“This is a travel guide for the traveler who not only wants to get off the beaten path, but who might actually enjoy dying in the process.”
Ok, so this ones’ not really a feel good beach read, but its a classic and oh wow! This man’s a traveler and he makes the daily trials and tribulations of our sleepy Mexican resort town look like a trip to Wal-Mart by comparison.
P.J. O’Rourke, a long time foreign correspondent and thrill seeking humorist, has written for numerous publications, still writes for Rolling Stone and has been entertaining the world weary for years. In his own off the cuff journalistic style O’Rourke’s, Holidays in Hell, is a staggering collection of essays and adventures spanning the globe in the turbulent 80’s.
P.J. O’Rourke takes us to war in Nicaragua and Lebanon, to revolutions and insurrections in El Salvador, Panama, the Philippines, South Korea, South Africa and Israel, and to fabulous parties- political and otherwise- in Moscow, Warsaw and Managua and with ample and hilarious scrutiny of the U.S.A. to boot. O’Rourke literally takes us to hell and back. A dog’s eye view of the places no sane tourist would want to be anywhere near.
This is a travel guide for the traveler who not only wants to get off the beaten path, but who might actually enjoy dying in the process. Unapologetic and illuminating, with a gleeful cynicism that borders on the insane. In the midst of terror and tragedy O’Rourke is able to find big humor and scraps of humanity that will absolutely require pondering before moving onto the next horror. Perhaps, my only criticism is in that, a great deal of pondering is required before making the leap from impoverished teenage guerillas in the Philippines to bar hopping amid bomb raids in Beirut. Heavy stuff, but oh well I’ll admit it, glorious and exciting too. Perhaps not everyone’s childhood dream was to be a war correspondent. But even if you can’t see the thrill in wearing a gas mask and huddling under a riot shield as tear gas and bricks fly, you can still wish you were P.J. O’Rourke or at least just as big of a badass!
A must read for anyone who thinks even for a moment, they’ve “been there, done that.” And just plain entertaining, in a way that war, disease and death were never meant to be. Insightful and blasphemous, clever and thought provoking. The individual situations may have changed over the years but the scenarios are worn and true. A peak at any international newspaper will tell you the material most definitely still exists for P.J. O’Rourke to have a few more holidays in Hell. And I, for one, wish I was along for the ride but I’ll settle for just getting to hear all about it.
-November 1999
