I agree with other reviewers in that the first half of the book is very readable. Perhaps not great but generally funny, well written and insightful. However the second half of the book is just so much self-indulgent prattle. The author is one of those people who feel as though being articulate lets them spout off trite little sentences (homelessness is unacceptable in America!) about just about any complex social topic and have their particular world view be taken any more seriously than the guy at the local bar. Combine this relatively non-appealing trait with typical self-aggrandizing liberal taking points and a self-congratulatory tone and you get just so much regurgitated pseudo anti-Americanism. I can appreciate any point of view but booking a month long trip to Africa does not give you any particular authority to analyze American social ills. I wonder how his point of view would have changed would his scooter ride in India turned out differently. ( )

Good in small doses, a little over the top when read cover to cover. One travel writer whose books are unabashedly (unreservedly) more about the writer than the destination. ( )

I preferred Thompson's earlier book "Smile When You're Lying" to this book. I did find the section about traveling in the Congo interesting, but that is primarily because I used to live there, and the section on India convinced me once and for all that I probably need to cross it off of the places I would like to travel to. I feel Thompson is better at writing shorter pieces, as he did in SWYL. In his longer pieces, he spends way too much time spouting his personal views and focusing on what he perceives to be funny/interesting situations, at the expense of describing the sights and sounds of the country he's exploring. After reading this book, I feel like I know a whole lot more about Thompson than the places he's traveled to. He's no Paul Theroux. ( )

I started off really liking this book. (There's a fabulous quote about the news media on page 15, & Thompson makes a good point about interlopers rifling through dirty laundry on page 38.) Chuck Thompson can be a funny guy, & you've got to give him props for setting off on a quest to visit places even he, an extreme tourist, is afraid to visit. (& I love the fact that that includes Disney World. I had similar feelings about Disneyland recently.) It's not all slapstick, either, as he visits Apne Aap, an Indian nonprofit that rescues prostitutes, & has to admit that Mexico City is not really a scary place after his visit. Thompson makes some good points about travel & society, talks about Joseph Conrad & Suketu Mehta, but like Elizabeth Gilbert is facing his fears for the money (& also like Gilbert, learning some interesting curse words to boot). I found this book basically entertaining, a bit uneven sometimes, & Thompson is totally wrong about soccer.

very disapointed. The Congo is definatly a place to stay away from the rest were just sucky places to travel to but not near the horror I expected. ( )