The 'little acts of charity' recounted in Fabes’ first book are quietly powerful. The British doctor’s Signs of Life is a plucky memoir about the six years he spent cycling around the world. His journey was eventful and sobering ... But this is not a dour book. Fabes is a winning storyteller, and when he arrives in a new spot, he gives us some irreverent local history ... For all its strengths, Signs of Life has a flaw that’s fairly common to memoirs: Some of its quotations feel a little too perfect ... like a punched-up version of reality. Though there’s no reason to doubt most of what Fabes writes, a no-nonsense fact-checker might have some questions for him ... there’s no denying that this is a bridge-building book.
Witty and wild, intrepid and inspirational, the book chronicles two parallel journeys: Fabes’ physical cycling tour of many countries and his look at health across the globe ... An entertaining and epic chronicle of a journey of extremes.
... an epic journey ... The author’s animated report of his trip of more than 53,000 miles—and the crossing of '102 international borders'—highlights perils and drama ... A brisk, panoramic view of peoples and lands.
