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To Hellholes And Back: Bribes, Lies, And The Art Of Extreme Tourism (2009)

by Chuck Thompson(Favorite Author)

3.62 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

0805087885 (ISBN13: 9780805087888)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Holt Paperbacks

review 1: Excellent travel memoir, one of the best in the genre. His discription of India, in all its awe inspiring horror, is memorable and will not soon be forgotten. His adventures in Congo are also a high point. Not surprisingly, he ends up falling in love with Mexico City, which is, as he shows readers, very far from a hellhole.The section about Disney World seemed unnecessary and out of place with the rest of the book. However, though he veered toward the boundary of showing excessive smugness, he actually gave Disney World a fairly even handed treatment. Still, the rest of the book is more enjoyable.
review 2: Extremely opinionated, with a lively,engaging and sometimes very earthy style. Sometimes he unwittingly displays his ignorance. For example, he tells a st... moreory about a hollow tree in Boma supposed to have sheltered Stanley on some occasion, but declares it untrue because the section of the tree in question is still at ground level "as though the tree hasn't grown an inch over the past 140 years." (He clearly has no idea how trees grow.) And again when he talks about UNESCO world heritage sites while in India and makes it pretty clear that he thinks they should be selected on the basis of what may appeal most to traveling amateur photographers, rather than cultural significance. (He mentions the Cahokia site in Illinois as a bad choice, clearly knowing nothing of its great archeological significance to the history of pre-Columbian Native American civilizations.) But let that go and just sit back and enjoy the ride! less

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