Helpful Score: 6
So, I heard about this book and I got it on paperbackswap.
Since I loved Ireland I thought I would check it out . . . this book is very, very interesting!
The main character, Tony Hawks, is a single British man who embodies all of these elements. I kinda thought he was rather snobbish at times and rather "manish" (and that is putting it nicely) at times but over all I think the book places the Irish people in a wonderful light. I mean some of the things these people were willing to do to help Tony out was just "crazy" but that's the magic of Ireland, I believe.
Anyways this book handed me one of the greatest laughs ever . . . chapter The Longest Night . . . I laughed sooooooo hard I cried. My children even asked me what was wrong. It was that funny. And I think part of the reason I can associate with Tony on this chapter is because the things that happen to him by other people is exactly something that would happen to me. It's just my luck.
Anyways, it's an easy read. It's fun. It's lighthearted and you will laugh.
Since I loved Ireland I thought I would check it out . . . this book is very, very interesting!
The main character, Tony Hawks, is a single British man who embodies all of these elements. I kinda thought he was rather snobbish at times and rather "manish" (and that is putting it nicely) at times but over all I think the book places the Irish people in a wonderful light. I mean some of the things these people were willing to do to help Tony out was just "crazy" but that's the magic of Ireland, I believe.
Anyways this book handed me one of the greatest laughs ever . . . chapter The Longest Night . . . I laughed sooooooo hard I cried. My children even asked me what was wrong. It was that funny. And I think part of the reason I can associate with Tony on this chapter is because the things that happen to him by other people is exactly something that would happen to me. It's just my luck.
Anyways, it's an easy read. It's fun. It's lighthearted and you will laugh.
Tony Hawks's self-challenge isn't quite frivolous and amusing as those of Dave Gorman ("Are You Dave Gorman?" and "Dave Gorman's Googlewhack Adventure") but his book is similar in tone. All in all, it's a fun journey.
Tony Hawks follows up making a drunken bet with actually trying to win it. Like Dave Barry, he claims he isn't making this up.
quirky account of a man who, on a bet, hitched around the perimeter of ireland accompanied by a small fridge. entertaining.
funny read!
This book was hilarious! I couldn't put it down!
Laught out loud funny. I loved this book!
I gave this book to a friend who is odd and travels a lot before I even read it (as my TBR pile is very huge). I heard reports that he was laughing in public uproariously at inopportune times and couldn't leave home without it. Therefore I started recommending this book even before I read it. Over Christmas my daughter gave this to a friend and I quickly read his copy and LOVED this book. This guy is a drinker as I am sure most Irishmen are but his sense of humor is infectious. He really does hitchhike with a portable refrigerator and it has to be done in a time limit. The people he meets and also just his Joie de vivre makes this a quick and delightful read. It also reinforces that humans will do just about anything for someone who is a total oddball!!!!
This book reflects the quirky, friendly, half-a-bubble-off-plumb side of rural Ireland. Although some of the incidents seem a bit far-fetched, I'm inclined to believe them all.
While I laughed in places, I wasn't among the legions of fans of this book. It just never built up any steam......
"The more foolish, illogical, or surreal one's actions were perceived to be (and mine surely fell into one of these categories), the wider the arms of hospitality were opened in salutation."
Tony Hawks knows how to make you laugh, even when you don't want to. I've earned my fair share of strange looks after I burst out with a chuckle at this book. In the first pages of recounting how the sordid wager to travel around Ireland with fridge in tow came about, Hawks paints a picture of the bizarre. Once revisited by the end of the journey, though, it seems remarkably less so. One starts to wonder why the rest of the world can't be like the quaint places that Hawks visited, where absurdity, pointlessness, and doing things for the heck of it are things to be admired and welcomed.
Tony Hawks knows how to make you laugh, even when you don't want to. I've earned my fair share of strange looks after I burst out with a chuckle at this book. In the first pages of recounting how the sordid wager to travel around Ireland with fridge in tow came about, Hawks paints a picture of the bizarre. Once revisited by the end of the journey, though, it seems remarkably less so. One starts to wonder why the rest of the world can't be like the quaint places that Hawks visited, where absurdity, pointlessness, and doing things for the heck of it are things to be admired and welcomed.
Great travel memoir. Funny and at times poignant - an easy enjoyable read.
Hawkss hysterical mission to travel around Ireland toting a mini-fridge puts him in the most hysterical situations imaginable he meets some awesome people along the way. Hawks and I could make fun travelling buddies. Call me up next time you want to take on a travelling challenge, Tony!
