There's No Toilet Paper . . . on the Road Less Traveled: The Best of Travel Humor and Misadventure (Travelers' Tales Guides) [Paperback]

Doug Lansky (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1932361278 | ISBN-13: 978-1932361278 | Publication Date: November 16, 2005

The perfect trip, where nothing goes wrong, is surely not the memorable trip, which is where everything goes wrong and one lives to tell the tale — and laugh about it. This collection captures the wackiest and most bizarre experiences of well-known writers whose travels have taken a detour. Stories include Nigel Barley escorting a monkey to the movies in Cameroon, Dave Barry vainly trying to learn more Japanese than how to order a beer, Alan Zweible high-tailing it to a nudist camp, Donna Marazzo bravely attempting to use a high-tech Italian toilet, and Richard Sterling feasting on deep-fried potato bugs in Burma. There are even practical tips here too; readers can surely learn from Mary Roach, who discovers that utilizing an Antarctic ice-sheet outhouse at the very moment a seal chooses to use its opening as a blowhole may not be the best way to start the day.

Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: Travelers' Tales (November 16, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932361278
• ISBN-13: 978-1932361278
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #206,287 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Falls a bit short, October 19, 2006

By 

Charles E. Stevens - See all my reviews
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This review is from: There's No Toilet Paper . . . on the Road Less Traveled: The Best of Travel Humor and Misadventure (Travelers' Tales Guides) (Paperback)

I don't know what I was expecting, but the level of humor in these stories varied fairly dramatically. Maybe the "if you don't find our stories funny, it's you not us" line in the introduction should have been a warning. Some were laugh out loud funny (I have to say A Simian in the Cinema was the most memorable, and the two Bill Bryson stories didn't disappoint) and some were able to coax a smile out of me. But many others just weren't that funny. Some just weren't funny to begin with (An Irishman in Vurjinny and The Duck of Peace come to mind) and many others ended just as they seemed to be getting into a groove. In general, this collection seemed to be going for quantity over quality. Fewer, longer, and better stories would have been more effective.

The title is deceiving as well ... the "road less traveled" apparently includes places like Disney World, Virginia, and Caribbean cruises. Some stories do not disappoint, in terms of exotic locales at least, but the vast majority of the stories rely on slapstick/situational humor of relatively low sophistication or physical humor that is disappointingly context-free. I suppose this book would make for fairly decent light-reading in an airport or on an airplane, but the quality of the promised "best of travel humor and misadventure" is a bit lacking. Heck, even I have had funnier and better "misadventures" on the road than most of these stories. This was a collection that I really wanted to like ... but I have a hard time giving it more than 3~3.5 stars.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A hilarious set of stories from wacky, strange adventures of travel gone wrong around the world, March 3, 2006

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: There's No Toilet Paper . . . on the Road Less Traveled: The Best of Travel Humor and Misadventure (Travelers' Tales Guides) (Paperback)

You won't get caught with your pants down without any good travel humor to read if you pick up Doug Lansky's laugh-filled collection There's No Toilet Paper On The Road Less Traveled: it provides a hilarious set of stories from wacky, strange adventures of travel gone wrong around the world. From a dead 'peace duck' attached to a car which brings attention and respect where ever it roams to a journey to Disney World which proves less than magical, here's the perfect light-hearted take- along tote for vacation.

3.0 out of 5 stars There's No Toilet Paper, November 12, 2011

By 

M. Reynard "kairosdreaming" (Ohio) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: There's No Toilet Paper . . . on the Road Less Traveled: The Best of Travel Humor and Misadventure (Travelers' Tales Guides) (Paperback)

Ok, so I have to admit this one was better than some of the others put out in the series (Sand in My Bra, Whose Panties are These, etc.) but it still wasn't the greatest collection of travel stories out there. It was kind of hit and miss with the stories. They were either really good, or not so good at all.

Don't be misled by the name, this book is just a collection of short stories on the humors of travel. Its not about someone lacking toilet paper. These stories were written by various authors, some well known travel authors like Bill Bryson, others from people I have never heard of. They could range in location and a couple took place in the United States but the majority were over in Europe and Asia. Some were about the perils of travel in a foreign country, others about avoiding land mines in the desert. A particular favorite of mine took place on a luxury cruise ship where the author had difficulty with target shooting. But I had a lot of least favorites as well, like the story about what a new ride the author thinks should be at Disney, a bus ride in a developing country. It just kind of fell flat.

As said before this book had its ups and downs. There were more downs than ups, or at least flat lines though. But the few funny ones really did make the difference and I even giggled out loud for a couple of them. You could tell the regular humor writers apart from the others. Bill Bryson for example had some of the better narratives and having read some of his books I think he kept to the same tone as what he uses in them. The ones I didn't care for as much just seemed to illicit that feeling when someone tells a terrible joke and nervous laughter echos through the room. It just isn't comfortable. The stories are pretty mild and I think they'd be appropriate for just about anyone. There is a tad bit of adult humor but nothing too overwhelming.

Not bad but not awesome either. This was an overall average travel book. The stories were short so time passed quickly and I can see someone taking this along to the beach for some light reading.

There's No Toilet Paper
Copyright 2005
184 pages

Review by M. Reynard 2011