The Further Adventures of an Idiot Abroad

Probably the best of all of Karl Pilkington's books to date, The Further Adventures of An Idiot Abroad broadly covers the same events as the second season of the TV show An Idiot Abroad, wherein Karl ticks items off a 'bucket list' - the 'things to do before you die' stuff like swim with dolphins - in his own unique and hilarious style. But it also goes into greater depth than the show (you can never have too much of Karl interacting with Pascha, the Russian taxi driver), as Karl also muses on items on the bucket list that he didn't experience (meet the Pope, join the Mile High Club, etc.) and why he can't be doing with them.

I didn't like that it shoehorns the third season of the show (the three-part special with Warwick Davis) into show more just a few pages at the back, as surely that trip was substantial enough to warrant its own chapter, or maybe even its own (shorter) book. But that's my only gripe; the book is hilarious and I was practically crying with laughter at points, both from the book and from the scenes from the TV show which the book would remind me of. Though I find quite a few books funny or amusing, there are very few which actually have the ability to make me forget myself and just bawl uncontrollably with laughter. This is definitely one of them.

To be fair, Karl's grumpiness about some of the supposedly amazing things you have to do before you die is warranted, particularly when noting how some of these things are now just busy, soulless tourist traps. Some of the things on the list have lost what was special about them, by becoming special," he notes on page 292 in a rare moment of genuine eloquence. Because although Karl's stuff is mainly about the laughs, he also presents to us the reality of travelling and experiencing supposedly life-changing activities. In a way, Karl Pilkington is Bullshit Man, the superhero he came up with to "stop people talking shit". You realise that whilst you may think you want to do all this stuff yourself, in reality you - like Karl - probably just want to sit at home eating biscuits and having a cup of tea. And when you can have a book as good as this one to keep you company, is that such a bad thing?" show less