Customer Reviews

Let's Get Lost: Adventures in the Great Wide Open

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

For those of you who have all condemned Craig's book, do any of you have senses of humor? Why would you want to read a travel book in which the writer simply says everything is nice, clean, interesting, pleasant and he loves every single person he encounters? I think this would make for an absolute bore. Craig writes as if he is an old friend telling you funny and beautiful tales of his travels and he lets you into his private thoughts that many would be to afraid to share because they may not be very PC. It you want a candy coated travel experience, go to a travel agent. If you want the truth, (at least as he sees it), go to a real traveler.

Although I haven't read every travel book that has been published, I would be stunned if there was a worse one than this. Nelson tries (vainly) to pass off his tourist sight-seeing as "adventures" and himself as some kind of intrepid, trail blazing pioneer. He prides himself on his ability to "survive" and yet he is never in any real danger (he books all of his "adventures" through American travel agencies and always seems to have a pre-booked hotel room or lodge and drivers, interpreters & guides at his disposal on his arrival. He never caters for himself nor makes his own arrangements - that's not "living on the edge" by anyone's definition !!) His "insights" are neither witty nor particularly interesting and he relies far too heavily on exaggeration & superlatives("biggest", "best" etc.) rather than attempting to properly describe what he is seeing.
His attitudes to people and their cultures are also alarmingly one-sided; throughout the book, you are left with the impression that all Europeans are evil and exploitative and that all other non-Europeans are noble and spiritual, and to be admired. However, he reserves his own particular racism for the British - never missing an opportunity to "inform" his readers just how much everybody else in the world hates the Brits.
This book flatters to deceive even before you open the cover; the text on the jacket gives you the impression that you are about to meet Indiana Jones crossed with Bill Bryson, the result is neither. His exploits are neither original nor exciting and the writing is crass and unfunny.
Before you consider buying this book, please read the "Library Journal" & "Kirkus Reviews" in Amazon's "Editorial Reviews" section !!

Better than Paul Theroux? Who's that writing -- the author himself "disguised" as a regular reader. Give me a break. The writing here isn't even as good as the jacket copy on a Theroux book. If you want to read about a place before you go there, you are better off reading an AAA travel guide -- it's more informative, more honest and better written.

I was expecting a wry yet good-natured account of the trials and tribulations that come along with traveling in some of the world's less-visited places. What I got was a put-down of people and their cultures. Informative? Hardly. Nasty? Most definitely. I feel let down. I'm not surprised that snobs like Texans and Londoners would like this book. They seem to enjoy "lording" over us lesser lights.

This book is the perfect getaway trip for armchair travelers--all the insight and acute observations of Paul Theroux without the snottiness and superiority complex. (Plus Nelson is ten thousands times funnier.) And for all of us who long to do the Grand Tour but forgot to file for our IPOs, here's real-life travel (okay, he does seem to be able to take longer trips than the average working stiff adventurer) from a regular-salaried Everyman who helps you hit the high points but also clues you in to the byways with forgotten or hidden treasures the guidebooks won't tell you about. I don't understand the other reviewers; the "racist" slams are aimed at ill-mannered fellow tourists and local opportunists who deserve what they get--although most of the humor is pretty self-deprecating--and I give Nelson credit for his honesty in admitting his lust for un-PC souvenirs we'd all grab for for if we were lucky enough to have the chance. Nelson's a terrific writer; I've already read about a quarter of this out loud to my travel-crazed husband.

Mr. Nelson, dump that Brenda babe and take me on your next jaunt.

Since when is it "humorous" to make fun of people, just because they're not "perfect" like Mr. Nelson? His condescending tone and meanness make for a very poor reading experience. By page three, I was already annoyed by his nose-in-the-air attitude, and after 80 pages, I put the book down for good. What a waste of money! If we're lucky, Mr. Nelson has penned his last. I certainly won't be buying any more of his put-down trash!

3/4's of the way thru this sad little book. What can I say? I'm hanging in there just to say I finished it. Badly written, grammatically incorrect. Rude. Pompous attitude. Unbelievable. Sexual insinuations totally unnecessary and inappropriate to the story. Just goes to show that anyone can have a book pubished regardless of its content. Don't buy it and don't bother to borrow it - a waste of reading time so far.

If you did n't like this book you probably don't like British comedy either - its just a case of having a different sense of humor. It's not meant to be like Paul Theroux, it's meant to be a fun entertaining read for people to lighten up a little. If you like Paul Theroux so much (and I do too), why are you picking up this book in the first place? There are not enough writers who can give us an honest funny account of things and I would have hated to have been put off this book by bad reviews, because I loved it and it really appealed to my sense of humor. It amazes me how many people can read a book that they hate all the way to the end, if I hate a book I'm going to put it down pretty quickly and find something which I do like instead. Give the guy a break, unless you can write something funnier yourself.

Re-read Kirkus Reviews. It said it all much better than I could. After reading, and loving, Bill Bryson's "A Walk in the Woods", this book was a HUGE disappointment.

I am not surprised at the polarity of the reviews thus far. This book is written by someone who just writes as it is - no forgiving the idiots he encounters, no candy-coating the atrocities and certainly no down-playing of the fabulous. Mr. Nelson visits locations far apart from the world only to discover that the best and worst of humanity awaits him there. He indicates that you will never escape the rude tourist, even in rural China. His chapter on Africa is some of the best writing of the genre that I have encountered.

If you are sensitive to honest analysis, avoid this book. If you are a liberal minded person, avoid this book. If you want a congenial travel artner, hunt Mr. Nelson down and beg him to take ou along on the next trip.