Journal Entry 1 by Ri from Cincinnati, Ohio USA on Sunday, January 13, 2008

From Publishers Weekly
Using a format similar to that of his previous work, The Sex Lives of Cannibals, Troost creates another comical and touching travel memoir. Troost and his wife, Sylvia, move from busy Washington, D.C., to Vanuatu, a nation made up of 83 islands in the South Pacific. As Sylvia works for a regional nonprofit, Troost immerses himself in the islands' culture, an odd mix of the islanders' thousand-year-old "kastoms" along with imperialist British and French influences. This really means that Troost gets to live in a nice house while he gets drunk on kava; dodges "a long inferno of magma and a cascade of lava bombs" at the "world's most accessible volcano"; and checks out the "calcified" leftovers from one of Vanuatu's not-so-ancient traditions, cannibalism. At the end of the book, the couple move to Fiji so that Sylvia will have state-of-the-art medical care when she gives birth to their first baby. While modern-day Fiji provides little fodder for Troost's comic sensibilities, the birth of his son enables him to share some deeper thoughts and decide it is "time to stop looking for paradise." A funny travelogue with a sentimental heart, Troost's latest work genuinely captures the search for paradise as well as the need for home. 

Journal Entry 2 by Ri from Cincinnati, Ohio USA on Thursday, March 26, 2009

Funny stuff! While I really enjoy reading Troost's adventures abroad, I don't think I'd enjoy actually traveling with him. How is it he finds himself in so many crazy situations? His wife must be very patient and/or have a fabulous sense of humor! ;) It seems that they are living in California now. I do hope their lives make a turn for another third world island adventure!

This is bound for zosime as part of the Armchair Travel swap. Enjoy! 

Journal Entry 3 by zosime from Marshfield, Wisconsin USA on Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Thank you, Ri! I feel left out having never read one of Troost''s books. Very much looking forward to correcting that! ;) 

Journal Entry 4 by zosime at Marshfield, Wisconsin USA on Thursday, August 18, 2011

I got a lot of laughs out of this book and maybe learned a few things, too. It was one of those books I couldn't help talking about the entire time I was reading it, which might have annoyed my family a bit.  

Journal Entry 5 by zosime at Marshfield, Wisconsin USA on Tuesday, September 06, 2011

This book is heading off to Esme-Weatherwax. Happy reading! 

Journal Entry 6 by Esme-Weatherwax at Limerick, Co. Limerick Ireland on Saturday, September 24, 2011

Thanks so much Zosime for this wish list book.