Rating: 
Summary: An Enlightening Escape
Review: "Inflatable Pig" provides a richly detailed description of an enigmatic country, past and present. John Gimlette obviously finds Paraguay to be an intriguing place, as well it might be, though I wish he were a bit less obsessed with the seedy and the sordid. It's unfortunate because it somewhat cheapens what otherwise would be a compelling narrative. Nevertheless I found this book to be suitable escapist reading by flashlight while waiting for the power to be restored in the aftermath of a hurricane. As far more than an ordinary "travel" book, I could pretend to be somewhere else and yet be glad NOT to be at the same time. And having visited parts of South America (though not Paraguay), I found the author's descriptions easy to visualize. Recommended for those who like to explore "outside the box".
Rating: 
Summary: The (almost) complete guide to Paraguay
Review: All in all, this is a very interesting book. I have learned more about my country's history from this book than I did in all my years in Paraguayan schools. It is a must read for all Paraguayans and everyone in general, why for everyone in general? Well, it has many historical facts about Americans, Germans, Australians, Italians, English, Indians, Jesuits, South Americans, the Nazis, etc. and their relationship to Paraguay. It has been wonderfully researched and is full of awesome facts and numbers. I can only recommend this book; it also has lots of old pictures and funny passages. The book is not perfect, it contains lots of misspelled Spanish and Guarani words and proper names, something that doesn't belong to any book. What I personally dislike the most is the fact that the author gave the book the weirdest title. I have never met anyone that has ever heard of those inflatable pigs, it was probably some kind of Pokemon/Tamaguchi wave that lasted for a few days, and he dedicated the book's title to it... What I also didn't like are some of his generalizations and comments about him being home sick or missing the UK when he couldn't find a real English Bar in Paraguay.
Rating:
Summary: Chaco-Riffic
Review: An English barrister who happens to speak Spanish and harbors a fondness for Asunción is, it turns out, a wonderful thing. John Gimlette's Tomb of the Inflatable Pig is part travelogue, part history; he begins by reminiscing over his early sojourn in Asunción in 1982, during which he almost had an audience with the despised dictator General Alfredo Stroessner (a man who had degenerate lust for teenage girls, whose best known, 18-year old mistress was ironically nicknamed "Legal"), and then chronicles his recent return to this weird hinterland nation. After touring Asunción, a city native indian Guirani is the most-spoken language, but Anglophilia reigns as a national fetish (Princess Diana is mourned and revered), he ventures into Eastern Paraguay, home of many German settlers, including, reputedly, Martin Bormann. He treats us to the early history of Jesuit settlement and visits one of the old "reductions." He also describes the illicit smuggling that went on under Stroessner and made Paraguay the largest importer of Scotch in the world. At this point Gimlette interjects a fascinating slice of Paraguayan history - the tale of the disastrous General Lopez and his Irish mistress Eliza Lynch, who together plunged Paraguay into the disastrous war of 1865-70 with Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. In particular, he journeys into the forests and finds Humaita, the fortress that, under the direction of a a brilliant Scots engineer, George Thompson, survived an Argentinian siege for many, many months, and even unearths Thompson's contemporary military of the campaign. He then visits the remnants of New Australia, an Australian colony formed as a socialist Utopia in the early twentieth century, and ventures into the dreaded Chaco, a desert where a brutal war against Bolivia was fought to a slatemate in the 1930s (Paraguayans call this a victory). Finally, he charts the recent history of Paraguayan politics, which seems to consist of assassinations, rigged elections, sexual degeneracy, periodic exiles of the local luminaries to Brazil and threats of renewed repression. A Simply a marvellous exposition of a nation that is truly weird, but marvellously so.
Rating:
Summary: View from the tomb
Review: As an American resident of Paraguay for over a year, I found At The Tomb a compelling, essential read. A bit over the top, but probably the only truly comprehensive history of Paraguay in any language, and chock full of insights into what makes this place tick - or not. That said, the reader must bear in mind that Mr. Gimlette is not a professional historian and tends to take liberties with facts that would never pass an academic review. The most questionable example is his assertion that of a total population of 1.3M at the beginning of the War with Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay in 1864,only 221,079 survived when it ended in 1870 - an impossibly high number even for that horrific war - a number with origins more in Paraguayan national myth than solid research. In most aspects though, Gimlette does a remarkabel job of revealing the layers of historical and cultural paradox that produced Paraguay. Having lived over 20 of my 48 years outside the US in Europe, Asia and Latin America, Paraguay is undoubtedly the most bizarre place I have ever been to and many thanks to John for helping me to understand it.
