I Married Adventure by Osa Johnson (1989, Hardcover, Reprint)

Normally, I don't have the time to read every book that I buy wholesale and resell on eBay. And to make the story even funnier, I almost didn't take it...

You see, I bought a lot of books from someone. She kept saying this book is included in the lot. For some reason, I thought I would have to pay for it too and I didn't want to. So I said "No thank you." But when I finally understood that the book was INCLUDED in the lot -- duh! I took it.

And I think you know where this is going... I found out that Osa Johnson's original book that was published in 1942 is a highly sought after book. I was curious because I never heard of her. My folks who were born in the early part of the 20th century never heard of her. My 80 something neighbor never heard of her.

So I decided to take a look at it. You can say curiousity killed the cat!!! Well, this book was probably the most incredible and awesome book that I have ever read. And I have read lots of books so that is saying something. Osa Johnson started the book about how she and her future husband met and got married. Apparently, her husband, Martin was a traveler that went on a sailing adventure with the famous author, Jack London.

And sure enough, Martin dragged her to see the head hunters and cannibal tribes in the Pacific Islands and Borneo. Osa was very explicit describing what they thought and did -- and let me tell you, they invented chutzpah! They got these hostile tribes to "perform" for their movie cameras to take home and show to the United States audience.

Then they went to Africa and went on safaris for several years. They documented Africa before it became spoiled by violence and poaching of the valuable and unique animals such as lions, rhinoceros, elephants, giraffes and many others.

There are lots of black and white pictures in the book. And yes, one picture actually shows 3 heads "curing" in the fire and tended by a tribal head hunter. Yikes!

If I could make a suggestion, perhaps you can find this book in your local library. I have no clue if the modern editions does Osa Johnson justice.

One last note, Osa Johnson dedicated this book to her husband, Martin. Martin died in a 1937 commercial plane crash in California. Osa was in the same plane and was severely injured but survived. It is sad and reminds me of eternal love because Osa did an beautiful job describing Martin and what she loved about him.

To sum it up... this is one of the BEST books I have ever read and I am keeping it on my bookshelf where it belongs...