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 foib...
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Dec 02, 2007
Morgan
rated it: 
I was very excited to begin reading No Touch Monkey! and Other Travel Lessons Learned Too Late. How could I not love a book with such a wonderfully quirky title? Not to mention, there's a shining review from Stephen Colbert (love him!) written right there on the front cover. Honestly though, if it weren't for my no-book-gets-left-behind policy, I would have ditched this book after reading the first few stories.
This book would be more aptly titled Shit that Happened to me While Tra More...
This book would be more aptly titled Shit that Happened to me While Tra More...
Aug 23, 2007
el_quijote
rated it:
If you love to travel you probably promised yourself one day you would backpack across Europe or sail around the world, always carefree and blowing with the wind. Later while traveling through a strange country (usually on the frontier of what’s new, a place that just “hasn’t been ruined by tourists yet”) you may see a group of tired, dirty and miserable looking backpackers standing on a corner trying to figure out what would be the next bohemian thing to do. And then you realize how lucky you
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Dec 26, 2009
Kelly
rated it: 
If you have no common sense and desire to travel the world this book might be for you. Avoid everything the author did and you'll have a successful trip. Better yet, avoid the book and go on your trip because you could hardly do things more ridiculously than this author did. All in all a big disappointment of a book.
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Mar 18, 2008
Jeff
rated it:
There was a monkey on the cover, and while I'm sure there's a story about a monkey somewhere in the book, I never got to it.
I found myself bored... well, this is really my fault, cause I don't ever go anywhere exotic on vacation. Ayun goes on African safari's on a shoe string budget on her vacations. I do laundry and walk around the mall on my vacations.
She takes vacations with boyfriends, husbands, family, alone... I don't even like to eat by myself, much less wander around a fa More...
I found myself bored... well, this is really my fault, cause I don't ever go anywhere exotic on vacation. Ayun goes on African safari's on a shoe string budget on her vacations. I do laundry and walk around the mall on my vacations.
She takes vacations with boyfriends, husbands, family, alone... I don't even like to eat by myself, much less wander around a fa More...
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Sep 15, 2007
Adam
rated it:
I've been reading a LOT of travel books in preparing for my move. I picked this one up on the glowing recommendation by Stephen Colbert on the cover. Unfortunately, it didn't quite live up to my expectations. Actually, it didn't at all.
The writer is a hippie (or so she keeps telling us) who, more often than not, brings along a REALLY LAME boyfriend (or so she keeps describing them) who are never able to come within a country mile of her spirit of romanticism and cultural underst More...
The writer is a hippie (or so she keeps telling us) who, more often than not, brings along a REALLY LAME boyfriend (or so she keeps describing them) who are never able to come within a country mile of her spirit of romanticism and cultural underst More...
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Jun 12, 2007
Glenn
rated it: 
I have a confession to make. I think some may be shocked to hear from someone whose position makes him in some small way a caretaker of literature, but while I was re-reading “No Touch Monkey! And Other Travel Lessons Learned Too Late,” I did something that as a matter of principle, I never, ever do…I dog-eared a page. Then another. I was doing laundry, and ran out of sheets of Bounce, otherwise I would’ve used them.
But I came across a passage in Ayun Halliday’s book where she d More...
But I came across a passage in Ayun Halliday’s book where she d More...
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Feb 17, 2009
Lizzy
rated it:
This book is made up of a collection of essays written by the author describing the many mishaps and misadventures she has encountered in her world travels. Unfortunately, this book was not as consistently funny as one might have hoped. Though several of the stories made me snicker, others were just boring, and there were quite a few parts where I had to force myself to keep reading. All in all I found it to be very disappointing. The few funny moments didn’t really make up for the stretches tha
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Jan 16, 2008
Charlotte
rated it: 
I enjoy reading two kinds of travel books - those that make me feel like I'm on the trip (Blue Lattitudes, Three cups of Tea) and those written by people who really shouldn't be travelling (names withheld to protect the guilty). This is one of the latter. How miss Halliday survived to tell her tales is a mystery.
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Feb 04, 2012
David
rated it:
I'm still trying to figure out what travel lessons this author learned, because there don't seem to be any of them in the book. Other than the fact that she happened to be outside her home country of the United States when these stories took place, you can hardly call this a book of travel stories. No, it's more like the psuedo-zany things that can happen to someone unaware of their surroundings, lacking even basic understanding of their environment, and ill-prepared to cope with the problems th
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Dec 26, 2009
karen
rated it:
so this counts as my first fight with ayun halliday.not necessarily a fight, but a disillusionment,like when you find out your partner was only pretending to like wolfsheim to get into your pants, and only too late realizing it was all a sham. this is how betrayed i feel. it may not be a true betrayal, simply a shift in focus. dirty sugar cookies was a great book because it highlighted her fearlessness to expose inelegant or embarrassing details of her life and decisions which is applause-worthy
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Oct 27, 2011
Andrew
rated it:
While I love to travel and enjoy getting away from the usual tourist spots to experience something more authentic about the places I visit, I must confess that I enjoy my creature comforts far too much to have any desire to experience the type of travel described in this book. The stories here are about traveling on a truly low budget, in ways that the vast majority of travellers would probably find objectionable for any number of levels. Yet the author clearly revels in her experiences, findi
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Jun 06, 2009
Liz
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Apr 15, 2011
Erin
rated it: 
Love this so far. Halliday is quite amusing, especially given that she puts herself in situations that are almost painful to read about but so fascinating that you have to keep going. While I wish I could have some of the experiences she describes I could never take the chances that she does.
