Getting Stoned with Savages: A Trip Through the Islands of Fiji and Vanuatu | 
 enlarge | Author: J. Maarten Troost
Publisher: Broadway
Category: Book
List Price: $12.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  36 reviews
Sales Rank: 11317
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.7
ISBN: 0767921992
Dewey Decimal Number: 919.59504
EAN: 9780767921992
ASIN: 0767921992
Publication Date: June 13, 2006
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Product Description
With The Sex Lives of Cannibals, Maarten Troost established himself as one of the most engaging and original travel writers around. Getting Stoned with Savages again reveals his wry wit and infectious joy of discovery in a side-splittingly funny account of life in the farthest reaches of the world. After two grueling years on the island of Tarawa, battling feral dogs, machete-wielding neighbors, and a lack of beer on a daily basis, Maarten Troost was in no hurry to return to the South Pacific. But as time went on, he realized he felt remarkably out of place among the trappings of twenty-first-century America. When he found himself holding down a job—one that might possibly lead to a career—he knew it was time for him and his wife, Sylvia, to repack their bags and set off for parts unknown.
Getting Stoned with Savages tells the hilarious story of Troost’s time on Vanuatu—a rugged cluster of islands where the natives gorge themselves on kava and are still known to “eat the man.” Falling into one amusing misadventure after another, Troost struggles against typhoons, earthquakes, and giant centipedes and soon finds himself swept up in the laid-back, clothing-optional lifestyle of the islanders. When Sylvia gets pregnant, they decamp for slightly-more-civilized Fiji, a fallen paradise where the local chiefs can be found watching rugby in the house next door. And as they contend with new parenthood in a country rife with prostitutes and government coups, their son begins to take quite naturally to island living—in complete contrast to his dad.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 31 more reviews...
 If You Liked "Sex," You'll Also Like "Getting Stoned" July 23, 2008
J. Maarten Troost is the funniest travel writer around today. Like his previous bestseller, The Sex Lives of Cannibals, this book takes him to remote areas of the Pacific to learn about the people, customs, dangers, and weirdness. Troost and his intrepid, "beguiling" wife Sylvia are adventurers most of the time, but cowardly when they need to be--for example, when standing on the ridge of an active, suddenly discovering they're swimming in an active shark area, or dealing with natives who just might be the last remaining cannibals. This books is entertaining, enlightening, and hilarious.
 more funny adventures in the middle of the pacific July 22, 2008
Centipedes from hell, landslides and plenty of naked dancing men. Now that's entertainment! I also admire any man who has enough balls to follow his woman to the ends of the earth. The only problem I have with the book is the title, but I know sometimes writers don't have much say in that area.
 First Sex, now drugs May 11, 2008
Not as good as the first, even though more timely. As I read about the coup in Fiji four years ago in Troost's book, the day's headlines on Yahoo.com included a story describing the continuing infighting!
Troost's strengths are not as a journalist, but as an observer of the cultural and social divides and denominators that bring us together and tear us apart. His first book, perhaps with the fresh eyes of innocence, was better.
Following The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific with Getting Stoned, I can't wait for the third installment on rock and roll.
Great for a quick, fun, light read! May 10, 2008
This was my first Troost book, and I found it laugh out loud funny, witty, and a light, fun, fast read. It was well worth the day it took to read it. I'm not going to suggest it was profound, thought provoking, or a must read from a literary sense, but it's one of those books that you read when you want something funny and light. It sounds like the people who first read "Sex Lives of Cannibals" were somewhat disappointed in this book. (Which just tells me that "Sex Lives of Cannibals" must be hilarious! Maybe everyone should read this one first.) Without having read that to compare to (therefore rating purely on a stand-alone basis), I found this book really enjoyable. Troost's witty humor, sarcasm, and ability to poke fun at himself make for an enjoyable read (especially between books tackling heavier subject matters). It's like taking your own mini vacation.
entertaining April 21, 2008
excellent book. funny and unpredictable. makes you believe you can invision his trips. highly recommended
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