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Rating: 
Summary: Self absorbed
Review: Boring. Sean comes across as self absorbed, lazy and whiney. The laughs seem forced. The story meanders and doesn't seem to go anywhere or achieve anything. It's probably a personal preference, but I prefer my travel books to reveal some sort of journey - spiritual, emotional or physical, and this book is not one of them. Shallow and pointless. Try other aussie travel writers such as Sarah MacDonald's 'Holy Cow'or Sarah Turnbull's 'Almost French'instead.
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Summary: Hi-larious!
Review: Even if you never intend to visit the Netherlands, this is a wonderful book-especially if you ever plan to live abroad. I'd never heard of Condon before, but five pages into his hilarious account of spending three years in Amsterdam, I vowed to track down his two previous books (Sean & David's Long Drive and Drive Thru America). Thirtysomething Australian humorist, writer, and advertising hack Condon moved to the Netherlands in 1998 with his half-Dutch wife, who had gotten a magazine job there. Their subsequent trials and tribulations are rendered in vivid and snappily witty prose that's somewhat akin to Bill Bryson's, but pitched at a younger readership and with a bit more pop-culture nodding and winking. The couple's primary trial is the extreme lack of affordable housing in Amsterdam, exacerbated by their own semi-legitimate residency status. The other major running problem is his lack of employment and lack of prospects, which is alleviated here and there by somewhat amusing stints at ad agencies. Throughout the book Condon is somehow able to juggle the task of making the reader feel his pain and provoking laugh after laugh. Of course he doesn't fail to provide a little Dutch history, and a lot of Amsterdam life (albeit with the outsider's eye), which makes the book a must read for anyone planning a trip there. And just to vary the menu, there are rather bizarre and hilarious business trips to San Francisco in search of Francis Ford Coppola and to London in search of good web content. Condon ought to win a prize for "Funniest Use of Footnotes"-ever. And did I mention the walk-ons by Monica Lewinsky and Roger "007" Moore?
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Summary: He's back...
Review: For fans of Sean and David's Long Drive and Drive thru America, this is more of Sean Condon's hilarious take on travel. I had to jump through hoops to locate a copy of this book when I found out it had been published, but it was well worth it. Often compared to Bill Bryson, I think Sean Condon has the edge with his humor and sarcasm. This book finds Sean and his wife, Sally, juggling jobs (or lack thereof), immigration officials, hangovers and bike navigation in Amsterdam, the city they choose as home for more than 3 years due to Sally's editing job. I just want to be brief, so I'll end it here by saying that all travel fans will enjoy this book, chock full of witty comments, pithy observations and general mayhem that only those far from home can truly understand.Now I'm going to start on Sean Condon's "Film"...
Rating:
Summary: Self absorbed
Review: Good read overall, but he fills a lot of space telling us historic facts
Rating:
Summary: Worth the Read
Review: His first two books were hilarious, as is this third, but there is also something in this book that the other two don't have...a sense of the writer letting his guard down and letting his true insights show. There are some episodes of the book that are not only serious, but are handled with a professional delicacy that gives this book a maturity the others didn't have. Of course, Sean Condon still remains a goofball and one can only look forward to his next works to come....especially 'Film', a book out in the UK but still being anxiously awaited her in the U.S.
Rating: 
Summary: The Slacker Diaries
Review: My 'Dam Life: Three Years in Holland
Sean Condon
Lonely Planet 2003
Sean Condon is an Australian travel writer and unwilling ad man. His two previous books were about aimless drives around Australia and the US. His new book, My 'Dam Life is about his aimless wanderings around the city of Amsterdam. Condon comes off as a younger, less inspired Bill Bryson. Where Bryson manages to balance tales of his own idiosyncrasies with hilarious and insightful commentary, Condon spends too much time on his own psyche and not enough on the places he's visiting.
While I really would have preferred a lot less Sean and a lot more Amsterdam, My 'Dam Life is still an enjoyable read. Having visited Holland four times, I'm familiar with a lot of geography Sean covers, which makes me wonder why he doesn't mention things like Jeronemous Bosch when he visits s'Hetogenbosch. That really would be more interesting than rambling on about punctuation like he does.
Once you accept Condon's myopic worldview and come to terms with the fact that there is precious little you can glean from his books that would help you plan a trip of your own, My 'Dam Life is a fairly amusing account of a slacker's attempt to make a new life for himself in Amsterdam. I have to wonder though. How much of Sean's troubles with shop keepers, dentists and the police were of his own making? My own experiences with the same groups in Amsterdam were much more positive. I guess you just have to shrug and consider the source.
Rating: 
Summary: 'dam funny.
Review: My father went to Amsterdam a few years back and loved it. So having stumbled across a review for this book in the news paper, he got it as a chrissy pressie. After finishing, he gives it to me to read, explaining that I will totally love it because the author has the exact sense of humour as me.
I have never been to Amsterdam, I am travelling to Prague this year and do not have any desire to even pop in there, but none of this stopped me getting "what-a-weirdo" looks from those travelling on the same train as me to and from work as I kept laughing out loud. If you can get past the continual self-depreciation, you will find it a totally enjoyable light read that anyone with a funny bone can appreciate, traveller or not. I am now going to buy his book on America for a friend who goes there every year, and "Film" for myself. I just hope my fellow travel companions can handle my continual chuckles.
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Summary: Seanie Rides Again......by bicycle!
Review: The Seanster is back and this time, he's in Europe. If you've followed Sean from his Long Drive days this book is more or less more of the same sort of stuff. Although as the book is mainly set in Amsterdam, Condon has to come at the topic in a slightly different angle to his previous 2 travel epics. This book made a trip from Edinburgh to Cincinnati more palatable, with me finishing it just as we landed in Northern Kentucky. Great book Sean and thanks for the mention at the start, mate!
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