Even A Daughter Is Better Than Nothing

A punk rocker's irreverent journey to the world's most remote destination becomes an unflinching portrait of post-Communist Mongolia and one man's twenty-year obsession with reaching the ends of the earth.
When Mykel Board's father dismisses Prague as being "like Outer Mongolia," it sparks a decades-long fascination with what he considers the most distant place on earth. Part travel memoir, part cultural commentary, and wholly unconventional, this book chronicles Board's path from 1970s New York punk scene veteran to English teacher in newly democratic Mongolia.
Board writes with the same provocative voice that made him notorious in his "You're Wrong" opinion column—unfiltered, politically incorrect, and brutally honest about everything from Mongolian drinking culture to his own sexual adventures. His narrative weaves between his punk rock years, linguistic studies, and the bureaucratic odyssey of actually getting to Mongolia through a questionable agency that warns him about kidnappings, violent muggings, and Americans who've fled the country.
More than a simple travel narrative, this is an exploration of cultural collision, post-Soviet collapse, and the gap between romantic wanderlust and harsh reality. Board refuses to sanitize his observations or bow to cultural sensitivities, creating a portrait of Mongolia that is both deeply affectionate and unflinchingly critical.
For readers who appreciate gonzo travel writing in the tradition of Hunter S. Thompson, combined with genuine anthropological insight, Board delivers an unvarnished look at a country in transition and one American's determination to experience the most remote corner of the world—no matter the cost.
A raw, uncompromising travel memoir that challenges both political correctness and romantic notions of exotic destinations.