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The Upgrade: A Cautionary Tale of a Life Without Reservations
by
Paperback. Pub Date: 2011. Pages: 304 in Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicholson. Bored oke and struggling to survive in one of the most expensive cities on earth. Paul Carr comes to of the surprising realisation that it would actually be cheaper to live in a hotel in Manhattan than in his one-bedroom London flat. Inspired by that possibility. he decides to sell most of his poss
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Paperback, UK Edition, 294 pages
Published
2011
by Weidenfeld & Nicolson
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Start your review of The Upgrade: A Cautionary Tale of a Life Without Reservations
A tedious, bragging, self-indulgent book. Can't believe I actually finished it, but only because I hate not finishing books.
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I really didn't find the author as amusing as he finds himself.
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Extremely sexist but surprisingly entertaining, and the author admits to being 'occasionally misogynistic' so at least he's aware of his sexism.
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It's less a book about how he manages to live in hotels year-round, and more a tale of his drunken adventures. It kept me entertained though :) It gets a bit more serious in the end of the book.
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Another guy who drinks too much and talks a lot about it. Mildly entertaining, but honestly I was more interested in a bunch of cool hotel info than more crap about drinking with little girls.
3.5 stars - I was intrigued by this book as I love to read about hotel and restaurant experiences and thought Paul Carr's saga of giving up his London apartment to live in hotels for a year (citing would actually be cheaper) would be interesting. For the most part it was when he related his experiences but the constant drinking and carousing got a little tiresome and I can't imagine how he came out of it alive.
All in all it was a quick and fun read and he's actually a fairly good writer. Now I'm ...more
All in all it was a quick and fun read and he's actually a fairly good writer. Now I'm ...more
The book was OK but the author, not so much. A bored, 20-something who didn't want to grow up so he found a way to take a seriously extended vacation. He's disdainful of people in general, and women especially, when he doesn't have much to show for himself. You have to wonder how much of the book is actually true and how much is made up (probably a lot). It's hard for me to DNF a book and I kept thinking he would redeem himself in the end so I finished it; but sadly, this one wasn't worth the ti
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I really enjoyed the book, it was a funny, light yet entertaining read with a few good laughs along the way. Mr Carr reminded me a little of P J O'Rourke and off course a light version of Hunter S. Thomson. Interesting window on the dawn of the social media age - imagine a PR person unaware of Twitter?! Will look out for more of his work.
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Easy read, can see it being made into a film.
Good:
* Tips and tricks that may net lower hotel prices.
Bad:
* Obnoxious protagonist.
* Tips and tricks that may net lower hotel prices.
Bad:
* Obnoxious protagonist.
Paul Carr was a fuckup. He left a career as a journalist with The Guardian to start his own multimillion dollar publishing company, abandoned it to launch a web startup under the delusion of becoming “the next Mark Zuckerberg”, got arrested and failed in many relationships because of an alcohol problem. With mounting bills and his life going off the rails, Carr started a journey that has made him a legend in tech journalism.
The Upgrade: A Cautionary Tale of Life Without Reservations is Paul Carr ...more
The Upgrade: A Cautionary Tale of Life Without Reservations is Paul Carr ...more
The Upgrade is the follow up to Paul Carr’s Bringing Nothing to the Party, compared to which I found it to be a hard slog. The book essentially continues Carr’s autobiographical tale, picking up where the previous volume left off. Carr reaches the realisation that rental prices in London are exceptionally high, and that he could likely live in hotels for less. And so, he commits himself to a nomadic lifestyle in which he travels the world living in hotels. This book is advertised as his guide to
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I might be slightly partial to the author, since I found his month-long blog series about staying in a different hotel in Las Vegas every day to be quite fascinating and brutally funny. I was expecting a lot of the same out of this book, to be honest, just...longer, and that's indeed what I got, though with much more depth and a surprisingly moving turn in the last quarter or so of the book.
The whole idea of living exclusively in hotels and relinquishing nearly all material possessions seems imp ...more
The whole idea of living exclusively in hotels and relinquishing nearly all material possessions seems imp ...more
Another quick read. This is a book I picked up because it was in the same section as No Touch Monkey!: And Other Travel Lessons Learned Too Late (which I didn't just put on hold). I thought I would like a story about living in luxury hotels after the backpacker book.
