THE EXOTIC BOOZE CLUB

A memoir of alcoholic proportions.

When Brian Armstrong was seven, he happened across some bare-breasted tribeswomen gazing at him from the pages of an old, yellow-bordered magazine, National Geographic, that was part of his Uncle Ian's collection. But it wasn't just the breasts that attracted his attention. Pictures of far-off jungles, exotic wildlife and intrepid explorers also enthralled Brian. One cousin remembers him declaring, 'That's what I'm going to do when I grow up'. Twenty-five years later, that dream came true. As a seat-of-the-pants expedition film-maker for the same company that produced those yellow-bordered magazines, the boy from country Australia found himself travelling from one death-defying adventure to another. Coping with deadly snakes, tornadoes, volcanoes, acid lakes, malaria, monsoons, armed rebels, enormous crocodiles, even a helicopter crash, became part of a day's work. Time and again Brian asked himself the same three questions: 'How did I get here?' 'How do I get out of here?' And, most importantly, 'What's to drink?'. Against his prestigious employer's strict anti-alcohol policy, this irreverent rulebreaker started the Exotic Booze Club. Film-makers and explorers would return to Brian's office with strange liquors to share, wild stories of daring exploits and, sometimes, pictures of naked tribeswomen. This book is the true story from behind the scenes of Brian's most dramatic films, framed by the life and death of the oneand- only Exotic Booze Club. Brian Armstrong is the seventh child of a country horse trainer who ventured far from his boyhood town of Marong, Victoria. After more than a decade of reporting news and current affairs for Nine Network Australia, he moved to Washington DC and began a life of travel and documentary film-making as a staff producer for National Geographic. He has produced more than 50 documentaries working for National Geographic Television and other broadcasters. When he's not on the road or planning his next adventure, he tries to stay sober, patch up his marriage and co-parent his three children. National Geographic has not endorsed this book. The author is solely responsible for its contents and the views presented are his own.