At the Tomb of the Inflatable Pig: Travels Through Paraguay (Paperback)

by John Gimlette (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Over the past 500 years, Paraguay has been invaded by successive waves of conquistadors, missionaries, Mennonites, Australian socialists, fugitive Nazis and, perhaps most improbably, Islamic extremists. "An island surrounded by land," bordered by vast deserts and impenetrable jungles, Paraguay is a country uniquely suited for those seeking to drop out of sight or, like Gimlette, find themselves. The author was 18 when he first traveled to Paraguay more than two decades ago; return visits only deepened his appreciation for the nation and its tragicomic past. Gimlette seems to have gone everywhere and talked to everyone. He boats down piranha-infested rivers, hobnobs with Anglo-Paraguayan socialites and hunts down the former hiding place of notorious Auschwitz doctor Josef Mengele. Gimlette, a travel writer and lawyer in London, proves a chatty, amiable guide to local institutions like the national railway (which has no running trains) and native wildlife, like the fierce, raccoon-like coatimundis (who, Gimlette writes, "make up for their absence of pity with fistfuls of dagger-like claws"). Yet he doesn't shirk from the nastier aspects of Paraguay's bloody history. Gimlette describes in horrific detail, for example, the rape and conquest of the Guarani Indians as well as the brutally repressive regime of Don Alfredo Stroessner (whose U.S.-backed dictatorship lasted longer than any other in the Western Hemisphere). Gimlette could have used some judicious editing-the narrative drags in parts, and its scattered chronology can be confusing-but he never fails to impress with his ingenuity, sincerity and sense of humor. 16 pages of color and b&w photos, not seen by PW.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist
If some Americans can't locate Canada on a map, it's likely many haven't even heard of Paraguay. Yet this California-sized South American country has endured an astonishing run of totalitarianism, instability, and war. Travel writer and attorney Gimlette shares that chilling history, drawing anecdotes from survivors and descendants as he explores the country. While his own doings seem unavoidably flat compared to the outrages he relates (one war killed four-fifths of the country's population, and 9 out of 10 men), it is interesting to glimpse the country today, which is happier yet still a place where the black market dwarfs the gross national product. Gimlette's prose has an almost cartoonish cast at times (a past ruler of "the hookwormed rabble" is "rutting, greasy-pawed"), yet sometimes he turns a perfect phrase ("They already had chimneys and now they wanted fireplaces"). Moreover, he conveys, though he can't explain, a national character that it doesn't seem cliched to call inscrutable. Fascinating and compulsively readable. Keir Graff
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (March 8, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400078520
• ISBN-13: 978-1400078523
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #329,347 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars View from the tomb, May 24, 2004

By	"ottomarta" (Asuncion, Paraguay) - See all my reviews

This review is from: At the Tomb of the Inflatable Pig: Travels Through Paraguay (Hardcover)

As an American resident of Paraguay for over a year, I found At The Tomb a compelling, essential read. A bit over the top, but probably the only truly comprehensive history of Paraguay in any language, and chock full of insights into what makes this place tick - or not. That said, the reader must bear in mind that Mr. Gimlette is not a professional historian and tends to take liberties with facts that would never pass an academic review. The most questionable example is his assertion that of a total population of 1.3M at the beginning of the War with Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay in 1864,only 221,079 survived when it ended in 1870 - an impossibly high number even for that horrific war - a number with origins more in Paraguayan national myth than solid research. In most aspects though, Gimlette does a remarkabel job of revealing the layers of historical and cultural paradox that produced Paraguay. Having lived over 20 of my 48 years outside the US in Europe, Asia and Latin America, Paraguay is undoubtedly the most bizarre place I have ever been to and many thanks to John for helping me to understand it.

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Chaco-Riffic , August 31, 2004

By	Matherson (New York) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: At the Tomb of the Inflatable Pig: Travels Through Paraguay (Hardcover)

An English barrister who happens to speak Spanish and harbors a fondness for Asunción is, it turns out, a wonderful thing. John Gimlette's Tomb of the Inflatable Pig is part travelogue, part history; he begins by reminiscing over his early sojourn in Asunción in 1982, during which he almost had an audience with the despised dictator General Alfredo Stroessner (a man who had degenerate lust for teenage girls, whose best known, 18-year old mistress was ironically nicknamed "Legal"), and then chronicles his recent return to this weird hinterland nation. After touring Asunción, a city native indian Guirani is the most-spoken language, but Anglophilia reigns as a national fetish (Princess Diana is mourned and revered), he ventures into Eastern Paraguay, home of many German settlers, including, reputedly, Martin Bormann. He treats us to the early history of Jesuit settlement and visits one of the old "reductions." He also describes the illicit smuggling that went on under Stroessner and made Paraguay the largest importer of Scotch in the world. At this point Gimlette interjects a fascinating slice of Paraguayan history - the tale of the disastrous General Lopez and his Irish mistress Eliza Lynch, who together plunged Paraguay into the disastrous war of 1865-70 with Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. In particular, he journeys into the forests and finds Humaita, the fortress that, under the direction of a a brilliant Scots engineer, George Thompson, survived an Argentinian siege for many, many months, and even unearths Thompson's contemporary military of the campaign. He then visits the remnants of New Australia, an Australian colony formed as a socialist Utopia in the early twentieth century, and ventures into the dreaded Chaco, a desert where a brutal war against Bolivia was fought to a slatemate in the 1930s (Paraguayans call this a victory). Finally, he charts the recent history of Paraguayan politics, which seems to consist of assassinations, rigged elections, sexual degeneracy, periodic exiles of the local luminaries to Brazil and threats of renewed repression. A Simply a marvellous exposition of a nation that is truly weird, but marvellously so.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars John Gimlette : At the tomb of the inflatable pig, February 10, 2004

By	Hans Brandstatter (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: At the Tomb of the Inflatable Pig: Travels Through Paraguay (Hardcover)

One of the most fascinating books on one of the most fascinating
countries in South America.John Gimlette has tremendous knowledge
of his subject. He conveys his impressions as a traveller,he gives historical background and he is sarcastic and funny.This book is a pleasure to read, it is captivating.
It might not be " politically correct" at times, but describing
a brutal dictator who devastated his country in " politically correct" terms, I'd like to know what they are...
Having been to Paraguay, it re-awakend an interest in that country again.I have adopted Paraguay as my special subject and
pursue it with a passion. I stop short only on Guarani as a
language, but even that language fascinates me.
John Gimlette must be congratulated on this book, as an avid traveller and reader of travel books, this book is outstanding.
It is almost a measure as to how travel books should be written,
but then, we all have our special tastes and likes.