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"Tired of making bad jokes" and believing that "the world outside seemed a much worse joke than anything I could conjure", P. J. O'Rourke traversed the globe on a fun-finding mission, investigating the way of life in the most desperate places on the planet, including Warsaw, Managua, and Belfast. The result is Holidays in Hell -- a full-tilt, no-holds-barred romp through politics, culture, and ideology.
P.J.'S adventures include storming student protesters' barricades with riot police in South Korea, interviewing Communist insurrectionists in the Philippines, and going undercover dressed in Arab garb in the Gaza Strip. He also takes a look at America's homegrown horrors as he braves the media frenzy surrounding the Reagan-Gorbachev summit in Washington D.C., uncovers the mortifying banality behind the white-bread kitsch of Jerry Falwell's Heritage USA, and survives the stultifying boredom of Harvard's 350th anniversary celebration.
Packed with P.J.'S classic riffs on everything from Polish nightlife under communism to Third World driving tips, Holidays in Hell is one of the best-loved books by one of today's most celebrated humorists.
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First Sentence
I've been working as a foreign correspondent for the past few years, although "working" isn't the right word and "foreign correspondent" is too dignified a little. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
I've been working as a foreign correspondent for the past few years, although "working" isn't the right word and "foreign correspondent" is too dignified a little. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a brilliant collection of articles written about some of the world's worst trouble spots, and few spots that are awful without being troubled. Nobody else writes like O'Rourke, only he can vividy convey the awfulness of a place and still be funny as well. The tone of the articles ranges from the harrowing 'Christmas in El Salvador' to the purely comic 'Weekend Getaway; Heritage USA' which describes a visit to a Biblical theme park. His girlfriend attempts to go shopping int he 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 Whitest Africa' written a few years before the end of apartheid, is absolutely fascinating, and 'The Holy Land, God's Monkey House' is almost unbearably sad, but still with touches of humour among the horror. 'Among the Euro-Weenies' is painful to read if you are one, but funny all the same. 'The Piece of Ireland that Passeth all Understanding' is perhaps the most brilliant article in the book, though it would be tough to choose, but it's so much better than the banal, ignorant piece by Michael Moore in his last book. Will troulbe ever end? Probably not, as O'Rourke writes in his introcution to this book "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". Absolutely brilliant. Take advantage of Amazon's special offer and buy this one with 'Give War a Chance' that's wonderful too.
6 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I learned to stop worrying and love PJ through this book. Sure he's a crotchety old rightwinger, but he is still a whole lot more funny and cutting than Michael Moore whose politics I agree with more. Why can't the left have a man as funny? Not really a travel book, but somehow is too. Riots, religion and fornication. What more can you ask for?
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
An absolute riot (literally - in some of the chapters...). The description of Korean kimchi breath and farts had me in stiches as did the guide to driving abroad.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A must for wannabe writers!
Love this book. Hardly have any spare time so it takes me ages to get through a book, reading about 10 pages at a time whenever I get the chance - which often leads to me losing... Read more
Published on 21 Feb 2010 by H. J. Mercer
Good writing- very subjective opinions!
There is no doubt that HIH is easy enough to read, funny, frightening and savvy. This all makes it enjoyable enough a past time. Read more
Published on 23 Nov 2002 by Alex Magpie
Good collection of prime PJ O'Rourke
Despite his dodgy shift from student leftist with long hair to cigar chomping ironist with an honest republican bent, this is still a very good collection of thoughts on travel... Read more
Published on 16 Sep 2002 by Jason Parkes
Obscure travel writing from a gutsy, American Perspective
P.J O'Rourke stands alone in the field of bringing the outer reaches of the world to the West, combining it with a wicked sense of humour and leaving us with perhaps a more cynical... Read more
Published on 15 Aug 2001 by stephaniehill85@hotmail.com
Excellent,acerbic,dry as a bone...
Absolutely brilliant...I've got all of P.J's books and this one has been read to death.His style of writing just keeps you absorbed(and stifling the odd titter-especially if you... Read more
Published on 7 Dec 2000 by Samantha
Not your average travel writing!
This was the first O'Rourke book I read. In my opinion it is not as good as The Bachelor Home Companion, but a lot better than Eat The Rich. Read more
Published on 22 Sep 2000
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