When American author Stephen Markley was a fresh-faced, impressionable university student in Ohio, he saw Quentin Tarantino describe a trip he'd taken to Iceland. "Supermodels working at McDonald's," said Tarantino of the Icelandic. Markley never forgot those words. Seven years later, Markley set out with two friends for Iceland, and adventure would ensue. The three young men found a country straddling Europe and North America, recovering from its 2008 economic crisis, struggling to regain its national identity, influenced by the entire globe yet trafficking in its singular Icelandic sagas and legends. With Tales of Iceland, Markley delivers the fastest, funniest memoir and travelogue of an American experience in Iceland. Beware: You will NOT learn how to say "Which way to the potato farm" in the Icelandic language. Nor will you learn how to locate the finest dining options in Reykjavik, or the best opera house. This is not that kind of travel book. Markley and his two irrepressible twenty-something American pals do not like opera, had no money to eat much besides eggs and skyr, and learned only how to say "Skál!" "Takk," and "Skyr." The author of the growing cult classic Publish This Book, Markley dives headfirst into Icelandic history and culture while not ignoring all those weird stories found in the best travel writing: A road trip around the golden circle Partying in Reykjavík on National Day Drinking late into the night with gorgeous Icelandic women Hiking over pristine white glaciers featured in Game of Thrones Encountering a drunk, raging Kiefer Sutherland Crashing in the band Of Monsters and Men's old apartment Getting hit on by a Wiccan in the famed Blue Lagoon Searching for signs of Icelandic "hidden people" Interviewing Jón Gnarr, the actor-comedian who accidentally became the funniest mayor in the world (by vowing not to form a coalition government with anyone who hadn't watched all five seasons of The Wire) And countless oth