"A memoir about the search for self-acceptance and life’s meaning."
Available in kindle and paperback from Amazon.
Quest: Risk, Adventure and the Search for Meaning by John Graham details one man’s path to adventure, trying to find himself as a “tough guy” and inevitably finding peace and purpose once he leaves the bravado behind. Starting off as a travel adventure with plenty of close calls of all kinds we see the young Graham’s experience on a freighter at 16 sparking a desire to toughen up and emulate his more life hardened peers. From dangerous mountain climbs as a Harvard student to hitchhiking through the Algerian Revolution to working as a US Foriegn Service officer and for the UN during the 1969 revolution in Libya and the Vietnam war. On the hunt for power and success but sensing something is missing the tables turn and Graham leaves his daredevil and thrill seeking tendencies behind to find a life with more meaning. As he rebuilds his life he finds that meaning putting his neck on the line for other “giraffes”, people willing to put their head over the parapet in order to bring change, not just for the hell of it.
I found Quest to be an intriguing story about the journey to self-acceptance. About stopping the fight to fit an “action man” mould in favour of doing something valuable. I found the hair-raising tales of daring climbs and trips through war zones entertaining, and perhaps the embodiment of the invulnerable feeling of youth, as well as educational from a modern history perspective. However as the narrative shifted I felt the book took on more meaning. It stopped being a tale of bravado and, to an extent, hedonism (setting off to climb an deadly mountain or hitchhike through East Berlin without a great deal of thought for the risks or consequences could be classed as self-indulgence). It felt as though the narrative became more at ease with itself. In all I found this book to be a parable, on the surface a tale of daring, adrenaline and adventure but lying underneath, a journey to find true meaning and happiness.
Charlotte Walker, A LoveReading Ambassador
| Primary Genre | Biographies & Autobiographies |
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