I think I may check out some of her other books.
Update: Finished this yesterday. Loved it! The last bit of the book includes her traveling with a baby (her daughter Inky) whic More...
I think I may check out some of her other books.
Update: Finished this yesterday. Loved it! The last bit of the book includes her traveling with a baby (her daughter Inky) whic More...
Aug 06, 2011
Carly
rated it:
I'm sorry, but this book is mighty lame and not in the least bit 'funny'. The author just goes on and on about not having money, needing a drink, needing drugs, and tidbits on whatever boyfriend she's with. Reading this book is very similar to sitting next to a rambling airhead cheerleader on her cell phone - it just never stops. The plot rambles on and on, and most of the time you don't even know what she's talking about. Classic diarrhea of the mouth.
The most amusing thing about this boo More...
The most amusing thing about this boo More...
May 24, 2009
Lisa
rated it:
I so wanted to love this book. It is about a Hoosier girl who went and did the backpacking thing all over the world - basically lived the life I wanted to live. Though I am sure her adventures were in all actuality amazing, she didn't translate it well to prose.
I was extra bummed because Colbert plugged it saying he had a laugh on every page AND the author is a member of a theater troupe (Neo-Futurists) I greatly admire.
It was a very easy, breezy read, just not as fun as promised. I More...
I was extra bummed because Colbert plugged it saying he had a laugh on every page AND the author is a member of a theater troupe (Neo-Futurists) I greatly admire.
It was a very easy, breezy read, just not as fun as promised. I More...
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Sep 09, 2010
Jonathon
rated it:
No Touch Monkey is a fun read for anyone interested in traveling through the back alleys of distant cities. This is not for the spoiled traveler whom lives in 5 star hotels - to Halliday, that's not real exploration and travel.
Her writing is quite clever and pithy at times. There is no deep underlying meaning or substance in the book, but that does not affect its scoring. It shows herself, her personality, what she goes through, especially as a bold woman traveler. It's not easy being More...
Her writing is quite clever and pithy at times. There is no deep underlying meaning or substance in the book, but that does not affect its scoring. It shows herself, her personality, what she goes through, especially as a bold woman traveler. It's not easy being More...
Oct 19, 2010
Paul
rated it:
An entertaining book, but if Stephen Colbert really laughed at every page as he says on his review... he is WAY too easily amused.
Don't get me wrong, I did laugh, but only a couple of times. I think I was more shocked that someone would continue to travel after placing herself (and her traveling companions) in danger time and time again. I would definitely put several of these tales in the "don't try this at home (or abroad)" category. I'm hoping this is just a collection More...
Don't get me wrong, I did laugh, but only a couple of times. I think I was more shocked that someone would continue to travel after placing herself (and her traveling companions) in danger time and time again. I would definitely put several of these tales in the "don't try this at home (or abroad)" category. I'm hoping this is just a collection More...
Jun 26, 2009
Aixe
rated it:
Ayun Halliday has had some fabulous adventures, and she has a good sense of humor about it all. This book in structured into not-necessarily sequential chapters, each covering a different adventure. It can be read as a series of short stories that are somewhat related to one another. The reason I rated this book as okay is because the chapters are not tight - they wander all over the place and don't convey a coherent thought as suggested by the table of contents. Also, the author is so scattered
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Aug 17, 2010
Kim
rated it:
Instead of "Read", I should actually say "tried to read". I thought I would adore this book based on the subject - wacky things that happen to you when you travel and/or the situations that you somehow find yourself in while traveling. Unfortunately, I didn't think any of the stories were funny and I felt like the Ayun was far too detailed in some of her accounts that it completely detracted from the humor in whatever situation she found herself.
If someone else ou More...
If someone else ou More...
Jul 26, 2009
Judy
rated it:
This is the last book that I buy based on the cover blurb by Stephen Colbert. He said, "I laughed lard on nearly every page of this shockingly intimate travel memoir and deeply funny book." That would hook you, right? I admit that there were some funny parts, but not enough to keep me entertained. I took over a week to read this book and I usually finish a book in a day or two. I found myself losing interest in the particular adventure being related and I would put the book down a
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Feb 11, 2012
Arja
rated it:
A funny rip-roaring account of actor/writer Ayun pronounced Anne) Halliday’s travel adventures from early twenties to thirties and a time when she was just married. Travelling on a shoe string with first Nathan, then Greg, who became her husband, as well as trying out the Paris fashion shows with her mother, a fashion writer, Halliday is funny, witty and charming.
