No Touch Monkey! [Book Review]

I am so excited to present this review to you.  Enjoy!

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

Author: Ayun Halliday

Synopsis: ”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.” 

ISBN: 1580050972 

 

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 My Review:

After I finish a book, I usually ponder it for a day or two before I write its review.  However, with No Touch Monkey by Ayun Halliday, my review was already written before I finished the first chapter.  And it contained one repeatable word: outrageous.

I’ll be honest.  This was my second attempt at reading this book.  My first time was last year, and not being able to get into it after the first couple of pages, I gave up and tossed it aside.  Yet, last week I picked it back up, agreeing to give it another try; I mean look at the cover!  It called to me!  I then realized that the problem the first time was not with the book at all.  The problem had been with me.

I am a seasoned travelogue reader, but no other travel memoir has been able to captivate me, splitting my sides in the process, much like No Touch Monkey has.  Ayun (wish I knew how it was pronounced!) Halliday writes with such vibrant personality, it is hard not to wish she was your best friend.  Her witty anecdotes, good-natured blunt descriptions, and her seriously funny – often surprisingly random – experiences ranging from Bali to Amsterdam, makes this book unlike any other.

With all that said, I am disappointingly surprised to see so many bad reviews of this book on Goodreads – a site I trust a lot.  True, this book does not contain as much information or history about the places she visits as much as it includes her travel antics, but that  is one of the reasons why I feel in love with her stories.  Halliday makes you want to jump off the couch and create your own wild experiences abroad, which is a huge aspect I look for in reading travelogues.

Simply put, No Touch Monkey is definitely outrageous: outrageously hilarious, outrageously entertaining, and you would be an outrageous fool not to read it.

 

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Purchase it at Amazon.com here: No Touch Monkey!

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Has anyone read this book?  If yes, what was your take on it?  If not, do you plan on reading it?  Let us know in the comment section below!

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*Note: The synopsis was taken from Goodreads.com.  The review above is written by me.  © Kalie Lyn 2011*

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