PASS THE BUTTERWORMS: REMOTE JOURNEYS ODDLY RENDERED

PASS THE BUTTERWORMS: REMOTE JOURNEYS ODDLY RENDERED Tim Cahill (Villard, $24) These two dozen far-flinging ecoadventures by Outside magazine travel writer Cahill -- we find him cruising on an icebreaker at the North Pole, kayaking crocodile-infested Honduran rivers, and rappelling mountains in his native Montana -- may be fueled by heady adrenaline, but Cahill's irreverent wit keeps them down-to-earth on the page. In one beautifully written piece, Cahill searches for Indonesian headhunters, only to discover them recently Westernized and wearing Jean-Claude Van Damme T-shirts. Later, fascinated by a Stone Age-like tribe in Irianjaya, he realizes, poignantly, that his very presence means that T-shirts aren't far behind. A-