Rating: 
Summary: The more you know, the funnier it is
Review: Peege & I would probably never ever vote the same way, but he is one of the sharpest guys on the planet, and not afraid to toss barbs at his fellow conservatives when they deserve it. I own several of his books, but it's Holidays In Hell that I treasure.The majority of these essays were published in Rolling Stone, and Revenge of the Euroweenies was the first of his essays that I read. That essay was so funny and so ... true ... that I found myself calling friends long distance to read passages to them. Soon thereafter, Holidays In Hell was published and I read it cover to cover with lightening speed, howling all the way. The thing about Peege is that he's not only witty and clever, but many of the essays are thought-provoking and insightful when you look past the funny surface. The next summer I spent 3 months in Guatemala with an archaeological expedition, and found that Peege was right on the money about so many things. (The essay on driving should be handed out to all Americans upon arrival in any 3rd world country.) I've given this book as a birthday or Christmas present to everyone I know who's been to a trouble spot. Even though it's over 10 years old, and political situations change, it's still a hoot.
Rating:
Summary: The more you know, the funnier it is
Review: Peege & I would probably never ever vote the same way, but he is one of the sharpest guys on the planet, and not afraid to toss barbs at his fellow conservatives when they deserve it. I own several of his books, but it's Holidays In Hell that I treasure. The majority of these essays were published in Rolling Stone, and Revenge of the Euroweenies was the first of his essays that I read. That essay was so funny and so ... true ... that I found myself calling friends long distance to read passages to them. Soon thereafter, Holidays In Hell was published and I read it cover to cover with lightening speed, howling all the way. The thing about Peege is that he's not only witty and clever, but many of the essays are thought-provoking and insightful when you look past the funny surface. The next summer I spent 3 months in Guatemala with an archaeological expedition, and found that Peege was right on the money about so many things. (The essay on driving should be handed out to all Americans upon arrival in any 3rd world country.) I've given this book as a birthday or Christmas present to everyone I know who's been to a trouble spot. Even though it's over 10 years old, and political situations change, it's still a hoot.
Rating:
Summary: Dated but still valid, and very funny.
Review: PJ is a very funny man. His ideas about life on this planet are not based on any deep philosophy, but a sense of detachment and irreverence. This detachment, irreverence, and his lack of concern for his own safety culminate nicely in this international brew.
There are two noteworthy chapters. The first is his visit to Beirut, in Lebanon. This is written in a classic traveler's guide style. So much so, that it seems very weird at first. Like when O'Rourke is describing bodies in ditches as being part of the tour, or when bribes and beatings, shootings and bombings, are mentioned as essential to the character of Beirut. PJ has a very scary sense of humor. The second noteworthy chapter is the treatise on Euro-Weenies. This, like much of the book, is still applicable today.
Other than the stuff on communism, this book could have been written yesterday. It should be on the essential reading list of everybody.
Rating:
Summary: Need-to-Read Ridicule
Review: Sometimes it helps to have a little perspective. Compared to a lot of places, America ain't so bad. This book, witty and insightful, assaults the reader with sarcasm and humanity in somewhat equal measure.
Rating:
Summary: Hilarious!
Review: This guy knows how to travel! Hitting such tourist hot spots as Lebanon, the Eastern Bloc, and South Korea on election day, PJ O'Rourke has a true gift for humor. He descriptions of his travels are both funny and qusi-informational.
This book is a must for anyone who appreciates well written humor.
Rating:
Summary: Hilarious and heartbreaking
Review: This is a dazzlingly brilliant collection of articles written about some of the world's worst trouble spots. Nobody else writes like O'Rourke, managing to vividly conjure up the awfulness of the places he visits, yet at the same time managing to make you laugh as well. The tone of the articles ranges from the horrific 'Christmas in El Salvador', to the purely comic 'Weekend Getaway: Heritage USA' which describes a bizarre visit to a Biblical theme park. He describes how his girlfriend attempts to go shopping in the park and returns with "a dazed, perplexed expression, like a starved Ethiopian given a piece of wax fruit". I know the feeling, Disneyland Paris had exactly the same effect on me. In 'Mexican Border Idyll' he asks the question "What makes a Mexico a Mexico? What makes a United States a United States? And what the hell are we supposed to do about it?" 'The Euro-Weenies'is a bit painful to read if you are one, but funny all the same and 'In Whitest Africa' written a few years before the ending of apartheid, is absolutely fascinating. 'The piece of Ireland that passeth all Understanding' is perhaps the best article of all, funny and tragic by turns, so much better in every way than the trite, banal piece Michael Moore wrote about Ireland in 'Dude, where's my country?'In the introduction to this superb book O'Rourke ponts out that military intervention is never going to stop trouble because "It will always be more fun to carry a gun around in the hills and sleep with ideology-addled college girls than to spend life behind a water buffalo or rotting in a slum". Who else could have written that, O'Rourke is incomparable.
