An Idiot Abroad: The Travel Diaries of Karl Pilkington - Karl Pilkington

Genre - Travel, Comedy
My Rating - 3 stars
Published - January 19th 2011 by Canongate Book

Synopsis
Karl is not big on traveling. Given the choice, he'll go on vacation to Devon or Wales or, if pushed, eat English food on a package tour of the Mediterranean. So what happened when he was convinced by Gervais and Merchant to go on an epic adventure to see the Seven Wonders of the World? Does travel truly broaden the mind? Find out in Karl Pilkington's hilarious travel diaries.

My Review
I don't normally read travel books, but this isn't your normal travel book.

First, a bit about the author. Karl Pilkington is a born and bred Mancunian with a frank sense of humour that will leave you in stitches. It's not that what he says is in itself hilarious, he just comes out with the most bizarre things, and when you think about them, they make sense! For instance here is Karl talking about Easter - " I don't know why we celebrate with an egg. Bit odd that it's all about Jesus being crucified and giving up his life, and then years later we give him respect for what he did by eating a chocolate egg..with a small bag of Smarties inside". See what I mean? 

In an attempt to broaden Karl's mind professional funny-man Ricky Gervais (that guy in the office you want to punch) decides to send him off to see the 7 modern wonders of the world. For those of you like me, who don't know your wonders, these are : The Pyramids, Great wall of China, Chichen Itza (the only one i've been to yet still can't spell!), Machu Pichu, Taj Mahal, Christ the Redeemer and Petra. 

Despite being a travel diary I'll give you a bit of a warning , there is as much here about toilets, bugs and Monster Munch crisps as there is about the wonders. At first it's funny, but after a while it does start to drag. I even started to resent Karl a bit, having the opportunity to visit all these wonderful places and then doing nothing but moan about them! I know it's hot, the food is different and you can't sit down on the toilet, but come on, you're being PAID to visit the 7 wonders of the world, at least show a little enthusiasm? Hmm, maybe i'm missing the point of this book. It is funny, and a light entertaining (for the most part) read, but I would have loved a bit more travel and a lot less complaining! It was only 20p on kindle though, so well worth a look at!