| Jamie Maslin | |
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Jamie Maslin, Mt Bromo, Indonesia (2011) |
Jamie Maslin is a British author, adventurer and bushcraft survival instructor. He is best known for his travel memoirs: Iranian Rappers & Persian Porn: A Hitchhiker's Adventures in the New Iran (Skyhorse Publishing, 2009);[1] and, Socialist Dreams & Beauty Queens: A Couchsurfer's Memoir of Venezuela (Skyhorse Publishing, 2011).[2]
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Maslin's first book, Iranian Rappers & Persian Porn: A Hitchhiker's Adventures in the New Iran, chronicled his journey hitchhiking from England to Iran and subsequent travels around the Islamic Republic. The book was controversial for its portrayal of some of the less than Islamic aspects of Iranian youth culture, which Maslin both witnessed and participated in. These included getting drunk on surgical spirit (96% ethanol), attending illegal parties where there wasn't a compulsory hejab headscarf in sight, and even viewing hardcore porn films with a group of anti establishment students—something punishable in the Islamic Republic by having your eye cut out. As a result, Maslin has been banned from re-entering the country.[3]
Maslin's second book, Socialist Dreams and Beauty Queens: A Couchsurfer's Memoir of Venezuela, is part travel memoir, part political thesis. The travelogue detail Maslin's experiences Couchsurfing around Venezuela staying in the homes of people befriended on the internet (couchsurfing.org) before meeting them in person. Politically, the book explores the policies of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and the impact organisations such as the International Monetary Fund and World Bank have had on Venezuela and Latin America in general.
Maslin is a senior instructor for the British Bushcraft School,[4] and inventor of a new method of creating fire by friction, The Maslin Leg Drill,[5] that enables a person to create fire by friction using only one arm—theoretically making it possible to do with a broken arm. According to Maslin's Twitter account, he is currently hitchhiking over every landmass from Australia to England.[6]