About The Book

A hilarious collection of the best writing on the worst of travel.

Dave Barry once observed that “the human race is far too stupid to be deterred from tourism by a mere million years of bad experience” and that there is something deep within the human psyche that yearns to “introduce new bacteria into our intestinal tracts, learn new words for transfusion, and have all the other travel adventures that make us want to French kiss our doormats when we finally get home.”

Wish You Weren’t Here is an anthology of some of the funniest writing on exactly this type of travel. Cecil Kuhne, an experienced travel writer and editor of two previous anthologies, has assembled twenty-one fantastic pieces that span the continents as well as the centuries. P. J. O’Rourke attains “reverse enlightenment” on India’s Grand Trunk Road. Ludwig Bemelmans hides a toy poodle from an overeager butcher on a luxury ocean liner. Christopher Buckley learns the drawbacks of traveling with a group in the jungles of Belize, and Jerome K. Jerome experiences the downside of traveling with cheese. Wish You Weren’t Here is a delightful book, a sidesplitting read that will remind you why it’s good to be home.

Praise

“Most of the stories had me laughing out loud and contemplating shredding my passport.” —Steve Stephens, Columbus Dispatch

“A collection of 21 hilarious travel essays describing the worst travel experiences of some very funny writers.” —Judy Babcock Wylie, Chicago Daily Herald

“Will make you laugh at essays about trips even worse than yours was.” —Colette Bancroft, St. Petersburg Times

“Rife with adventure, adversity and human folly in far-off, complicated places.” —D. Grant Black, The Globe and Mail

“If there’s a theme linking these 21 excerpts, probably that ‘Hell is other people,’ particularly fellow tourists, and there’s not much you can do about it, so laugh. . . If these [writers] were the ‘other people,’ Hell might be fun.” —Jerry V. Haines, Washington Post