Review of Man Mission

[Shenila Ginabay]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Man Mission" by Eytan Uliel.]

---

4 out of 4 stars

---

Share This Review

---

If you’re looking for a story filled with humor, friendship and great life advice, then Man Mission by Eytan Uliel is the book for you. It tells the story of four friends in their late 20s who are still in college and are looking for adventures. Two of them, the main character and his friend Sam, come up with the idea of going on a yearly trip to any place in the world to enjoy some “manly activities”, as they would say. The story goes through fifteen years of their lives, talking about all the trips they had together, and also all their major life events.

Some years have passed since they left college, and one day Sam calls the main character to discuss their first-ever Man Mission in New Zealand. Things go pretty well until one of them suffers an injury and is rescued by local drug dealers. In the end, they return to Australia, their home country, with a successful Man Mission. After that, each year, they organize a trip to a different country, such as Vietnam, South Africa, the United States of America, Iceland and many others, while in the company of their other two friends, Daniel and Alec, doing all sorts of activities, such as kayaking, hiking, ice mountain climbing and cycling. While all this is happening, they are moving forward in their lives: they build their careers, get married, and have children, while dealing with some life problems such as depression, sickness, loss of loved ones and midlife crisis.

The very first thing I liked about Man Mission is how it’s filled with humor. We see these four grown-up men getting into all sorts of hilarious situations while on their trips and having to deal with them in the best way possible. I loved how the author divided each chapter into a trip and how he started every chapter with a funny situation they were in that chapter. I also liked how he managed to intertwine the life events of the characters with what was happening on their trips. The other thing I loved about this book is how the author explored the main character’s midlife crisis, which is something that happens to a lot of people by not knowing what they are doing with their lives. This subject brings some good life advice on how we cannot be afraid to deal with our problems. One more thing I liked is how the author mentioned real-life masterpieces from pop cultures, such as The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. I found it very interesting that at the beginning of each chapter, there was an image of where they would go and which activities they would be doing.

Honestly, I didn’t find anything I disliked about this book. It was so well written and well-developed and so easy to read. I didn’t seem to get bored at any moment during my reading. The author wrote as if he was the one telling his own story. I only found one typo, so I can say the book was professionally edited. Therefore, I give this book a rating of four out of four stars.

I recommend Man Mission by Eytan Uliel to everyone who loves books with humor and travels. I don’t recommend it for younger readers because it has non-borderline profanities throughout the whole book. There are also some mentions of sexual relations, but not with explicit content.

******
Man Mission
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes

[Christabel Egbeama]

I love everything about this book from start to finish. I love the aspect of the unnamed first- person narrator. I appreciate the author for displaying the importance of friendship through the four friends.