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Holidays in Hell

P.J. O'Rourke (2000)

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book cover of Holidays in Hell

THE A5 BOOK REVIEW

Holidays in Hell is a book by American author P.J O’Rourke describing his quest to find excitement and adventure in the world’s most forsaken places.  He accomplishes his mission, discovering that there was humanity and humor in even the most dangerous of locations.  His travels take him to the Philippines, Warsaw pre-Iron Curtain, Nicaragua, Belfast, and Lebanon.  He works with riot police to storm protester barricades in South Korea, wears Arab garb in the Gaza Strip, faces apartheid in South Africa, and bravely faces the mind-numbering experience of Jerry Falwell’s Heritage USA.  O’Rourke’s approach is a combination of no-holds-barred serious journalism with a healthy dose of comedic commentary, making for an authentic and insightful book on how messed up the world really is.  Don’t look here for travel inspiration, but do expect to learn more about some places in the world that rarely see travelers, and do expect to laugh out loud along the way.
Click here to see reviews and prices for this book on Amazon.

ABOUT P.J. O'ROURKE

P. J. O’Rourke is an American writer known for political observation and an irreverent sense of humor.  He has worked as a freelance foreign correspondent, written a number of books, acted as the editor-in-chief for National Lampoon and as the foreign-affairs desk chief at Rolling Stone, been published in numerous magazines, and appeared numerous times on television programs like 60 Minutes and Real Time with Bill Maher.  His other travel book, Holidays in Heck (2011), is a follow on to Holidays in Hell, featuring anecdotes from his travels to slightly more bearable destinations like The Field Museum in Chicago and the Galapagos. 
More information on PJ ORourke and his work, on Amazon

LEAVE YOUR OWN REVIEW HERE


GREAT QUOTES FROM HOLIDAYS IN HELL

"Be sure to tip the man who insists, at gunpoint, on guarding your car."

​"Also present in Angola, Eritrea, and God-Knows-Where are the new breed of yuppie “experience travelers.” You’ll be pinned down by mortar fire in the middle of a genocide atrocity in the Sudan, and right through it all comes six law partners and their wives, in Banana Republic bush jackets, taking an inflatable raft trip down the White Nile having an 'experience.'"

INTERESTING LINKS:

  • Read the New York Times 2011 review on Holidays in Hell by Dwight Garner​.

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