Rating: Summary: There's No Toilet Paper...on the Road Less Traveled Review: "There is a point, somewhere beyond frustration but before hara-kiri, where the only sensible way to confront the vagaries of travel is with humor. So if you find yourself teetering precariously close to the edge, take an immediate dose of There's No Toilet Paper on the Road Less Traveled."-Trips"Travelers beware: it's not only a jungle out there, but often a poorly-equipped jungle...and the French don't want you to visit them! Just a few gems of wisdom garnered from these funny episodes on the road."-WTBF Radio "Besides A-list authors like P.J. O'Rourke, David Foster Wallace and Dave Barry, There's No Toilet Paper...has the power of reality on its side."-Punchline "There comes a moment when even the most timid, pampered tourist steps off the air-conditioned bus and stumbles smack into discomfort, embarrassment, vexation, or, on really miserable days, the entire triptych. But bad travel experiences make for strong memories-and entertaining stories. I offer as evidence There's No Toilet Paper on the Road Less Traveled: The Best of Travel Humor and Misadventure."-Escape
Rating: Summary: Hilarious airplane, bedtime, toilet, commute read! Review: A great romp through absurd travel situations we've all been in and hope to avoid unless reading about them. Loved the one about the guy who takes a monkey to the movies in Cameroon.
Rating: Summary: What's So Funny About Travel? Review: According to Bill Bryson, "You fly off to a strange land, eagerly abandoning all the comforts of home, and then expend vast quantities of time and money in a largely futile attempt to recapture the comforts that you wouldn't have lost if you hadn't left home in the first place." How about the frustrations of travel? Dave Barry tries to learn Japanese, then concludes that the only way is "to be born as a Japanese baby and raised by a Japanese family, in Japan." If you enjoy the humorous rantings of Bill Bryson and Dave Barry or the wit of Peter Mayle, Caryl Rivers, Calvin Trillin, Rory Nugent, David Foster Wallace, and P.J. O'Rourke, this book is for you. It contains some of their funniest work. As Trips Magazine writes: "There's a point, somewhere beyond frustration but before hari-kari, when the only sensible way to confront the vagaries of travel is with humor. So if you find yourself teetering precariously close to the edge, take an immediate dose of There's No Toilet Paper on the Road Less Traveled. . . . Cart this book along on your next trip (carry-on only, to be safe), and when things get bad, take heart from these veterans of the unexpected, unpleasant and downright awful."
Rating: Summary: A Great Read, especially while stuck on the road. Review: After the September 11th attacks on America, humor and laughter is both most needed and welcome, especially when traveling. To complain about your bum travel experiences is both expected and natural. To laugh at the your daunting faux pas is even chic; and, to get others to laugh at your inconveniences, discomfort and even down right dangerous experiences are cathartic. This book will not disappoint those who need a good laugh. This is a collection of humorous stories for those who have been there, done that and deserve a `hell of a` of a lot more than a T-shirt. If you ever have been on a third world bus then Doug Lansky's piece is a must read. For you that have eaten everything that walks or crawls, Richard Sterling goes one further. And for you `Dave Berry' afficionados his "Failing to Learn Japanese" is a delight. Oh, yea, Bill Bryson's "Stroll Through Paris" is truely hilarious. Like a third world road these twenty eight stories are not all level reading, there is the occasional rough and uneven story, but the majority are engaging and giddy. You will find this book a great read on the road. Recommended
Rating: Summary: A Great Read, especially while stuck on the road. Review: After the September 11th attacks on America, humor and laughter is both most needed and welcome, especially when traveling. To complain about your bum travel experiences is both expected and natural. To laugh at the your daunting faux pas is even chic; and, to get others to laugh at your inconveniences, discomfort and even down right dangerous experiences are cathartic. This book will not disappoint those who need a good laugh. This is a collection of humorous stories for those who have been there, done that and deserve a 'hell of a' of a lot more than a T-shirt. If you ever have been on a third world bus then Doug Lansky's piece is a must read. For you that have eaten everything that walks or crawls, Richard Sterling goes one further. And for you 'Dave Berry' afficionados his "Failing to Learn Japanese" is a delight. Oh, yea, Bill Bryson's "Stroll Through Paris" is truely hilarious. Like a third world road these twenty eight stories are not all level reading, there is the occasional rough and uneven story, but the majority are engaging and giddy. You will find this book a great read on the road. Recommended
Rating: Summary: Stories are very trite Review: As an international traveler, I thought I would really enjoy this book. Unfortunately, after reading half the book and way too many tales of whiney Americans who would have prefered to stay home than experience any hardships at all, I had to put the book down. While I did smile at a few of the incidents in the stories, overall this book is not recommended.
Rating: Summary: Some tales were really funny, some were alright Review: Being a traveller myself and having dealt with hard-to-please tourists, I found the idea of this book truly amusing. I was hoping, however, to find the stories equally amusing and entertaining but they were not. My favorites were the trip to the nudist resort and the Learn Japanese in 5 minutes.. This book really inspired me to take matters onto my own hands and start writing travel tales the way they should be written..Stay tuned!
Rating: Summary: Travel Humor at its Best Review: Edited by Doug Lansky, author of Up the Amazon Without a Paddle, There's No Toilet Paper on the Road Less Traveled can really be appreciated by those who have actually made the same mistakes. If you have then you'll be in good company with humorous travel accounts from Steve Martin, Dave Barry, David Letterman, Dennis Miller and Fran Lebowitz. If you haven't made the same cultural faux pas then you can at least sit back and have a good laugh at those who have. Two personal favorites include, "Nudity is a State of Mind" by Alan Zweibel and "Under the Spell of a Witch Doctor" by Rory Nugent. There's No Toilet Paper... on the Road Less Traveled is truly good travel humor at its best.
Rating: Summary: Or you could stay home and have toast and coffee... Review: Editor/compiler Doug Lansky says that "the object of this book was to put together a collection of stories by travelers who share a knack for finding the humor in their misadventures and pointing out the absurdities of travel." This is an anthology of different authors, so it's somewhat uneven. And what one reader thinks is hysterically funny, another could view as totally un-amusing.. Prior reviewers have complained of some bathroom humor. There is the cautionary Antarctic tale: "Blinded By the White" by Mary Roach: "Another reason to be wary of ice-sheet outhouses: seals occasionally use the opening in the ice as a blowhole. While there's nothing inherently dangerous about a suppositorial blast of hot seal breath, it is, in the words of one shaken veteran, 'a disquieting way to start your day.'" If you don't want to read about close encounters of the seal kind, what about The Life Everlasting? .P.J. O'Rourk's "Holy Holiday in Hell" tour of Jim & TammyFaye Land a/k/a Heritage USA is well work the price of admission. Or here's Dave Barry's warning about London traffic: "Another cultural activity we frequently engaged in was looking the wrong way before attempting to cross the streets. ... The best way to handle this, as a tourist, is to remain on one side of the street for your entire visit, and see the other side on another trip." Overall, the book is a humorous journey.
Rating: Summary: A worthwhile read Review: Enjoyable, and well worth the purchase price. ... this book has some stories that aren't worth reading, but about 80% of the book was truly enjoyable. This book has introduced me to a number of authors that I have never heard of before, and whose other works I will certainly seek out.
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