Adventures in the Underworld
Why I quit the New York Times to start a Summer of Love
By Daniel Simpson
Life’s too short to waste on dead-end jobs. When this dawned on me in 2003, I was an ambitious young foreign correspondent for the New York Times, and my colleagues were enabling the invasion of Iraq. Freaked out by pro-war hype, I promptly quit.
Disillusioned, I went native in the Balkans, where I'd been stationed. I met a man who had plans for a 21st century Woodstock: a festival on an island in the Danube. Together, we smoked strong hash and got ideas.
Music could help the region reinvent itself. Wars had destroyed Yugoslavia. Serbia, its last big republic, was run by the mafia, and youngsters with ambition escaped. But what if we made it the party hub of Europe? We could start by importing Western acts and tourists. Within months, it would be Ibiza crossed with Glastonbury. Mutually hostile neighbours would be reconciled, and the region would quickly recover.
A Rough Guide to the Dark Side explains how not to change the world. The festival's grandiose visions undermined it. Gangsters muscled in and took control. Our best intentions went awry. I was forced to face a painful truth: what needed changing was inside me. I'd been eager to follow my heart, but could I live with what it held?
Eventually, I wound up in a yoga class.
The book is available via Amazon in the U.S., the UK and elsewhere, or in bookshops (ISBN: 978-1780993072). It can also be ordered from Book Depository, with free delivery worldwide. A Serbian translation is forthcoming.
“Reminiscent of Hunter S. Thompson”
“Funny, angry and insightful”
“Uproarious story... important message”
“Packed with... uncontrived humour”
“Original, colourful and opinionated”
“Worth a lifetime of slavish bylines”
TRAILER AND EXTRACTS
ZERO: The Opening Chapter
Downloadable here in PDF
"I never really meant to join the underworld. I fell in. Fate proved far more powerful than me..."
Sonic Youth & Serbian Mayhem
As published in Perfect Sound Forever
"Putting on a festival was alchemy. If we hadn't transcended our limits, it couldn't have happened. My partner's magic had simple principles: he clarified intentions at the outset, and detached himself completely from the outcome..."
AUTHOR INTERVIEWS
The Crazy Stuff (Funemployment)
THE Serious BITS (Radio NZ)
THE EVENT
