Customer Reviews

Steaming to Bamboola: The world of a tramp freighter

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4 star:		(1)
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I read this book after seeing Chris Buckley on the Letterman show. This is a a thoroughly entertaining chronicle of how a child of wealth and privelege (and sailing) decides to enlist in the merchant marine and see the world. Buckley's own adventures are highly entertaining and he throws in enough other skewed sea stories to keep the reader intrigued. Since it is mostly a collection of nautical anecdotes it is easy to put down and pick up again later, it is light and genuinely funny and a perfect companion for the pool or beach.

Christopher Buckley wrote a great book here. Too bad he didn't stick with this sort of writing. Had to make a lving I guess. This book is about the average Joe (sailors on a tramp steamer) and what he has to do to make a living. Ironic that Buckley comes from such an upper toff family --he's the son of Bill Buckley.

The folks written about here never went to an Ivy League school. They live in trailer or crappy little houses by the highway somewhere. Buckley celebrates them and entertains us. A great great read.

I read this for the first time shortly after I stopped sailing on US Merchant Marine ships. One of my ships was a tramp freighter working the east coast of South Americe. This copy replaced one I "loaned" out and never got back.

It's a fun read, and for me, even better because I recognized so many of the details as accurate. It brought back a lot of memories, and reminded me of why going to sea was good for awhile, and not a great idea for a lifelong career!

Buckley lived the life and is a great observer people, and of what is going on around him.

I read this book many, many years ago and enjoyed it so much, I went out and got another copy and re-read it about a year ago (2009). My reaction is still the same. It must be tough being the son of one of the world's foremost wits. Bill Buckley's way with words was unequalled. Being the Son of Shibboleth can't be fun. But Christopher rises to the occasion more than adequately in his first book. Becoming a deckhand on a rusted out freight hauler is hardly what one might have expected from the scion of such an effete and privileged background. Chris Buckley's book is an absolutely great read...funny but not over the top, informative but not pedagogic. His fellow sailors are colorful, nasty, dedicated -- and always interesting, as are their exploits. I expected a great deal from the younger Buckley based on this first venture, but was kind of disappointed. His later books were a little puerile, sort of Saturday Night Live wannabe, but not quite funny enough. Snide instead of satirical, overwritten, they seemed exactly like what the spoiled rich son of a well connected writer would get away with...and have published based on Daddy's clout. Not until after the death of his parents did Christopher rise to his potential with his most recent book, "Losing Mum and Pup." His memoirs are arresting and give us a glimpse into the hearts of fascinating people...whether a dunken sea cook or one of the world's best dressed women. But his novels leave me flat. It's funny...I felt exactly the same way about his father's writing. The memoirs and essay collections, the books of letters...fine reading all. Those silly CIA superspy novels...utter codswallop. The acorn didn't fall far from the tree in literary terms.

Christopher Buckley is new to my reading list but will be picking up more of his books, he has a wicked sense of humour and tells a great story. This is from a trip on a tramp steamer in 1979 and of the cast of crew who skipper the ship. Lots of real information on what it's like to sail on this type of ship plus the wide variety of personalities of those working. Buckley makes you feel part of the crew, listening to the creak of the ship, watching the horizon for weather and listening to the dialogue of all the nationalities aboard. Good writing.