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Interviews | February 14, 2012

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Stephen DauStephen Dau's The Book of Jonas is a marvelous, lyrical debut that examines the effects of war on everyone involved. Dau weaves together the stories... Continue »
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4 Burnside Travel Writing- General

No Touch Monkey!: And Other Travel Lessons Learned Too Late

by Ayun Halliday

No Touch Monkey!: And Other Travel Lessons Learned Too Late Cover

 

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Ayun Halliday may not make for the most sensible travel companion, but she is certainly one of the zaniest, with a knack for inserting herself (and her unwitting cohorts) into bizarre situations around the globe.

Curator of kitsch and unabashed aficionada of pop culture, Halliday offers bemused, self-deprecating narration of events from guerilla theater in Romania to drug-induced Apocalypse Now reenactments in Vietnam to a perhaps more surreal collagen-implant demonstration at a Paris fashion show emceed by Lauren Bacall. From taming the wild dog packs of Bali to requiring the services of a bonesetter in Sumatra, Ayun Halliday offers up the best of her itinerant foibles as examples of how not to travel abroad. For instance, on layover in Amsterdam, Halliday finds unlikely trouble in the red-light district — eliciting the ire of a tiny, violent madam — and is forced to explain tampons, which she admits, "might have looked like white cotton bullets lined up in their box," to soldiers in Kashmir — "They?re for ladies. Bleeding ladies."

A self-admittedly bumbling vacationer, Halliday shares?with razorsharp wit and to hilarious effect — the travel stories most are too self-conscious to tell.

Review:

"An almost shamefully entertaining travelogue of backpacking mishaps, ill-placed trust, and gastric distress." Andi Zeisler, Bitch Magazine

Review:

"I laughed hard on nearly every page of this shockingly intimate travel memoir and deeply funny book." Stephen Colbert, The Daily Show with John Stewart

Review:

"Travelers beware! Written with spunk and fast flying wit, Ayun Halliday defines misadventure, and shows that getting dirty can be done with grace." Jennifer L. Leo, Editor of Sand in My Bra and Other Misadventures
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About the Author

Ayun Halliday is the author of The Big Rumpus and creator/author of the 'zine East Village Inky, which won a 2002 Firecracker Alternative Book Award. She lives with her family in Brooklyn.
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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
Shoshana, May 29, 2008 (view all comments by Shoshana)
As travel narratives go, this is an average example of the drug-seeking backpacker genre. Halliday is sometimes funny, but her tendency to elaborate on all the ways that she is an unpleasant travel companion override her attractiveness: She doesn't seem fun to share a room, bus, or foreign experience with. Much of the book is not about "lessons learned too late," but perhaps unintentionally about lessons never learned, particularly regarding recreational substances, cut-rate accommodations, and local water. In the last chapter she regrets not enjoying her travel more before she had a child. Had this been the book's starting point and organizing principle, it might have been more interesting, substantive, and memorable.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9781580050975
Author:
Halliday, Ayun
Publisher:
Seal Press (CA)
Location:
New York, NY
Subject:
General
Subject:
Travel
Subject:
Essays & Travelogues
Subject:
Topic - Family
Subject:
Voyages and travels
Subject:
TRAVEL / Essays & Travelogues
Subject:
Travel Writing-General
Copyright:
2003
Series Volume:
208
Publication Date:
20031031
Binding:
TRADE PAPER
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Y
Pages:
288
Dimensions:
7.58x5.62x.83 in. .72 lbs.
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No Touch Monkey!: And Other Travel Lessons Learned Too Late Used Trade Paper
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Product details 288 pages Seal Press (WA) - English 9781580050975 Reviews:
"Review" by , "An almost shamefully entertaining travelogue of backpacking mishaps, ill-placed trust, and gastric distress."
"Review" by , "I laughed hard on nearly every page of this shockingly intimate travel memoir and deeply funny book."
"Review" by , "Travelers beware! Written with spunk and fast flying wit, Ayun Halliday defines misadventure, and shows that getting dirty can be done with grace."
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