All Encompassing Trip by Nicole Del Sesto

I found out about All Encompassing Trip by Nicole Del Sesto the same way I find out about a lot of books these days: through Shelfari.com. I was surfing around visiting new groups and people on my Friends List when I came across Nicole Del Sesto's name and the fact that she'd published a book with this description:

"In a world where coffee is no longer available, the only television shows are reality TV re-runs, and the animals are talking back, Nikki, Amber, and a singing Coyote in a do-rag are out to restore the light (and hopefully prevent Nikk's eyes from being stolen by an Irish midget)."

I immediately went to Amazon and ordered a copy of this book. It was one of my best book purchasing decisions.

Nikki Nasco and her friend Amber Lawson both wake up one day to discover that nothing is as they expect it to be. There's no coffee, no light, no hunger, no need to floss, and no idea what has taken place to turn their world upside down.

With help from a Coyote wearing a do-rag and sporting an British accent, Nikki and Amber go on a journey to try to restore the semblance of order they were accustomed to having in their world. Along the way they meet some very interesting people many of whom try to distract them from their journey and present them from achieving their goal of putting the sun back in the sky and coffee back on the daily menu. This is a huge simplification of what their mission is all about, but trust me, it's better if Del Sesto explains it to you (by reading the book) than have me stumbling around in the plot and kicking up nothing but dust motes.

One of the features of this book I enjoyed the most was the pop culture references. The world of Nikki and Amber may be screwy, but there's a lot of real-time similarities in what they experience and what we live with daily. Like Oprah on television spouting gems of wisdom about life and how it is best lived. Like constant reruns of Reality TV shows with back stories on the participants so we completely understand what they're doing on their individual programs. Like dead-on descriptions of air travel and just how messed up THAT is.

So, All Encompassing Trip isn't only about two chicks on a weird trip to fix life as they know it in a pretty screwed up world. It's also about the kinds of things we have become so accustomed to that we've come to accept them as normal when in fact, they're sometimes anything BUT that.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes Douglas Adams' books because it's a pretty safe bet those folks will love Nikki and Amber. But I also recommend this book to anyone who is at least somewhat knowledgeable about the ever evolving pop culture we live in and how goofy it all really is.

This book made me laugh out loud more than once, and for that alone it was worth the price!