Customer Reviews

Lonely Planet My Dam Life (Travel Literature)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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?

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.

I remember reading in a cross culture book at school that when we experience culture shock we go through different phases (like, first excitement, then u hate everything, then you accept facts, then you get to enjoy things, etc.)something like that... I think when Sean wrote the book he was going through that phase when you criticize everything and you don't understand why do they do it that way in that country. When I read the book I was in this very same phase in Holland. I absolutely love the book!! It's the first book that made me laugh out loud in the train!
I can see how some people (especially if it's a Dutch person) can get annoyed with the book; I guess some people won't like to have others laughing at their customs/traditions. But in my opinion the book is fun, I relate to a lot of the stuff he wrote and I don't think is offensive at all.

1st half of the book is not to be missed. It does dwindle a bit from there on.

Boring. Sean comes across as self absorbed, lazy and whiney. The laughs seem forced. The story meanders and doesn't seem to go anywhere or achieve anything. It's probably a personal preference, but I prefer my travel books to reveal some sort of journey - spiritual, emotional or physical, and this book is not one of them. Shallow and pointless. Try other aussie travel writers such as Sarah MacDonald's 'Holy Cow'or Sarah Turnbull's 'Almost French'instead.

My 'Dam Life: Three Years in Holland
Sean Condon
Lonely Planet 2003

Sean Condon is an Australian travel writer and unwilling ad man. His two previous books were about aimless drives around Australia and the US. His new book, My 'Dam Life is about his aimless wanderings around the city of Amsterdam. Condon comes off as a younger, less inspired Bill Bryson. Where Bryson manages to balance tales of his own idiosyncrasies with hilarious and insightful commentary, Condon spends too much time on his own psyche and not enough on the places he's visiting.

While I really would have preferred a lot less Sean and a lot more Amsterdam, My 'Dam Life is still an enjoyable read. Having visited Holland four times, I'm familiar with a lot of geography Sean covers, which makes me wonder why he doesn't mention things like Jeronemous Bosch when he visits s'Hetogenbosch. That really would be more interesting than rambling on about punctuation like he does.

Once you accept Condon's myopic worldview and come to terms with the fact that there is precious little you can glean from his books that would help you plan a trip of your own, My 'Dam Life is a fairly amusing account of a slacker's attempt to make a new life for himself in Amsterdam. I have to wonder though. How much of Sean's troubles with shop keepers, dentists and the police were of his own making? My own experiences with the same groups in Amsterdam were much more positive. I guess you just have to shrug and consider the source.

I think one of the big problems with describing this book is that it's not a travel book. It's a personal account of one man's time spent in Amsterdam. As such I think it's a hilarious and fascinating look into the mind of the writer.

There are some amazing stories in here and it takes the reader through an emotional roller coaster. Rather than just describing Amsterdam and how amazingly liberal it is, we get to see what it's like for a foreigner to live there with all its difficulties and specific bureaucracies.

At its very heart, this is a fish-out-of-water tale, not an ooh-look-at-those-pretty-buildings-and-prostitutes description of Amsterdam.

It's such a simple and enjoyable read, it would make some great holiday reading.

Sean Condon has written a funny, realistic picture of what it is like to live in Amsterdam. I have lived in Amsterdam and all the things he talks about are right on the money. While living in Europe's most beautiful city can be difficult, painful and frustrating, it is all worthwile to call this great city home.
This book will give you a personal insight into the Dutch culture and people. I highly recommend this for expats or anyone that enjoys travel.

For fans of Sean and David's Long Drive and Drive thru America, this is more of Sean Condon's hilarious take on travel. I had to jump through hoops to locate a copy of this book when I found out it had been published, but it was well worth it. Often compared to Bill Bryson, I think Sean Condon has the edge with his humor and sarcasm. This book finds Sean and his wife, Sally, juggling jobs (or lack thereof), immigration officials, hangovers and bike navigation in Amsterdam, the city they choose as home for more than 3 years due to Sally's editing job. I just want to be brief, so I'll end it here by saying that all travel fans will enjoy this book, chock full of witty comments, pithy observations and general mayhem that only those far from home can truly understand.

Now I'm going to start on Sean Condon's "Film"...