emotionalpizza 's review for:

The Happy Isles of Oceania: Paddling the Pacific by Paul Theroux

2.0

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Unfortunately this book (written in 1992) focuses a bit too much on the white man's opinion of Oceanic culture. While his storytelling is excellent, I wanted this book to be a bit more about the natural setting, the physical and mental challenges of paddling itself. Instead, I experienced many diatribes on cultural differences, with gross comparisons between the poverty stricken Black Pacific Islanders and the "violence" of American rappers.

This book has not aged well.