wife took in from me and wouldn't leave the house until she finished it. Sure, its a great travel book, really funny, but its also a fabulous book about parenting -- for those who are, and for those who want to become parents. Jacobson's observations about New York are terrific too (esp. about the schools) and it seems that he's passed on his writer genes to his daughter very well.

12,000 miles in the nick of time, osmosis review

My wife stole the book from me before I was 20 pages into the text, so this is an osmosis review based on her unusual reactions to this chronicle. Susan, a world traveler in her own right, is enslaved to this book in a way not seen before. She says, "Jacobson is brilliant in the way he writes smoothly in the same patterns as we think. He immerses his family in a deep sea of third world realities and records everyone's responses as they experience education most rare. The pages are packed with colorful and rich insight." This book has become a major conversation piece and I can't wait to read more.