Where the Hell is Matt?
By Matt Harding
($14.95, Skyhorse Publishing)



The response to the title of this unique book of travel essays lies in the subtitle, "Dancing Badly Around the World." Matt Harding didn't record his travels with postcards; he had brief videos taken of himself doing a silly, arm-flapping dance at each exciting new destination. Once the films were posted to his website, they took on a life of their own, eventually ending up on YouTube being viewed by thousands of people around the world.

"Where the Hell is Matt?" is the result of this first collection and subsequent videos from his continuing trips around the world, meeting and dancing with people. The many color photographs accompanying the chapters are humorous, informative or entertaining, including some of his mishaps and the people who joined him to dance.

His chapter on Mongolia begins, "I did not order the boiled sheep's head. Brent did. ... He's predisposed toward inadvisable behavior that results in a good anecdote." This sounds a lot like Matt, providing chapters of great stories with a lot of humor.

Autographed copies of this book are available at The BookWORKS in Marysville. Having read it, I want to meet this funny guy and hear his stories. Check the Web site at www.marysvillebookworks.com to see when we can all meet Matt Harding at the store. To view the videos on which this book is based, the curious can bring up the Internet site of www.wherethehellismatt.com.

Mary Burns is the owner of The BookWORKS, located at 1510 Third Street, downtown Marysville, 360.659.4997, or online at www.marysvillebookworks.com. Comments or requests are welcome at [email protected].