My Dam Life: Three Years in Holland

I think one of the big problems with describing this book is that it's not a travel book. It's a personal account of one man's time spent in Amsterdam. As such I think it's a hilarious and fascinating look into the mind of the writer. There are some amazing stories in here and it takes the reader through an emotional roller coaster. Rather than just describing Amsterdam and how amazingly liberal it is, we get to see what it's like for a foreigner to live there with all its difficulties and specific bureaucracies. At its very heart, this is a fish-out-of-water tale, not an ooh-look-at-those-pretty-buildings-and-prostitutes description of Amsterdam. It's such a simple and enjoyable read, it would make some great holiday reading.

Sean Condon has written a funny, realistic picture of what it is like to live in Amsterdam. I have lived in Amsterdam and all the things he talks about are right on the money. While living in Europe's most beautiful city can be difficult, painful and frustrating, it is all worthwile to call this great city home. This book will give you a personal insight into the Dutch culture and people. I highly recommend this for expats or anyone that enjoys travel.

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.

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?

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"...