Pho Foona

I was so excited to find this book as I've read a lot about the Democratic Republic of Congo, and I love both travel writing and road trips. Unfortunately, this was, overall, a truly bad book. A better title would have been "The Trials and Tribulations of 9Bob," because this book was about nothing else. No introspection, no humor, no relationship examination, and worst of all, no empathy for the desperate, impoverished people of a country that has been robbed by both its own government and foreign ones alike, non-stop for decades. Meanwhile this guy is handing out a dollar (through a half-closed car window, as he makes sure to mention, barf!) to each local he hired for a whole day's work of backbreaking tree-chopping! This wooden, tedious book has no depth whatsoever, just arrogance. This guy also dumps his poor girlfriend at the start of a big road trip where there is no escape from each other! He is all about himself. Chloe and Charlie are not explored at all; they're just side notes as this book is all about 9Bob and the potholes & fallen trees that junky Range Rover encounter; one tedious road obstacle after the next. Anyway....this is definitely one to miss!

Harry is no writer. I couldn’t finish this book, as it’s so cringey and reads like something written by a middle schooler. It’s full of whining pettiness, privilege and entitlement, and all from a middle aged man. Harry is so out of touch with the real world. Instead of being entertaining, his level of oversharing is just embarrassing.