You laugh out loud as you read about Indian, Indonesia, Saigon, Romania, Scotland with a one-year-old, an overland safari in Rwa More...
You laugh out loud as you read about Indian, Indonesia, Saigon, Romania, Scotland with a one-year-old, an overland safari in Rwa More...
Jul 09, 2011
Heather
rated it:
I just finished this travel memoir, and I thought it was pretty decent. It was a fast read and pretty entertaining, but a little disjointed. There was no easy-to-follow narrative, and the writing seemed to leave out a lot of the sort of picture painting details I prefer in travel books. Fair or not, I spent a lot of time wondering how she managed to travel so much and never actually DO much of anything. All the same, it was reasonably entertaining and I finished the entire book in less than two
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Aug 27, 2010
Stephanie
rated it:
Each essay in this book is about one of the authors travel experiences. She traveled all over the world, mostly as a vagrant type of traveler who I would never want to emulate. I prefer hotels, please. Some of her stories were interesting because I will never experience them for myself (such as contracting malaria while traveling on a jacked up safari bus in Africa). Those are not my ideas of a fun time abroad. But all in all her stories started to have the same try-to-hard-to-be-funny tone
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Mar 06, 2011
Rebekkila
rated it:
Ayun Halliday may not make for the most sensible travel companion, but she is certainly one of the most outrageous, with a knack for inserting herself (and her unwitting cohorts) into bizarre situations around the globe. Curator of kitch and unabashed aficionada of pop culture, Halliday offers bemused, self-deprecating narration of events from guerrilla theater in Romania to drug-induced Apocalypse Now reenactments in Vietnam to a perhaps even more surreal collagen-implant demonstration at a Par
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Oct 08, 2011
Magila
rated it:
In truth, this book deserves a 2.5. I rounded down, because of how much I disliked the author (as a person) based off her memoir.
The writing is average. 3 average. She peppers the books with unnecessary profanity, probably because she peppers her own speech with the same. Most importantly, you expect something different than what this book delivers based off the title "... Monkey! And Other Travel Lessons Learned Too Late." You expect words of wisdom.
I can't be to More...
The writing is average. 3 average. She peppers the books with unnecessary profanity, probably because she peppers her own speech with the same. Most importantly, you expect something different than what this book delivers based off the title "... Monkey! And Other Travel Lessons Learned Too Late." You expect words of wisdom.
I can't be to More...
Sep 07, 2010
Brittanie
rated it:
2-1-10 — Okay, I finished the book and here are my final thoughts. It's an entertaining and easy read once you get over the fact that Halliday's "schtick" is complaining about every trip she's ever taken. She comes from privilege and so backpacking the world is kind of her way to stick it to the man. Initially I was a little hard on her tendency to not want to be alone — every trip is couched through her experience of traveling as one-half of a couple — but then I thought about the cha
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Jan 25, 2009
Bonnie Jeanne
rated it:
Not your mother's travel narrative. Ayun can get a bit tedious with her complaining, but overall this is a fabulous travel narrative. So much better than the insipid Tuscany tales and Alice Steinbach's pretentious "out on my own" narratives ("independent woman" my ass!). Ayun's tales of world travel cured me forever of wanting to do the whole backpack adventure thing, but she did make me laugh, and comes across as a truly independent woman, at least until the end, where she l
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Dec 31, 2008
Ciara
rated it:
this is my least favorite of all of ayun's books. it's all about the world traveling she did before she settled down & had kids (although having two children hasn't really prevented her from continuing to travel all over the place). she was of the whole authentic-international-cultures-on-a-shoestring-budget school of thought, which always leads to adventures like dysentery or being attacked by wild monkeys, & there are definitely a lot of comical stories in here, spanning the globe from amsterd
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Mar 29, 2011
Irus
rated it:
I ILL'd this because I am hoping to travel soon and wanted to get myself into a travel frame of mind (I've got to work this travel thing for everything it's worth because I don't get out much). I was looking for humorous anecdotes of cultural faux pas. Unfortunately, the book turned out to be mostly about the author's former boyfriends and/or her digestive issues of which there are many. The last quarter focuses on the difficulties of shoe string travel with a toddler. Surprise - it's difficult
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Jun 26, 2009
Patrick
rated it:
It was an okay read. There was too much broad "I hate republicans" in here. It is great to voice your opinion, but I thought this was going to be a lot like J. Maarten Troost's books. It sort of was; I mean, she did travel.
It is okay to complain when bad suff happens, but I felt that this was an attempt to remember the good ol' times gone awry. You could feel the adventurous spirit. The end had a little too much of a "Having kids ruined my life!" feel to
It is okay to complain when bad suff happens, but I felt that this was an attempt to remember the good ol' times gone awry. You could feel the adventurous spirit. The end had a little too much of a "Having kids ruined my life!" feel to
