Fools Rush In - Softcover

Carter, Bill

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0385606818 ISBN 13: 9780385606813

Publisher: Doubleday, 2004

Synopsis

Following a personal tragedy Bill Carter embarks on a search for redemption that leads him to war-torn Bosnia. When he joins a maverick aid organisation that delivers food to remote corners of Sarajevo, Bill soon finds himself involved in the lives of the people living in the besieged city. Amidst the sniper bullets and the random explosions that underline the fragility of every moment, Bill discovers a vibrant artistic community that becomes an endless source of inspiration for him, thrumming with music, humour and passion.

About this title

About the Author

Not just travel writing but also part autobiography this is an incredibly moving account of a young man's quest to make sense of war and death...When his girlfriend dies in a tragic accident, Bill Carter embarks on a search for redemption that leads him to war-torn Bosnia. Joining a bunch of misfits called The Serious Road Trip with a base in an abandoned tower block he sets off in a battered truck delivering food supplies while dodging sniper bullets and Serb mortar attacks. In Sarajevo, Carter finds his way into the artistic community and finds performances of the musical HAIR that carry on through the blackouts, fashion shows with clothes made out of recycled waste, portraitists rejuvenating war heroes and a music scene as vibrant as 1930s Berlin. The humour and strength of the extraordinary people he befriends in the besieged city that becomes his home will lend him the key to his own emotional recovery. Then, in a bizarre twist of fate, he meets and persuades the super-band U2 to establish live satellite links between Sarajevo and their ZOOropa tour concerts, bringing a veiled conflict to the attention of millions worldwide. Interwoven into Carter's raw and funny account of frontline life in the Bosnian capital is his own story of growing up in mid-western America with an abusive father; his journey around the globe and a tragic story of love and loss.

From the Back Cover

Some trips are chosen, others choose you. When tragedy strikes Bill Carter's life he finds himself drawn to a war zone. Sharing his extraordinary journey into a modern heart of darkness, the besieged city of Sarajevo, we meet a man rebuilding the ruins of his former self in the most unlikely of places.

Carter joins a maverick aid organization, 'The Serious Road Trip', and dodges snipers and shells to deliver food and supplies to those the UN and the NGOs can't reach. He makes friends with the artistic community of Sarajevo and fights alongside them for survival in a place where food and water are scarce, where you meet death every day, but crucially where life, love and laughter ring out all the same. The sorrow, determination and humour of a select group of people living in the worst of times will lend him the key to his own recovery.

In his quest to share the inspirational message of this community Carter takes his journey one surreal step further and enlists the help of major rock band U2, who will enable him to broadcast the plight of the Sarajevans to the rest of the world. The ensuing events will go no small way to influencing the course of the war and Western awareness of it.

Fools Rush In takes us on an emotional rollercoaster ride from Alaska to Dublin to Los Angeles to Sarajevo and back again while Carter seeks answers to questions he didn't even know he had. Compelling, humorous, hopeful and at times almost beyond belief, it is nonetheless all true.

Edition details

• Publisher: Doubleday
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0385606818
• ISBN 13: 9780385606813
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 324