This book killed many a boring hour on my recent trip to a job in Malaysia in the chemical industry. I laughed out loud from beginning to end with the authors stories from his experiences of the oil platform business and related very easily with it.

I learnt alot from reading this including scorpions can commit suicide, rainforests should be protected and that you should always drink bottled water when abroad!

It was also good to read how the author relates to the places he has visited and how More...

Yes this is an incredibly juveline book full of drunken bravado and fart jokes. Through its tone and style however it does manage to give a glimpse into the world of freelance day-rate riggers and what their job looks like. This is a world that isn't accessible or imaginable for somebody working in the head offices of a large oil company. One thing that is pretty clear: riggers don't appreciate the world of laywers and accountants much.

Some notable passages:

"The oilfield is run by the corporate More...

This book was totally hilarious!! Wonderful holiday reading, I used it as a reward whilst shifting house!! Ok, clean another room - you get to read a chapter, pack a few boxes you get two chapters.....

Paul Carter works in the oil industry, and the book is like a succession of boy's own adventures, or the plot of a Cohen movie where the real becomes the bizarre, and I kept thinking 'did that really happen!"

Just one little taster - this apparently occurred in the jungle in Borneo.

"Nothing in the j More...

PROMISINGLY (in my juvenile estimation) this book begins with the tale of an involuntary bowel movement localised in the author's undies. Put delicately the author "follows through" at the beginning of an eight-hour flight to Singapore.

This high-altitude nightmare is acutely humiliating for Carter and as a result it's also acutely funny. It's schadenfreude at its basest but infinitely funnier because it's not German.

Carter, or "Pauli", as he refers to himself, is an oil rig contractor and he's s More...

This book saved me from what could have been the most tedious journey of my teenage years. Returning to Asia from boarding school I got to the airport and realised I had packed nothing to read. Faced with the usual dreck on sale in the Brisbane airport book stores I picked up the cheapest paperback I could find.
Don't tell mum I work on the rigs was such a fun read I look back on the first half of that plane journey almost fondly. It's a must read for anyone who's taking the time to travel into More...

My mother laughed uproariously throughout this book, then thrust it into my hands and said, ‘You must read this’. When she saw that I was planning to read it on the train, she was worried. ‘You might laugh too much’.

There are some hilarious points to this book, one of them involving a clever monkey and a key, others involving boyish hijinks on an oil rig. There are serious points too (such as what accidents can happen on a rig) but Carter makes this a light-hearted, fun read. Following the oil a More...

David Sederis would kill for this material, thought he'd probably be killed getting it which would mean no book. That would be unfortunate if Sederis was writing it. Carter, meanwhile, demonstrates that great material does not great writing make. Which is too bad, because there is some truly great material in here.

From looking at other reviews before starting to read this book, I knew I was in for a good laugh, and honestly, it didn’t disappoint. Initially I was a bit worried that it might be too much of a ‘boys book’ for me to enjoy, but right from the first page I was hooked and couldn’t wait to hear more.

The writing style is very colloquial, which to me, made it feel more personal and real. It covered all aspects - funny, shocking and the down-right unbelievable - there were times when I visibly would More...

It's been a while since I laughed so hard that I rolled on the floor -literally- and cried from reading a book.

The best part of being around the world, in my opinion, is that you meet like a lot of freaking awesome people to a total a**holes out there. In case you haven't realise it, ignorant fools existed in every society.

What I noticed about Pauli, like when he shared the 'mischiefs' of some Saturation divers did when they're bored during a job in Brunei -getting drunk, sneaking into the Mosqu More...

After trudging through an allusive and whimsical fictional rite-of-passage marathon from Haruki Murakami, Paul Carter's real-life lad's progress is a welcome breath of foul air. The surprise, and the reason I didn't give it more stars, is that there's not a lot about life on the rigs as such, no real background on the topic or technical info, but simply a chronological succession of anecdotes from his life, much of which was indeed spent on rigs around the world. As a mild-mannered and timid lib More...

A very enjoyable read of what in essence is the escapades of a rigger. Working in the oil industry myself, but never having been unlucky enough to be on a rig, but having heard enough stories about them to ensure I don´t really want to, this is a good book to read. Funny and fast paced, yes the language is crude, but this is a very male dominated, somewhat macho environment, so thats to be expected, it´s a good holiday read. My only complaint would be that he moves from place to place at astonis More...

I usually toroughly enjoy collections of first-person, real-life stories, especially when they´re compilations of funny anecdotes and situations. I was really excited at the prospect of reading about Paul Carter's life on the oil rigs, a world I knew nothing about.

True, he´s got some weird and amazing tales which, if properly written, would have made for a must-read. However, perhaps because it´s his first book, his story-telling abilities are (still) pretty weak, and I found myself being bored More...

This book was not something that I would normally read but I read it because I work in Western Australia where Mining is one of the main industries. The book was not a fantastic novel but it’s not supposed to be. It is a book with a collection of real stories from Paul during his experiences working on oil rigs all over the world. It is very easy to read and quite funny, I found myself laughing out loud a couple of times. Some of the tales are hard to believe but this is what makes them interest More...

