Lonely Planet My Dam Life (Travel Literature) [Paperback]

Sean Condon (Author)

Book Description

Series: Travel Literature | Publication Date: February 1, 2003

In Sean & David's Long Drive he careered around Australia with his laconic pal David in a retro Ford Falcon. In Drive Thru America he and David cruised the States in a very uncool Chrysler Neon.

Now Australian humorist Sean Condon is married and living in Amsterdam - jobless, homeless, careless and Dave-less. In My 'Dam Life he casts a witty, watchful and wonderfully self-deprecating eye over his expat experience of laziness and leisure, dreams and destiny in the Venice of the North.

With his uncanny ability to seek out the absurd in everyday life, Sean finds plenty of targets in a city of hemp and high culture, canals and bicycles, idiosyncratic plumbing and internationally unrenowned cuisine. My 'Dam Life strikes a hilarious chord with anyone who has followed their dream of starting a new life abroad.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Fans of offbeat travel literature rejoice! Condon, coauthor of Sean and David's Long Drive (1996) and Drive thru America (1998), returns with this hysterical, delightful, and (mostly) true account of his temporary residence in Amsterdam. The story begins when Condon's wife, a magazine editor, is transferred from the couple's home in Australia to the Netherlands; before they can settle in (finding a comfortable home in Amsterdam is next to impossible), the magazine folds, and our heroes are unemployed, fast approaching penniless, but determined to make a go of it in their new country. Condon's wife, Sally, takes a job in a theater box office, while he joins an up-and-coming (they hope) advertising agency and, later, accepts a series of peculiar writing assignments. He also, out of a combination of desperation and whimsy, applies for an assortment of oddball jobs, including scheduling programs for a Dutch television station. Chuckles abound. Stylistically and philosophically, Condon is as close to Bill Bryson as it's possible to be. He mixes fascinating facts with hilarious humor, peppers the book with an assortment of wild and wonderful supporting characters (Francis Ford Coppola and Monica Lewinsky, if you can believe it, make cameo appearances here), and keeps us thoroughly in stitches from beginning to end. This one's an absolute must-read. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

…a smart and funny book' -- San Francisco Chronicle

Product Details

• Paperback: 248 pages
• Publisher: Lonely Planet (February 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0864427816
• ISBN-13: 978-0864427816
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #459,524 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #96 in Books > Travel > Europe > Netherlands

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars My 'dam pathetic unemployed life, October 13, 2005

By 

Paul L (California, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lonely Planet My Dam Life (Travel Literature) (Paperback)

I found this book to be a complete waste of time; the only reason I even bothered to finish it was because I had some of these (seeded?) positive reviews lingering in my mind and I kept expecting it to get better.

Although the book does offer some insight into a certain sub-culture in the Netherlands (with a sprinkling of humor here and there), I should have taken the hint from some of the previous reviews before I ordered. As others have alluded, this is more of an autobiography than a book about the city or the culture. And a worthwhile autobiography it is not - I wasn't particularly impressed with the way the author chooses to live his life as a lazy unemployed slob while his wife struggles to make ends meet.

I feel generous giving it two stars - the second star appearing mainly for the catchy title and the sporadic bits of humor.

17 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hi-larious!, May 3, 2003

By 

A. Ross (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Lonely Planet My Dam Life (Travel Literature) (Paperback)

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?

18 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Agonizingly self-absorbed, November 29, 2006

By 

Steve Jones (Missouri, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Lonely Planet My Dam Life (Travel Literature) (Paperback)

What a thoroughly irritating book. If you are seeking a useful perspective on Amsterdam, the Netherlands, or the Dutch, there is very nearly zero content of interest.

That Condon could live in one of the most interesting cities in Europe for 3 years, write a book about it and say so little about the place is astonishing - a true testament to his self absorption.

I found myself cringing at the relentless focus on his apparent worthlessness, handled without insight, and with lame attempts at humor that rarely work.

The only two interesting characters in the book, his wife and Keith, are barely covered. I found myself wishing to hear more about them, only from someone else.

One can only wish that someone would return his video games and take away his word processor.

Having said all that, I did give him 2 stars instead of 1 because of his few brief asides regarding the oddness of his occasional interactions with celebrities were insightful and interesting. It mirrored some of my own experiences and really captured the tone.