The old title, A TRIP BY CANOE, was too pedestrian, too prosaic, too unimaginative. WORLD OF WORLDS is more evocative and ambitious, and it does a better job of suggesting the actual subject matter. 

A sampling from WORLD OF WORLDS:

A solitary risk-taker climbs a mountain near Europe’s highest peak;

three Australians dazzle a traveler on the Kenya coast with their financial acumen and nerve;

a desperate alcoholic in the Congo latches onto a reckless Irish newsman;

a former student protester carries a letter for revolutionary guerrillas;

a western student travels to India and turns beggar for six months;

a white hitchhiker watches as his black South African friend is killed in a brutal road accident;

in Kenya a school teacher discovers that her fiancé’s family is deeply implicated in the ivory trade;

a bankrupt Wall Street fugitive tries to make a comeback by stealing a bag of diamonds in the Congo;

two young men buy a canoe and set out to explore the Congo River;

an overworked, bicycle-mad wire-service reporter plots an escape from girlfriend and employer.