To Hellholes and Back: Bribes, Lies, and the Art of Extreme Tourism

My only problem with Chuck Thompson is that he doesn't put books out fast enough! Authors like Thompson and Troost are rare treats. Already looking forward to the next book!

First and foremost, this book is a great and enjoyable read. I had trouble putting it down - except on a few occasions when I found myself laughing out-loud. Some of Chuck Thompson's witty one-liners were priceless. His stories are well-conceived and packed with intelligent observations. Now, it's not perfect - there are some jokes that go over flat and I didn't agree with all his conclusions, but those are few and far between. Overall, this book is a great, intelligent, and humorous read. Even more, Mr. Thompson is a writer who has done his homework. I have some colleagues that have just returned from a four month stint in India. I shared a number of Mr. Thompson's experiences and observations from the India portion of his book with them - and they found themselves laughing and agreeing whole-heartedly. An excellent book - I recommend to all! Mr. Thompson seems like the type of guy you'd love to sit down and have a beer with.

I love Chuck Thompson's writing style so much! I first chanced upon this author's first book "Smile When You're Lying" while browsing at Elliott Bay Books in Seattle. I took it home and couldn't put it down. If you've ever traveled the world and had experiences similiar to his then you gain even more from his stories. I really enjoy his sarcasm, wit and rather leftist views. This book delves into the author's choices of "extreme tourism." He recounts with such style and detail that you really feel like you're there. I smiled to myself so many times when I recognized certain horror stories that he experienced, especially while travelling to INDIA (I'll Never Do It Again). For anyone who has set foot on an airplane and gotten into the thick of things while throwing yourself into a completely foreign culture, then this book is for you. I can't wait for more from this guy!

You may never travel to any of these destinations, but you'll appreciate that Mr. Thompson did when you read the yarns he spins in this latest work by the travel veteran. "To Hellholes..." is a travelogue potpourri, spiced with his classic whip-crack wit (pithy remarks you'll use later, I swear!), seasoned with a fair bit of sage advice, with a dash of cynicism and satire thrown in to find you either smirking or irking. Thompson's a straight shooter, and pulls no punches when giving an account of his adventures, exploits and experiences, i.e. this is not your Conde Nast "G" rated prose. But if you're looking for a read that won't have your head spinning with Clancyish technical details, make you blubber because a beloved character tragically dies, or just want that four hour flight to be over ASAP, then this is the book to stuff in your carry-on, or put on your hotel night stand. In the spirit of George Macdonald Fraser, it's reading entertainment at its raucous, raw and rambunctious best!

Considering how oversaturated the travelogue market has become, it's getting harder and harder to find the gems. But To Hellholes and Back is a diamond. Chuck Thompson's writing is dense (in a very good way) without becoming bogged down, info-packed without being showy, passionate without being strident, and critical without descending to the sort of glib shooting of fish in a barrel that characterizes so much opinion writing these days. And make no mistake, this is a man with opinions. But his stances on everything from Miley Cyrus to two-tier pricing give another welcome dimension to an already rich experience. There isn't a boring sentence in the entire book. It could actually be a fast read if one isn't inclined -- like I was -- to savor some of the wittier lines. (Incidentally, his friend Shanghai Bob -- who shows up in Mexico City -- can take his place alongside Bill Bryson's Katz and Hunter Thompson's Samoan lawyer as one of literature's most intriguing road-trip co-pilots.) The book offers a lot of suspenseful episodes (the solo walk in the African bush comes to mind) but none more so than seeing how Thompson would handle something as seemingly banal as Walt Disney World after having already immersed himself in the exoticism of the Congo, India and Mexico City. He does not disappoint. As Thompson notes, Disney harbors its own forms of danger -- more cultural than physical, of course. But he avoids the outright dismissal of the "dreams can come true" ethos (again, fish in a barrel) and instead opens himself up to the idea that Walt Disney World -- not to mention the world of Disney in general -- may have positives that go beyond being able to find a parking space during peak season. He offers an honest appraisal of the duality that is Disney. There's even an emotional moment or two. It may be impossible to bring the reputation of the travelogue industry back to what it once was without burning a whole lot of books, but Thompson convinces us that it can still be a sublime, engaging form of writing capable of transporting armchair travelers to other, fascinating worlds -- be they the happiest places on earth or among the saddest.