A Rotten Person Travels the Caribbean: A Grump in Paradise Discovers that Anyplace it's Legal to Carry a Machete is Comedy Just Waiting to

by Gary Buslik

"If you look at a map, you will see that the island chain known as the Caribbean, or, to confuse you, the West Indies, lies between Florida and South America and resembles a string of gems or possibly drool." And so begins author Gary Buslik's tale of tropical adventure. Each chapter of this often hilarious and sometimes poignant travelogue recounts another island-hopping, culture-clashing crisis that pits the homesick author against falling coconuts, hospitals that remove wrong organs, insects as big and dangerous as stealth bombers, ticket agents that put him on hold for hours, mysteriously calculated currency exchanges, over-proofed rum, livestock, singing Rastafarians, garbage-bin sex, peanut-crazed children, Idi Amin, flesh-eating monkeys, dentists, cricket, steel drum bands, and the French. Fortunately, even when making fun of his West Indian hosts, the curmudgeonly author's essential good nature and devotion to his wife twinkle through, and in the end his stubborn geocentricity gives way to a heartfelt appreciation of his island hosts.

Genres: Travel

256 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2008

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

I bought this book because of my love for the Caribbean. I had to stop reading it when I realized that the author is not a grump, he's an asshole. I'm sorry I contributed any funds to his career.

[nimrodiel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Author Gary Buslik and his wife have been married twenty years. In that time they have traveled to the Caribbean many times for vacations, Add in Buslik's time as a travel writer and he has spent quite a bit of time visiting the Islands that dot this area that many consider paradise. The author considers himself a rotten person, easily turned grumpy, which affects how he sees these islands and the culture clash that occurs between his Midwestern American lifestyle and that lived in the warmer Island climates.

This book is a collection of travel stories that were originally published elsewhere. So at times there feels a bit of repetition that may have been avoided by chnging the order of the stories presented. I enjoyed the stories inside. They were written with a black humor and sometimes homesick feeling. The author presents some near brushes with celebrities both unwanted (such as the time he accidently insulted Idi Amin) and wanted (trying to meet Princess Di only to encounter her security and the confusion of a local man who just wanted to get home through a blocked off route). There are stories of crazy and wildly smart Rastifarians, pokes at both the British and the French, as well as musings on how progress is changing island lifestyle.

The author can come across as brusk and a bit of a jerk at times. He is a self proclaimed Republican and Jewish agnostic who is married to a more liberal leaning woman, and who teaches in a very liberal university setting. He loves to weave in observations about growing up in Skokie, IL and his current home in Mundelien, IL and compare them to the islands he has visited. However you really get a feeling of his appreciation of the islands and the people who host he and his wife during their times staying there. I don't know if this travelogue is for everyone. but I enjoyed it quite a bit, especially his stories about visiting Cuba and visiting Hemingway's home.

[Caity · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly “a rotten person” is a fabulous way to describe the narration of these essays. Between the sexism, racism, cliches, superiority complex, and more, each essay demonstrates everything that’s wrong with the American tourist. However, the narrative is authentic and consistent, creating clear characterization while the world building is pointedly vivid. As a reader and writer, I can appreciate that, even when the narrative is so off-putting. My interest had truly waned around the 3/4 mark and truthfully I ended up skimming the last 4 essays completely after immersing myself in more than 150 pages of misogynistic, stereotypical, and just outright rude material. Putting this author firmly on my “do not read” list

[Jerry · Rating 2 out of 5]

