Rating: 
Summary: A Very Good Book to Escape to for the Frustration of Travel
Review: In our day of "travel rage" I am thankful for "travel humor." What syndicated columnist Dave Barry is to "daily living humor," Doug Lansky is to "travel humor." Lansky writes three to four page snippets of his world wide travel. Africa, Asia, Europe, South America, you name it and Lansky has probably been there and found the experience funny. From Los Angeles (California) to La Paz (Bolivia), from Bordeaux (France) to Beijing (China) each story is written with Lansky's tongue-in-check satire. If you have been exploring the world you will probably see yourself in many of his predicament, you will have meet some of the unique and bizarre people he writes about. This is a great book to escape to when you are sitting in an airport waiting for your delayed flight to go out and the frustration of traveling is beginning to rise. A needed travel tonic in our world today. Recommended
Rating: 
Summary: Doug Lansky is the funniest travel writer around
Review: In this book, Doug Lansky summarizes observations and experiences from over 60 of his travels worldwide. Each chapter is a new fascinating story and after finishing the book you are just sort of astonished that the man lived to tell his adventures. Because adventures they are, each one described in Lansky's own characteristic, observational, sometimes understated-sense-of-humour-but-always-to-the- point- style. One of the best things about the book is that I don't see anyone who would not benefit from reading it, be it the experienced traveller who will nod quitely in recognition while chuckling towards hypoxia or the domestic couch lover whose travel demons are bound to be set free by this witty collection of experiences. To pick a personal favourite among his stories is difficult but the journey up the Nambesi river, spending the night on the river banks while crocodiles are marching up and down of the water next to you definately had me biting my finger nails of. Keep up the good work Doug. I hope this planet will be big enough for you in the end.
Rating:
Summary: Pure Travel Humor
Review: In Up the Amazon Without a Paddle travel writer, Doug Lansky has finally created a chronicle of his humous misadventres from the last 6 years. Lansky, writer for his nationally syndicated column, "Vagabond", writes and travels with an eye for the humorous and with as many misadventures as he finds himself in he certainly needs it. As a backpack traveler, I have found that a sense of humor is what gets you though the rough experiences although they may not seem humorous at the time. One has to laugh to keep their sanity. This book, in order to be appreciated must be taken for what it is-- pure travel humor. I found the stories that I found particularly humorous were "Bless this Mess", "Up the Amazon Without a Paddle","Where no Sand Has Gone Before." "Tanks for the Ride" also makes some nice political commentary. This is a very funny book.
Rating:
Summary: Pure Travel Humor
Review: In Up the Amazon Without a Paddle travel writer, Doug Lansky has finally created a chronicle of his humous misadventres from the last 6 years. Lansky, writer for his nationally syndicated column, "Vagabond", writes and travels with an eye for the humorous and with as many misadventures as he finds himself in he certainly needs it. As a backpack traveler, I have found that a sense of humor is what gets you though the rough experiences although they may not seem humorous at the time. One has to laugh to keep their sanity. This book, in order to be appreciated must be taken for what it is-- pure travel humor. I found the stories that I found particularly humorous were "Bless this Mess", "Up the Amazon Without a Paddle","Where no Sand Has Gone Before." "Tanks for the Ride" also makes some nice political commentary. This is a very funny book.
