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

This book really transported me through time and space. If you didn't know these stories were real you might be forgiven for believing they were purely fictional. Hansen writes as if to an old friend, making the unknown seem known somehow. It has made want to buy a ticket to someplace else and have an adventure.

very good

Eric Hansen's provides a mix of unusual stories in "The Bird Man and the Lap Dancer: Close Encounters with Strangers." The stories occur over a number of years in a variety of situations. What makes this a fun read is that his adventures are unpredictable. As a reader, you sense that in living his life, Hansen needs to get outside of himself. In his quest, he kindly brings you along as well. Hansen does the dirty work for you so that you take a safe trip sitting in your arm chair or at your kitchen table. This was my first read of anything by Eric Hansen. I am now on the prowl for other works by him.

My Aunt Dagmar once told me - `All of my stories are true and some of them actually happened.' I strongly believe that is a sentiment shared by Eric Hansen."The Bird Man and the Lap Dancer" is an excellent read. Hansen is a first-rate writer and has no problem holding the reader's interest from one page to the next and from story to story. I was somewhat surprised to find that the first story was a character study about a relationship between two women rather than a travel story per se. However, as I read on, Hansen made me realize that travel is not just about place, but also about the people the traveler will come across in his or her journeys and I grew to appreciate the subtitle - "Close Encounters with Strangers."I am not at all disappointed in the tales the author has to relate. But, deep down I feel that is mostly what they are - tales. This is especially true of the title story. Perhaps I come to this conclusion because in this story Hansen at times seems to lose his narrative thread and delve a little too deeply and a little too long into the psyche of the characters rather than the encounter. This story, to me, feels like a fantasy and firmly embeds this book in to the growing genre of "creative nonfiction."While I would not place this book in the Travel section, I do highly recommend it to any one who is interested in reading about colorful people in exotic settings.

Highest recommendation! How much living can one man fit into his years? I'd guess Eric Hansen can answer that as well as any person alive today. Some reviewers have praised the chapter "Life Lessons from Dying Strangers" as the best of the book. While I thoroughly loved it, "Cooking with Madame Zoya" brought a lump to my throat as I read about this spunky, independent woman making a life in a neighborhood most men would never consider entering--and receiving help from the most unexpected of sources! What a story!"Three Nights on the Mountain" will give you chills. "The Ghost Wind" will renew your faith in native intelligence and perception. And "The Bird Man and the Lap Dancer" will leave you shaking your head in wonder at the amazing variety of people in the world.Read this book!