Holidays in Hell

I picked up P.J. O'Rourke's Holidays in Hell (#272) from my library's travel books display because I recognized his name from hearing him on NPR.  The cover blurb "In which our intrepid reporter travels to the world's worst places and asks "What's funny about this?"" was enough to convince me.

It wasn't until I began reading it that I realized that this was a reissue of a 1988 collection of articles which originally appeared in other publications between 1986 and 1988.  In his introduction, O'Rourke explains that his object was to visit places where conflict was occurring, not as a serious reporter, but rather as a tourist.  An interesting (if not crazy!) way to see things.  Can you spell adrenaline junkie?  It was amazing to me how many of the political groups and conflicts which P. J. O'Rourke covered in this book used to make up the bulk of the nightly news, and that I remembered the names of the Lebanese and Nicaraguan splinter groups after not hearing them for years.  But it was equally amazing how much has changed in just twenty five years, while remaining exactly the same.  Only the place names and ethnicities are different.

I have to admit that the first group of articles was very amusing, even laughter provoking.  But when I hit Weekend Getaway: Heritage USA (Does anyone even remember what this was now?) the mood of the book shifted from sarcastic, funny and spot on observations to sarcastic and downright nasty.  I certainly wouldn't have classified either this ultra conservative fundamentalist Christian theme park founded by Jim and Tammy Bakker in South Carolina or Disney's Epcot Center in Orlando as locations too dangerous for the average American to travel to, but it's clear that O'Rourke's acid tongue could burn a large hole in your self confidence if you have the nerve to admit that you ever enjoyed either place.  For the remainder of the book, there was a sameness to the articles which verged on extreme tediousness.  I kept reading, hoping that Mr. O'Rourke would recapture some of the witty skewering he began with.  Alas, it was not to be. 

He was also way off  the mark on the predictions he made for what the world scene would look like in 2013, although he did almost get one of his wishes: former New York City mayor Ed Koch did die this year, but that's long after O'Rourke hoped it would happen.

An interesting and quaint bit of nostalgia if you're old enough to remember the political scenes of the mid to late 1980s, but I certainly wouldn't add Holidays in Hell to my "Must Read" list.