Getting Stoned with Savages
A Trip Through the Islands of Fiji and Vanuatu
by J. Maarten Troost
Overview
From the Publisher
With
The Sex Lives of Cannibals, Maarten Troost established himself as one of the most engaging and original travel writers around.
Getting Stoned with Savages again reveals his wry wit and infectious joy of discovery in a side-splittingly funny account of life in the farthest reaches of the world. After two grueling years on the island of Tarawa, battling feral dogs, machete-wielding neighbors, and a lack of beer on a daily basis, Maarten Troost was in no hurry to return to the South Pacific. But as time went on, he realized he felt remarkably out of place among the trappings of twenty-first-century America. When he found himself holding down a job—one that might possibly lead to a career—he knew it was time for he and his wife, Sylvia, to repack their bags and set off for parts unknown.
My thoughts
I am extremely disappointed with this book. I absolutely loved the author's first travel book, The Sex Life of Cannibals and I couldn't wait to read his other books, but I am totally turned off by this book. What I thought was clever and witty writing in the first book is non-existent in this book. In my opinion, the author reveals too many personal stories that are best kept to himself, and I've lost a lot of respect for him.
I had to invoke Nancy Pearl's Rule of 50, in which if you get to page 50 in a book and you're not liking it, you no longer have to read the book. I actually made it to page 87 before I quit reading. And I have no desire to read further or to pick up another J. Maarten Troost book.
Typical Passage
If you are very lucky, a good solid blow to your head will end the misery right there and then, sparing you the sensation of feeling your body treated like a boiled lobster as your flesh and bones are plucked and torn, carved and diced, cooked in flames, until nothing remains of you except the faint odor of a satisfied belch.