Rating:
Summary: a very funny, winning book
Review: Judging from the reviews, this clearly is a book which is not likely to leave the reader indifferent. My personal experience is that it is a very funny and winning collection of travel vignettes, one which should appeal to anybody who has ever longed to cut-loose and, as the Navy would say, "See the World"--or is it "Come join the Adventure?!!!" I can't remember and it doesn't matter: the point is, if you're the kind of person likely to find humor in ad campaigns such that, then you're probably going to understand and enjoy Mr. Lansky's point-of-view. I recommend picking-up a copy and seeing for yourself. My guess is that you'll be drawn-in and that you'll know right away that this is a writer with a genuine comic talent.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining vignettes from around the world
Review: Lansky finds the right balance between autobiography and travelogue. Nothing is more boring than Aunt Gertrude's slide show of her trip to Italy and France. What makes travel accounts interesting are often the personal details included in the accounts. From Theroux to Bryson, this has always seemed true. Sometimes, a single incident can illuminate the setting and Lansky's stories do just that. His comic view of travels makes this light reading perfect for travel or a few minutes between clients at work.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining vignettes from around the world
Review: Lansky finds the right balance between autobiography and travelogue. Nothing is more boring than Aunt Gertrude's slide show of her trip to Italy and France. What makes travel accounts interesting are often the personal details included in the accounts. From Theroux to Bryson, this has always seemed true. Sometimes, a single incident can illuminate the setting and Lansky's stories do just that. His comic view of travels makes this light reading perfect for travel or a few minutes between clients at work.
Rating: 
Summary: Not just another $8 (plus shipping and handling) travel book
Review: Let me be first to explain that this book has very little to do with the Amazon or me losing my paddle on it. The title was simply borrowed from one misadventure in which I ended up blowgun hunting deep in the rain forest with my face painted like a fierce jungle warrior, or perhaps a Washington Redskins fan. UP THE AMAZON WITHOUT A PADDLE is a collection of 60 of my favorite adventures from around the world. And many of these stories are accompanied by exciting photos, some of which are even in focus! This book should provide some new trip ideas if you're planning a journey around the world. But my goal in writing it was to bring out the lighter side of traveling (and so I could tell my grandfather I was employed). Hope you enjoy it. - Doug
Rating:
Summary: Great adventures at a different (and funnier) angle!
Review: Let's get one thing straight from the beginning. If your only idea of what irony is, is that it describes some sort of ferrous material - then you should not by this book. Yours is a world of so many other exciting books, like "The Yellow Pages" or "Beginners Guide to Advanced Cytochemistry". On the other hand, if you DO happen to have an idea of another possible meaning of the word, you're off to a very good start. Lansky's book is unique in the way it combines great adventures such as canoeing down the Zambesi river or trekking in Nepal with other more "ordinary" adventures like e.g. moose-hunting in Sweden. Throughout the book he relates these adventures in a Dave Barry-like style which is very entertaining and often makes you laugh out loud. Yes, he does sound like an obnoxious American going abroad, but that is what makes his authorship so interesting and what makes the book so much fun to read. (Provided you're not sitting clueless at home with a chunk of ore that is, see above.) Since the stories within the book are originally made for his column (he is a syndicated columnist), they are done much more justice if you read two or three at a time instead of trying to read the whole book from front to back at once. Follow this advice and you're guaranteed about two weeks of constant smiling which, by the way, is not one of the top ten worst things that could ever happen to you. Everyone who has got even an ounce of humor is going to love this book.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining light travelogue
Review: My mom gave me this book as a Christmas gift, thinking it a fitting present after my travels in Europe. It's definitely an entertaining read -- Lansky has a clever, irreverant, Dave Barry-ish wit, and, more importantly, a knack for keeping it short and zingy. You can read through each of his stories in a few minutes and most inspire chuckles, along with occasional snorts. If you're looking for a "serious" travel book, this isn't it. Lansky's "slacker abroad" schtick is unabashedly about making fun of himself, the places he visits, and the people he meets, and not a source of useful cultural insight or travel tips. Some readers might be offended that he appears to be out for a good time at the expense of really learning about the cultures he travels among, but if you read between the lines, you'll find that the author seems to reflect (momentarily, anyway) on how pampered tourists and partying hostel-hoppers have altered the cultures of so many places in the world that their economies now revolve around showing visitors what they expect to find rather than a continuation of the unadulterated society that once existed. The wry, jaded epilogue about Disney's Epcot Center, which comments on this unfortunate reality, might be the truest piece in the book. As a newly minted international traveler, I can tell you that it's not easy to escape America and its more blandifying influences. But, this is not the place for a sermon. Bottom line -- funny book. Read it on the airplane.
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