Even a Daughter Is Better Than Nothing

by Mykel Board, Et and Mykel Board

Book Overview

Board presents a brilliant and wicked trip into the depths of Outer Mongolia. Incisive and outrageous, Board recounts his year teaching English at the National University in Ulaanbaatar. Join Board on... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1891053000
• ISBN13: 9781891053009
• Release Date: July 2005
• Publisher: Garrett County Press
• Length: 347 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.1" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

Hilary Clinton Visits Outer Mongolia

One of the many pleasures this book offers is the author's voice: as bemused with himself and his own foibles as he is with the unusual world he shares with us, he relates his adventures without a shred of self-serving narcissism, jumping into Mongolian life with omniverous curiosity and steady generosity. The chapter on Hilary Clinton's visit to Outer Mongolia as First Lady is particularly priceless (in which Clinton's Secret Service handlers assume that Mykel, who is just hanging around the gate, must be in charge of access to the embasy).

Great Read!

A nice and easy read. If you're a fan of his Columns in Maximum Rock n Roll, you'll love it! Had me chuckling on the commute to work for a couple of days(only a couple though, as its not the longest book). I'd recommend it for those who want something light-hearted and entertaing, it definitely got me out of the doldrums!

Clever Title; Clever Book

For years Mykel Board had wanted to go to Outer Mongolia. He realized that dream in 1995 when he went there to teach English at the National University in Ulaanbaatar. EVEN A DAUGHTER IS BETTER THAN NOTHING is the result of his stay. This volume is not like any other travel writing you will read. It is at once hilarious, I suspect at times hyperbolic as well as downright moving in places. He writes with obvious affection for the people he encountered on his year there; and even though he lands in a country far removed from anything he has even encountered--"this is Mongolia"-- he is never condescending. Public transportion doesn't run on time, the plumbing doesn't work, classes are scheduled in the wrong classrooms, and signs saying someone takes credit cards usually don't mean that at all as Mr. Board repeatedly hears the mantra "this is Mongolia." What the writer does find is a lovable people not afraid of hard work and accepting of strangers. They dress up to have a photo taken, are offended if you do not eat their food-- even though you prefer not to eat unadorned fat-- poor Mr. Board at times reminded me a little of Cool Hand Luke's stuffing himself with eggs in the movie by the same name-- and can drink you under the table. These folks drink vodka like Americans drink Cokes. (I'm surprised that Mr. Board had a liver when he returned to New York.) He also found "Pro Wrestling, rock'n'roll, Christianity, and probably someday soon, McDonalds." But apparently no designer coffee shops yet. Although Mr. Board describes himself as a good instructor-- and I believe him-- he on several occasions uses incorrect English, always making the same grammatical error: "He wimps out, leaving Sebastian and I stranded" (p. 270) is incorrect. The sentence should read "leaving Sebastian and ME stranded" But you'll find much weirder stuff here. How about half a page of information on Mongolians as "snot-blowers"? Finally you'll read a long time before another travel writer refers to Peter North. (Oops. I'm not supposed to know that he is a famous porn star.) For those of us who will never go to Mongolia, Mr. Board has made a part of the world come alive, reminding us once again that all of us are more alike than we are different. Oh, about the title-- the author says that he wanted something catchy to get the reader's attention-- he is most successful-- but explains that the expression is an old proverb that has little to do with modern Mongolia.

A Fascinating Mongolian Idiom

This is an incredibly hilarious and educational adventure at the far frontiers of modern culture. Author Board really does put you right there in the middle of this strange country, and he does so with a dry yet frantic wit and a sincere fondness for this ancient land and its people. This is a book full of adventure and surprise and humor from a writer who is a cross between Davy Crockett and Oscar Wilde! Wonderfully entertaining.

If you can't make it to Mongolia this season....

Mykel Board -- punk rocker, New Yorker, gonzo provocateur -- fulfills a lifetime dream by moving to Mongolia for one year to teach English...and I'm so glad he did. His easy-to-read writing style is brutally honest and hysterically funny, from his problems overcoming constipation (because Metamucil is not sold in Outer Mongolia, Board resorts to consuming rancid street food to encourage diarrhea), to his visits to Mongolian dance clubs, to the confusing hurdles presented in this post-Soviet limbo land ("Welcome to Mongolia!" is the standard response from natives when cultural idiosyncracies are brought to attention). Unlike most travel memoirs, there are no overwrought or pretentious analyses of a foreign culture -- even though there were times that I, a fellow traveler, longed for Mykel to take a deeper look at this rarely examined country -- making this book a fun, unrestrained ride through a remote, Kafka-esque kingdom. Buy this book.