Pocketful of Mint

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Pocketful of Mint is a travel book written in 2003 by Chris Fawcett. It details a journey through the Middle-Eastern countries of Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Syria, and Lebanon.

"Pocketful of Mint is the story of a journey that unravels into fulfillment as its destination shifts in location and character. Though the narrative is continuous, each of its 133 days is a self-contained essay that varies in length from a few lines to a few pages. The completed manuscript runs to 100,000 words.

"Pocketful of Mint begins in Cyprus, and continues through Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Syria, and Lebanon. Each of the book's four sections differs in mood and theme: Journey is the setting off in optimism and flight; Travels with Venus is the encounter with a woman that knocks the journey off course; Walking on Glue is the subsequent loss of the journey; and Mint its abortive continuance, in which the original destinations are abandoned. With the story's conclusion comes the key to a personal recipe for contentment, whose clues are scattered throughout the narrative in encountered words and thoughts.

"Though moving through countries suffering poverty and war, Pocketful of Mint travels easily. There is no agenda. Where there is landscape, there is description; where there are people, dialogue. From Damascene souks to the deserts of Wadi Araba, impressions are conveyed through the details that engender them. The reader journeys along."

A pdf of the book is available for free download here.

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