Rating: 
Summary: His grasp of the history of Paraguay is superlative.
Review: It sure seems that the other reviewers (posted below) read a different Gimlette book than I, but I found this book both extraordinary and a "bloody good read". I read the book while I was traveling through South America by car. I had a week to ten days for Paraguay and brought along Gimlette's travelogue/history. John Gimlette's writing is engaging. His grasp of the history of Paraguay is superlative. His dry English humor often gives the absurd and macabre balance. Face it, Paraguay has an egregious history and there is no other way to tell it but explicitly. Gimlette does just that well. John Gimlette is a lawyer practicing law in England who has an infatuation with Paraguay. His writing approach is much like that of a defense lawyer who is stuck with the implacable task of defending a depraved guilty hoodlum. The lawyer, John Gimlette, does his case study and digs up the often dark past of his client - Paraguay (i.e. incompetent, corrupt leaders who started a war that would go down in history as the bloodiest conflicts ever, 80% of all Paraguayans would perished, then there is the genocide, a haven for fugitive Nazis, and a corruption standard that would make Bangladesh look honest). In this book, reading between the lines, you can detect the lawyer in Gimlette. Read carefully and you can hear him pleading his case before the bench, stating "Yes, your honor, Paraguay is guilty, BUT there are mitigating circumstances and I want to set the record straight". The reader must decide whether he succeeds or not. The book has short comings. It is missing an index and maps (map for a travel book really help John). Both of these would have been a welcome addition to a book filled with people, places and facts. That said, no Paraguay guide in print today will inform you as much about this isolated country as "the Inflatable Pig" does. Nor, will any travel guide in print today entertain you as much as Gimlette's does. This book made my travel in Paraguay come alive and I believe that every traveler to Paraguay should have a copy, as well as any serious student of South America, Mennonites, Jesuits and post war Nazis. I am looking forward to his next book: Newfoundland. Strongly recommended 4.5 stars
Rating:
Summary: His grasp of the history of Paraguay is superlative.
Review: It sure seems that the other reviewers (posted below) read a different Gimlette book than I, but I found this book both extraordinary and a "bloody good read". I read the book while I was traveling through South America by car. I had a week to ten days for Paraguay and brought along Gimlette's travelogue/history. John Gimlette's writing is engaging. His grasp of the history of Paraguay is superlative. His dry English humor often gives the absurd and macabre balance. Face it, Paraguay has an egregious history and there is no other way to tell it but explicitly. Gimlette does just that well. John Gimlette is a lawyer practicing law in England who has an infatuation with Paraguay. His writing approach is much like that of a defense lawyer who is stuck with the implacable task of defending a depraved guilty hoodlum. The lawyer, John Gimlette, does his case study and digs up the often dark past of his client - Paraguay (i.e. incompetent, corrupt leaders who started a war that would go down in history as the bloodiest conflicts ever, 80% of all Paraguayans would perished, then there is the genocide, a haven for fugitive Nazis, and a corruption standard that would make Bangladesh look honest). In this book, reading between the lines, you can detect the lawyer in Gimlette. Read carefully and you can hear him pleading his case before the bench, stating "Yes, your honor, Paraguay is guilty, BUT there are mitigating circumstances and I want to set the record straight". The reader must decide whether he succeeds or not. The book has short comings. It is missing an index and maps (map for a travel book really help John). Both of these would have been a welcome addition to a book filled with people, places and facts. That said, no Paraguay guide in print today will inform you as much about this isolated country as "the Inflatable Pig" does. Nor, will any travel guide in print today entertain you as much as Gimlette's does. This book made my travel in Paraguay come alive and I believe that every traveler to Paraguay should have a copy, as well as any serious student of South America, Mennonites, Jesuits and post war Nazis. I am looking forward to his next book: Newfoundland. Strongly recommended 4.5 stars
Rating:
Summary: Paraguay is elucidated in memoir/history tales.
Review: John Gimlette, a travel-magazine writer and lawyer from London, England, delivers a concise travel and history book about Paraguay. "At The Tomb of the Inflatable Pig" entices and delights by immersing the reader into Paraguay's history and culture from its days of the Conquistadors (1524) to its present time. Pulling you in like a good novelist and increasing your expectation for juicy stories, he says in the introduction, "Paraguay is not merely isolated, it is almost impenetrable. Small wonder that it has become a refuge to Nazis, cannibals, strange sixteenth-century Anabaptists, White Russians and fantastic creatures that ought long ago to have been extinct."