The back cover of a Rotten Person Travels the Caribbean says, "...screamingly funny. Gary Buslik plies the Caribbean with shark eye and barracuda wit." I'm not sure what that means but I can try to cite a few examples, using the author's words. After dazzling fellow tourists with his superior knowledge of the rum-making process, with ulterior hopes of `impressing' the tour guide, our `screamingly funny' author "... vomited all over her." That's sure to get a guffaw out of someone! (He pees too with requisite assurance he would never want to `cop a look' toward the next urinal!) Buslik's shark eye pierces people who are clearly above the rabble. Niquette is an example. "Niquette, who knew as much about the West Indies as Madam Curie knew about glowing in the dark..."
This style just isn't for me. I find such phrases forced and there are many throughout this book. I just don't like self-indulgence passing as humor! Then there is the hundred-page obsession with The Exorcist! I started to cringe turning pages in fear that another reference to the 35 year-old movie would turn up. I did enjoy the cock-fighting story. It seemed gritty and real, which was what I wanted but the other tales left me feeling like a sucker for having shelled out money for this book.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found "A Rotten Person" to be a fun, fast and enjoyable read. The title says it all, including who the target audience is. I can't help but think that the people who read and disliked this book because the author is an "asshole" might have missed the mark when selecting it.

While the entire book isn't comic gold, that's to be expected. Humor writing is hard, especially for a book length project. I found the stories to be entertaining and there were certainly some laugh out loud moments, more so than I've found in other travelogues.

It's not a book for everyone (as you can see from other reviews). The author writes for a very specific audience and in a time of generic books being produced to appeal to a vast general readership, I appreciate that. As a dark humored traveler myself, I enjoyed the sharp humor and dry observations and would definitely recommend it to others with a similar disposition.

[Jon · Rating 2 out of 5]

When Rick Steves speaks or writes about travel, you can be fairly certain that he demonstrates a high level of respect and love for the countries and cultures that he visits. On the contrary, Buslik seems to hold most of the places he visits and the people he meets in contempt. Granted, he's not only sarcastic about foreigners in his writing - he says nasty things about his wife and friends, as well.

I know that the purpose is supposed to be comedy, so one can forgive him some poetic license, but it wears thin pretty rapidly for me, and I gave up on it about halfway through. There's plenty of sarcasm going on in my own head some days, I don't need to increase the traffic.

[Christopher Rex · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book about 5-6 years ago. It has its moments and brought me back to the author for another of his books. Problem is, I'm reviewing it much later so I don't remember a lot.

I do remember the stories were relatively short, the prose was solid and there were some laughs therein.

Anyone who's travelled or lived in the Caribbean will enjoy it, though Herman Wouk's "Don't Stop the Carnival" remains the best in this genre/field.

[Rod Pyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bit more twisted and complex than most comedic travel narratives, this book takes you on a very personal (and somewhat disturbed/disturbing, though always funny) journey through both the Caribbean and the mind of the neurotic Buslik. The book is a collection of essays published elsewhere so there can be a slight bit of repetition and some disjointedness, but it's a very minor thing and it really is a romp. Enjoy it.

[Clifford · Rating 2 out of 5]

Funny. But kind of pointless. These "travel" pieces aren't fiction, but they're not non-fiction either. The author tries to be offensive, and he is.

See my full review at Perpetual Folly.

[John · Rating 1 out of 5]

I kept thinking this series of essays would get better, so I plowed on ahead; they got progressively worse!
A free copy might prove mildly amusingly in places, but this one deserves a DO NOT BUY! "recommendation".

[bookreadera · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well, he got the rotten person part right, and comedy may be waiting to happen but it doesn't occur here. This would be better subtitled "a jerk travels the Caribbean making disparaging remarks about everyone."

[Melissa · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't even finish it. I got about half way through and gave up. The stories were all over the place, it was hard just to keep track of what he was on about. And then most of them weren't funny anyway.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

You may want to ring Buslik's neck, but please don't -- I want to keep reading his irreverent tales as long as he keeps writing. I frankly loved this book of humorous essays about Caribbean misadventures. I don't care if it's highbrow or not. It ranks as one of my all-time favorites. Period.

[Ellen Barone]

I'm on page 97 of this book. A hoot of a read that I'm enjoying in small doses. Author Gary Buslik does a good job of fulfilling the title so far. More to come!

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun beach read.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Humorous stories I enjoyed very much.

[Cindy · Rating 1 out of 5]

bunch of disjointed short stories by not a rotten person, but an ass.
wasted my time.

[Sheila · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is really a light read very cute very fun I really wanted to get it 3 1/2 stars but I didn't have a choice

[Stacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok - a quick read full of short essays. The title is probably the best part.