Book Review: A Rotten Person Travels the Caribbean : Kathika Travel Website

A book with the Travelers’ Tales imprint is often a reliably good read, but just come across one that’s better than good – it’s one of the funniest books I’ve read in ages. Gary Buslik’s A Rotten Person Travels the Caribbean, with its long but important subtitle, “A grump in paradise discovers that any place it’s legal to carry a machete is comedy just waiting to happen”, is a book full of stories about Buslik’s travels in the Caribbean, a region of the world which surely should have banned him from entering by now, if even half the tales in his book are true.

The opening story, for example, takes place in Mustique, a small privately-owned island in St Vincent and the Grenadines which has been known to host more than a few famous vacationers. But rather than have a story featuring a wild night out with Mick Jagger or Kate Moss, Buslik’s tale of Mustique centers on a run in with the late Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. It turns out, if you can believe it (and I’m inclined to, because it’s too odd and too funny to be invented), that Buslik accidentally urinated on Amin, who then became slightly obsessed with Buslik’s wife – so at least they had something to tell their friends back home.

This book continues in this vein, wandering throughout many parts of the Caribbean, sometimes focusing on the people they meet, or on domestic squabbles, or movies, or sharing a bit of history or culture – but whatever’s happening, it’s funny, and highly recommended.

photo credit: Topyti