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The Downhill Hiking Club

A short walk across the Lebanon
3.87 goodreads logo

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( 465 ratings, 53 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
The Downhill Hiking Club takes readers on a witty and adventurous journey across the Lebanese mountains. Comedian Dom Joly embarks on an unpredictable expedition following a historic wartime route alongside an eclectic group of travellers. Through both humorous and poignant experiences, the book delves into themes of friendship, history, and personal discovery amidst the landscape's natural beauty.
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Format: Paperback / softback
$9000

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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book may appeal to you if you're intrigued by the unique blend of travel, adventure, and humour. If you enjoy tales of quirky journeys that combine exploration with a comedic twist, you'll find this narrative both entertaining and insightful. Fans of Dom Joly's comedic style and those with a penchant for unconventional travel experiences will particularly appreciate this read.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

The Downhill Hiking Club is an absorbing, affectionate love letter to Lebanon and its rich history, in which Dom Joly and his two best friends hike across Lebanon. It's three men on a camel . . . without the camel.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Three men. 470 kilometres. Twenty-one days.

Welcome to the Downhill Hiking Club . . .

At a boozy, cricket-filled afternoon at Lord's, Dom Joly convinces his two closest friends to agree to the unthinkable: a challenging hike across Lebanon, from the Israeli border in the south, along the spine of the country's mountain range, all the way to the Syrian border in the north.

For Joly, it is something of a homecoming, having grown up in Beirut. It was a happy childhood, though he did go to school with Osama bin Laden.

Arriving in Lebanon armed with copious amounts of Vaselineβ€”and no walking experience, bar taking the dog for the occasional strollβ€”Dom, Chris, and Harry don't quite know what they've got themselves into. Joined by their bemused chaperone Caroll, they meet a variety of characters along the way including Ali, a stony-faced Hezbollah Museum guide who seems unperturbed by circling Israeli jets, and part-time Londoner Raf, who challenges Dom and the boys to a brain-freeze drinking contest.

From a hair-raising creep along the 'Valley of the Skulls' to accidentally flashing an unsuspecting Ethiopian cook, the three friends just about manage to keep going.

With more than a smattering of persiflage and some cringe-worthy moments, The Downhill Hiking Club is a big-hearted, witty and affectionate love letter to Lebanon and its rich history with a meditation on family and homeland at its heart.

Written with Dom's trademark humour, it is a paean to both the simple joys of friendship and to growing old disgracefully.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

The Downhill Hiking Club by Dom Joly has been praised for its engaging blend of humour and insight. Not typically a read for travel book enthusiasts, it offers a sofa-bound adventure filled with quirky yet informative content. The exploration of Lebanon is both a personal journey and an informative reportage, capturing the complexities and charm of the country with wit and depth.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781472128430

Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 15 April 2021

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Robinson

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 28.0mm

Width: 126.0mm

Height: 196.0mm

Weight: 251g

Pages: 320

About the Author

Best known for his multi-award winning, global-smash-hit comedy series Trigger Happy TV, Dom's other comedy television credits include This is Dom Joly, World Shut Your Mouth and Fool Britannia.

Dom also makes TV travel shows including Dom Joly's Happy Hour and Dom Joly's Excellent Adventure in which he respectively travelled the world drinking too much and went on a mammoth road trip through Lebanon and Syria. His most recent travel series How Beer Changed the World sold to fifty-nine countries.

Dom is also an award-winning travel writer and has visited over a hundred countries. His books include The Dark Tourist, Scary Monsters and Super Creeps, The Downhill Hiking Club: A Short Walk Across the Lebanon and Such Miserable Weather: An English Staycation.

His latest book The Conspiracy Tourist, sees him travelling the world hanging out with conspiracy theorists and will be published in November 2023. He will tour the UK in 2024 with a new stage show based on this book.

Dom has appeared on a multitude of shows such as I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, The Island with Bear Grylls, Splash, Pilgrimage and Celebrity Hunted to name but a few.

He has also directed, produced and starred in innumerable adverts and podcasts including an Audible Original American travel series and Earworm, his chart-topping prank phone call podcast.

He has made pop videos for Blur, Ian Brown, Betty Boo, Peter Hook and Deco.

He is a columnist for Cotswold Life and has written extensively for most major newspapers.

He is the voice of Jack FM radio and hosts a regular Sunday radio show- Dom Joly's Sunday Session 12-2pm.

He is also an ambassador for Save the Children.

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    Ever since he can remember, Dom Joly has been fascinated by travel to odd places. In part, this stems from a childhood spent in war-torn Lebanon, where instead of swapping marbles in the schoolyard, he had a shrapnel collectionβ€”the schoolboy currency of Beirut. Dom's upbringing was interspersed with terrifying days and nights spent hunkered in the family basement under Syrian...
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