Quite a romp. Not quite laugh-out-loud funny as other reviewers have said, but it's certainly humorous. And it appears to be an accurate description of life lived on the edge, where one can be called for work anywhere in the world, to leave within hours, and without knowing how long the assignment might be. That type of life attracts certain types of individuals, most willing to go to limits, to abuse their bodies with liquor and drugs and still show up for work and perform well. The events and More...

Having spent years around former oil industry field engineers, listening and laughing at their outrageous stories, I assumed that a complete published book of such tales must certainly be amusing. I was not disappointed, and a few of Carter's anecdotes are well beyond even the most outlandish and ridiculous stories I've heard.

The format of the book is quick-paced, and I picked it up expecting little more than a collection of episodic events, more akin to short stories than to a typical memoir. F More...

I picked up this book simply because it obviously has an awesome title.

Anyway. Since I was little I read more books than any kid probably should (I would go through approximately 5 per week... hey, I do live in a country where it rains a lot you know) and I always found that reading was an excellent way to go places without, you know, actually going places. This book took me places I most definately would never want to actually go to, even if it's just because, you know, I would actually like to More...

My husband read this book and handed it to me when he finished it with these instructions: "You have GOT to read this book!"

The author is an Australian bloke who spent a good portion of his life working on the oil rigs. He shares a lot of stories from his personal life. Lots of really funny stuff -- and lots of stories that make you wonder what th' ... ???

You don't have to have an understanding of how the oil rigs work when you pick this book up, but it probably helps. He does a pretty good job More...

A book recommended by someone that doesnt have any interested in reading, however this book went onto becoming one of my favourites.

I enjoyed reading about Paul's adventures and the people he has met. He does not go much in detail about the oil rig life but more the characters he meets along the way (so you dont have to be a "Rig Head"). Definitely recommend if you are looking for some humour and a peek of life outside the typical 9-5 job.

I don't usually like biography book, but this one... is a book I don't mind reading again. It's written in a very upbeat tone, and offers the a different point of view of the world; one that can only be offered by someone who had seen a lot.

It's quite a hillarious point of view, by the way. Reading the book feels like listening to a good friend telling you about his recent trip. Unlike that one though, this won't bore you.

Not exactly a waste of time, but not destined to be a literay classic. As the two stars say: It was ok.

(We have lived in South America and Africa as well as Europe while my husband worked for an oil company.) Some of the stories I've heard before--many times before--as they are pretty much the rig equivalent of urban legends. Some of them had the feel of truth, and some didn't. Some were funny and some weren't.

Like I said--it was ok.

Paul Carter tells his tales of working on oilfields of Nigeria, Russia, Asia, the Middle East and South America. Full of colorful stories and well-worn anecdotes accumulated over almost two decades working the oil rigs. “Roughnecks” are a breed of hard-working people who seem to have their own code of ethics. The book is funny, very entertaining and provides an interesting view of the Roughnecks' lives.

A hilarious collection of stories you'd want to hear told in the pub. In fact reading it felt more like that than getting immersed in a book. Genuinely laugh out loud funny, I finished it in an afternoon. It's not subtle, cleverly written or a literary masterpiece. What it is though, is funny as fuck. You truly couldn't make up the stories he has to tell. Outrageous.

I liked this book, it was an easy read with a lot of laughs and a good insight into the mayhem that the oil rig workers get into. If your after a literary masterpiece this isn't for you, but if all you want is a book with a lot of laughs and cringe worthy moments then this is a good choice for you.

I did find the nonchalant way that death was handled a bit uncomfortable but with everything this guy has gone through I can see why he didn't dwell on it.

A really good book for the guys, my husband l More...

A blokishly written book designed to generate belly laughs. Best enjoyed over a pint of something soothing (well, that's my take on it anyway) as the author's choice of wording makes me think of some ' real characters' you occasionally get to talk to in a pub. Good quality laugh-out-loud collection of stories from the mysterious and remote world of oil fields.

I bought my copy of this book at Melbourne Airport in 05 and I read it on the flight to Perth. It's one of those hilarious stories of life in an usual context. The incredible dangers associated with life on oil rigs around the world are superbly written. Probably one of the few books I've read cover-cover in one sitting (~5 hour flight against the westerly wind).

There's not much to say about this one. I found it an interesting read, though and the information about the rigs was fun, and insightful. Carter has a style about him, really no holds barred, but he's also incredibly self-aware of his own luck and connections. I was intrigued by the experiences of an industry I've had little contact with, and it seems that although Carter enjoyed his years on the rigs, he recognises the downsides of the lifestyle, and how it might have affected his own personal More...

Definitely a book for those who like the larger than life stories. The Author, in their debut, shows that they have a wonderful sense of the narrative, an advantageous asset when dealing with such characters as those found on oil rigs. The simple line of expression as detailed leaves the text an easy read and a likely gift to those who don't read much.

One man's very funny perspective on working in the male-dominated environment of the oil fields. It made me laugh out loud in places, (eg that episode with the monkey on the ceiling fan!) and in others he glossed over some very serious accidents, but it was never dull.
Definitely not literature, but is a contender for best book title ever, in my opinion.