Rating:
Summary: Hilarious and heartbreaking
Review: This is a dazzlingly brilliant collection of articles written about some of the world's worst trouble spots. Nobody else writes like O'Rourke, managing to vividly conjure up the awfulness of the places he visits, yet at the same time managing to make you laugh as well. The tone of the articles ranges from the horrific 'Christmas in El Salvador', to the purely comic 'Weekend Getaway: Heritage USA' which describes a bizarre visit to a Biblical theme park. He describes how his girlfriend attempts to go shopping in the park and returns with "a dazed, perplexed expression, like a starved Ethiopian given a piece of wax fruit". I know the feeling, Disneyland Paris had exactly the same effect on me. In 'Mexican Border Idyll' he asks the question "What makes a Mexico a Mexico? What makes a United States a United States? And what the hell are we supposed to do about it?" 'The Euro-Weenies'is a bit painful to read if you are one, but funny all the same and 'In Whitest Africa' written a few years before the ending of apartheid, is absolutely fascinating. 'The piece of Ireland that passeth all Understanding' is perhaps the best article of all, funny and tragic by turns, so much better in every way than the trite, banal piece Michael Moore wrote about Ireland in 'Dude, where's my country?'In the introduction to this superb book O'Rourke ponts out that military intervention is never going to stop trouble because "It will always be more fun to carry a gun around in the hills and sleep with ideology-addled college girls than to spend life behind a water buffalo or rotting in a slum". Who else could have written that, O'Rourke is incomparable.
Rating:
Summary: Holidays in Hell
Review: This is one of the funniest books I've read in my life (47 yrs).
I made the mistake of attempting to read it while on break at work a couple of times, but I could not control my laughter, and ended up unable to return to working or getting odd looks from coworkers in the break area. I spent most of the time reading it at home with my face streaked with tears from laughter. PJ O'Rourke has an almost supernatural ability with humorous metaphores, and manages to capture the people and events in his books with incredible accuracy. It's that accuracy that is so damned funny. Rarely will you read an author so able to articulate that which most of us REALLY are thinking about certain scenarios - people and events. He spares nothing. He is a political correctness VACUUM. His concise satire will get you addicted to his style. The man is a genius.
Rating:
Summary: READ THIS BEFORE YOU GO ON SOME ASININE RICK STEVES TOUR
Review: This is one of the funniest books on travel written. I have lived overseas for nearly a decade, have traveled for about 5 years, and have been to approximately 50 countries, some for lengthy periods, some dozens of times. All I can say is that PJ is telling the truth and Rick Steves is for people who can't handle reality. I LOVE the essay on the "Euroweenies". Americans get a bad rap when going abroad - I know because I have run into enough rude English, German, French and Australian tourists to want to stay permanently away from any that I see setting up camp at my destinations. Americans can't hold a candle to some of the rude behavior that exudes from these fat, thong wearing, drunken Euro hordes. At least our white trash generally stay at home - they don't even leave their own state. Unfortunately, Europe is exporting theirs. I find it telling that the only 1 star review this book has gotten is from some pommy Brit.
Rating:
Summary: Paraguay, the Albania of South America
Review: This is one of the nicest quotes from the best of these ascerbic travel essays by old P.J. Paraguay, he reports, is uncomfortably well-populated by seventy-somethings with thick German accents whose sons run businesses such as "Steiner's Karate Studio." Another great spot was Beirut, which P.J. visited prior to its renaissance. Remarking on the unpleasant habit of harbor fisherman who used explosives rather than nets, he observes that "dynamite is one bait fish always rise to." Or his trip to the Phillippines, wherein lie some of the world's greatest wrestling fans. Hell indeed.
|
