Holidays in Heck - Rambling Readers

English language

ISBN:: 978-0-8021-1985-8

(1 review)

Holidays in Heck: A Former War Correspondent Experiences Frightening Vacation Fun is a 2011 book by P. J. O'Rourke about the author's travels to various venues.In the book, O'Rourke recounts family vacations to various tourist destinations, such as the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago and the Galápagos Islands. It is loosely modeled after his earlier book Holidays in Hell. In the introduction, O'Rourke states, "[After my experiences as a war correspondent] I decided to write about pleasant places. ... I'd always been where people were shooting each other ... How, I wondered, does one undertake enjoyably going somewhere enjoyable?"

1 edition

crabbygirl reviewed Holidays in Heck by P. J. O'Rourke

Review of 'Holidays in Heck' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

What I wanted to read was Holidays in Hell but the book is too old to be stocked in my library so I had to make do with Heck, a book that is obviously in the same vein, just filled with 'B' material. I preferred the chapters that included travelling with his children and think I could do a comparable piece about our trip to Egypt, three kids under 8 in tow.

I was surprised to read that as early as 2008, Chicago was rewriting their museum material in the new anti-colonial style AND that the author could be so loud in his disdain for this rewrite. I'd forgotten there was a time when journalists could risk offending someone; that journalists took it in stride that there would always be someone to take/fake offence. Oh well, at least I got a taste of gonzo journalism and learned some obscure factoids.