Rating:
Summary: An exciting and rare glimpse of another world
Review: Blend a moving history with a travelogue of journeys through Paraguay something rarely covered in popular travel destination choices and you have an exciting and rare glimpse of another world in John Gimlette's At The Tomb Of The Inflatable Pig : Travels Through Paraguay. This is no serious survey: Gimlette's mishaps and adventures assume a humorous air as he encounters cannibals, religious zealots, myths, realities, and cultural oddities alike. Add a healthy dose of history and political insight and you have a multi-faceted travelogue in At The Tomb Of The Inflatable Pig.
Rating:
Summary: A great new look at Paraguay
Review: country with a vast rumbling history it has often been ignored, perhaps for its more raucous neighbors, Argentine, Brazil and Chili. Yet this wonderful travel story is part history, part travelogue, in the theme of 'why the cocks fight'. A wonderful account that tells of fattened dictators who plunged Paraguay into a disastrous war that resulted in the deaths of 80% of the males in the country in 1860s Stories of the Stroessner dictatorship, escaped Nazis, Mennonite settlements, and the Chaco war in which 100,000 died for little gain. Paraguay is a fascinating country, little known and little visited, this wonderful book opens a needed window into this fascinating Latin land and its strange terrible, and even funny, history. You will not be dissatisfied, anyone who enjoys travel history or Latin America will find this a needed addition. Seth J. Frantzman
Rating:
Summary: At the Tomb of the Inflatable Pig : Travels Through Paraguay
Review: How can one describe Paraguay? How many people actually know where Paraguay is? Whatever the answer to the second question, Gimlette, a regular contributor to Conde Nast Traveller and other journals and newspapers, does a masterly job with the first. Here we find the exploits of dictators, opportunists, and just general folk on the lam that would make Central American strongmen blush. Gimlette travels from one end of Paraguay to the other in search of Mennonites, Japanese, indigenous tribes, and the stray Nazi. A good part of the book covers the rise and fall of Francisco Lopez (1826-70) and his Irish mistress, Eliza Lynch. Lopez almost single-handedly razed his country by waging war with Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay. In Gimlette's own words, "Francisco Solano Lopez's promise to die with his country came not a moment too soon. Had he left it any longer, there might have been no country left to die with." A fantastically written book about a neglected part of the world, this is recommended for all libraries
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding
Review: I read this book in less then a weekend. As a first generation Paraguayan American, I learned more about Paraguay that weekend then in the last 27 years. My family is hooked; they have each ordered their own copy. I love the fact that he even included some Guarani words in the book, I did find plenty of misspellings though. Gimlette does great in sucking you in but his choice of words are a little biting. My only complaint is language, and since Gimlette has a problem biting his tongue, some may get the wrong impression about Paraguay. He should have tried harder to be a little more politically correct. You have to read this book with an open mind. We can recall history, but the storyteller can leave a lasting impression. I would like that impression to be positive. So on historical content, he gets an A+. But as far as I'm concerned, Gimlette needs to watch his words, they cut like a knife. His version of Paraguay is a little too over exaggerated. Oh, and PS, if anyone ever gets a chance to visit, GO!!!! Paraguay is beautiful!
Rating: 
Summary: Overwritten, tedious, perfect book to doze with in a hammock
Review: I read this late at night in hot weather, figuring the tales of jungles, dessicated plateaus, and humid cities would match my mood. It did, but failed to rouse my ennui. Gimlette in small parts writes superbly. The blurb notes that while this is his first book, he has penned travel journalism. The latter, I think, is probably better suited to his style, which over hundreds of pages shimmers but then sinks. He has to integrate four hundred years of Paraguayan history into his own accounts of his decades of visits, and the book's weight slumps. The best part, contrasting the Lengua natives and the German Mennonites on the Chaco, comes at the end; the previous 80% of the work spends far too long in Asuncion and whatever happens in the jungles gets bogged down in too many visits to ex-pats, too many boring meals at woebegone inns, and conversations that fail to interest anybody but the author himself. I liked what I learned about Eliza Lynch, who is also the subject of two recent novels, and the devestating wars, the stronero regime of Stroessner, and the sheer mess that passes for daily life in much of the nation all make for naturally stimulating reading. But too often Gimlette strives for a word that doesn't quite fit--his three adjectival uses of "curly" for example--as he strains towards a style that calls more attention to himself than his subject.
Rating:
Summary: An Interesting Look at Paraguay
Review: I teach in a town with a significant Paraguayan population. I picked up this book to gain some insight into that country. The other does a good job of providing an interesting, many times humorous, look at Paraguay through the record of his travels. I definitely feel like I know a little more about the country having read the book and I enjoyed reading it very much.
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