Review: "Homeless ex-hippie vagabond" sees dead people. Or maybe not.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 01 14, 2013
"I never saw a ghost in Kyrgyzstan, but I can still feel the chill that ran down my spine while I stood alone in the center of the ballroom of the Alta Sara hotel near midnight on a cold and snowy night." - Keith Jones in GHOST TRIPPINGGHOST TRIPPING by self-styled "homeless ex-hippie vagabond" Keith Jones is a collection of short stories - seven chapters - centering on experiences in Thailand, the Philippines, China, Kyrgyzstan, and Baja California which, to the author, have some connection to a ghost or ghost tale.In all honesty, the paranormal content of each of these stories is nebulous at best. Indeed, the book perhaps says more about Keith's susceptibility to the power of suggestion than anything else and can best be summarized by a comment he made about one of the scenarios set in Manila:"This story would be better if I could say I saw a ghost in the hallway, but I never did see one there. The attempted mugging by that pack of scrawny kids was the worst thing that happened to me."I think each of the chapters, and the volume as a whole, would have greater potential to engage the reader if the author had left out the hint of supernatural and just expanded upon the foreign environment and culture that he was immersed in at the moment. In an "About the Author" section at the book's conclusion, Jones goes out of his way to describe in brief where he's been worldwide, how he's traveled there, what he's seen, where he's stayed, and the good and bad experiences he's had. There seems to be enough material in all that to write several books in the travel essay genre that would appeal greatly to the armchair adventurer without having to resort to some gimmick.So, three stars in recognition of potential.