That's not exactly what this book was, though. I mean, there was that. There was about how to get free stuff if you're a rich, white, middle-class English guy with a law degree. But if, partway through the book, you start to get unc ...more
That's not exactly what this book was, though. I mean, there was that. There was about how to get free stuff if you're a rich, white, middle-class English guy with a law degree. But if, partway through the book, you start to get unc ...more
I'm not sure what I expected from this book. I think I expected inspiration and perhaps some perspective on myself, both of which I got. The book was a strong reminder to optimize life for happiness, and perhaps even ridiculousness, with a few hints and tips as to how to get a better hotel rate, some honest, some not.
The author came across as candid -- despite the book being so replete with confessions of lying, or "blagging" -- for which I am grateful. This level of candor is rare, especially w ...more
The author came across as candid -- despite the book being so replete with confessions of lying, or "blagging" -- for which I am grateful. This level of candor is rare, especially w ...more
This book was suggested to me by a good friend and I am so glad I picked it up. Paul gives you a window into his life of the beginning years of his nomad-living experience. Cover-to-cover wit keeps you hooked. The whole story is hilarious, informative, TMI, and absolutely brilliant. It's of course entertaining to see what he is capable of doing to keep things interesting (especially with an alcohol problem) but I learned so much about traveling smart... this book will pay for itself with the mon
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This is the terrible (and hilarious) story of a terrible (and hilarious) man, his misadventures, and his growing realization of what's causing many of these adventures. I came across this book while reading about travel points, and I thought this was a book about travel hacking. It is...kind of (who knew the secret to finding affordable housing in SF?), but more than that it's the story of a guy's admission of alcoholism. And there is SO MUCH drinking in this book that I began to feel nauseated
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I loved Bringing Nothing to the Party, and loved this book as well. It is both the style of writing and the topics that I like in these books. Even though this is the last book I started reading, it is also the first I finished in a long time.
I am happy that Paul will release a third book Bringing Something to the Party (hopefully soon)
I am happy that Paul will release a third book Bringing Something to the Party (hopefully soon)
Paul Carr has a ridiculous plan to abandon his pricy digs in London and save money by living as an expatriate in hotels around the world. A plan so ridiculous...it just might work.
The story is less about the mechanics of day to day living in hotels and more about how Paul's friends enable him in his bad habits and eventually save him from himself. ...more
The story is less about the mechanics of day to day living in hotels and more about how Paul's friends enable him in his bad habits and eventually save him from himself. ...more
Whatever the male version of Chick Lit is, this is it. A good casual summer read, that about 2/3rd of the way takes a twist I did not expect. The various anecdotes were interesting and funny to me, although I think it could have been edited down a smidge.
This book started out with promise, but devolved into self-important navel gazing. It's hard to say what would happen if I met Paul Carr in person, but I'm leaning toward punching him in the back of the head.
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Starts off really strong. Picked it up to just read a few pages, and before I knew it, I was half-way done. But eventually, reading about him blacking out and waking up in unfortunate scenarios starts to get sad and a tad boring. Glad he figured that out for himself.
The book was humorous and written in such a way to capture my attention fully. However, the book seemed to be more about Paul's fantastical drunken escapades than his experience living and traveling around the world, which I found disappointing.
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A great read. Well written. Interesting story. The fact it's all fact, no fiction makes it the great story it is.
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It's not very deep book and yet it's fascinating enough to swallow in one evening. A little bit of "4-hour work week" (or maybe "Up in the Air"), a little bit of Tucker Max's books.
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Entertaining diary about a man who drinks too much, doesn't know what he wants in life, yet manages to somehow hold on and find himself.
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enjoyable if a bit self absorbed - full review here
http://0651frombrighton.blogspot.co.u... ...more
http://0651frombrighton.blogspot.co.u... ...more
Not a bad read. Could be better.
Entertaining, it was a nice book to read on holiday.
It reminded me of 'Twitchhiker' by Paul Smith, so if you enjoyed that book then you should give this a read. ...more
It reminded me of 'Twitchhiker' by Paul Smith, so if you enjoyed that book then you should give this a read. ...more
Not amazing but a fun read that made me want to travel (though not Carr style). If you liked The Hangover you'll probably enjoy this.
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