The author's journey traverses the entire country; his account is broken into the three geographical areas of the quixotic country: Asuncion, Eastern Paraguay and The Chaco. Gimlette alternates with historic tales and personal travel asides through the use of vignettes. What could have easily been a dry, insufferable history read is instead a breezy, fun, and informative take on the country. Numerous photographs and illustrations supplement the text, but Gimlette's wordsmith magic is powerful enough to enliven even the dullest of imaginations.
Rating: 
Summary: What can an Englishman do in Paraguay?
Review: Nothing. I am not sure what the author of this book was hoping to find in Paraguay after all the crises it has been through. He seems as ill informed as any Englishman can be about the world if he expected anything different than any other Latin American country. Though Paraguay itself does not help much to improve its poor image, this author's portrays are cynical. The book is perfect if you like to laugh at other's miseries.
Rating:
Summary: John Gimlette : At the tomb of the inflatable pig
Review: One of the most fascinating books on one of the most fascinating
countries in South America.John Gimlette has tremendous knowledge
of his subject. He conveys his impressions as a traveller,he gives historical background and he is sarcastic and funny.This book is a pleasure to read, it is captivating.
It might not be " politically correct" at times, but describing
a brutal dictator who devastated his country in " politically correct" terms, I'd like to know what they are...
Having been to Paraguay, it re-awakend an interest in that country again.I have adopted Paraguay as my special subject and
pursue it with a passion. I stop short only on Guarani as a
language, but even that language fascinates me.
John Gimlette must be congratulated on this book, as an avid traveller and reader of travel books, this book is outstanding.
It is almost a measure as to how travel books should be written,
but then, we all have our special tastes and likes.
Rating: 
Summary: A good book that misses
Review: Perhaps it was the author's choice not to try to master Guarani (though he may be surprised to learn that moat Paraguayans can handle Castellano), but 99% of his conversations were with expatriots and the upper crust of Asuncion. Without spending time sipping terere with campesinos he never had a chance to find out what the Paraguayan character was all about. He just misses the whole point of the country. His blow-by-blow accounts of the Chaco and Triple Alliance Wars were fascinating, but why did he completely ignore the devestating Civil War of the late 1940's and the rise of the Febristas. He also takes little note of the amazing explosion of media and personal freedoms, the obvious defanging of the military, and the advance of women's rights that have taken place since Rodriguez siezed power. His painting of all of Paraguay's leadership and citizenry is wholly cynical. It makes for good reading but is singularly unfair to a country that is trying its best.
Rating:
Summary: a complete mess
Review: Sure there is a lot of great historical info on the wars Paraguay fought and the corrupt leaders they have had but this book lacks focus (and is in need of serious editing...130 plus "mini" chapters is beyond comprehension--seriously what were they thinking?). Very disappointing given the Monty Pythonesque title and cover.
Rating:
Summary: Heaven on Earth
Review: This is one of the funniest books I have ever read. What makes it even funnier is that it is apparently all true. This place actually exists! It is surreal. There are already some details posted in previous reviews. One I liked is that their flag is the only one in the world where each side is different from the other. I have not gone by a page without having my mind blown. Paraguay must be Paradise on Earth. If it didn't exist God certainly would certainly create it. At the Tomb of the Inflatable Pig reads like a good work of virtutal reality but the category is non-fiction.
I realize this all sounds somewhat hyperbolic...okay, more than some...but I can't imagine anyone reading this book and not enjoying it.
Rating:
Summary: Eccentric Land, Faux-Eccentric Writing
Review: With its interesting cultures, landscapes, and history, Paraguay is an engagingly eccentric and unexpectedly fascinating land. It's full of the descendants of strange groups of utopia-obsessed immigrants, who usually simply got stuck in forbidding locations and maintain weak cultural connections to their homelands. Meanwhile Paraguay remains the most indigenous nation in the Americas, and even uses the mother tongue of its original Indian inhabitants as the official language. Unfortunately, John Gimlette tries way too hard to get that charm across in this book. His writing style is overflowing with annoying non-sequiturs and forced eccentricity that leads to some chuckles and a few unexpected insights, but fails to draw the reader's interest toward all Paraguay has to offer. Gimlette is so concerned with writing in a supposedly eccentric style, that he pretty much passes over the normal in favor of the mildly charming or offbeat. Thus the book jumps around annoyingly and haphazardly among disconnected snippets of so-called "interesting" history, people, and locations. Therefore I doubt that this book gives a truly representative account of a land that is surely fascinating for many different reasons, from the strange to the mundane. [~doomsdayer520~]
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