THAT BEAR ATE MY PANTS! ADVENTURES of a REAL IDIOT ABROAD. by Tony James Slater


Originally published in 2012.

Tony James Slater is a restless Englishman who loves to go out and see the world. The problem with all of this going out and seeing the world is that it costs a lot of money and he doesn't really have a lot of money.

Slater wanted to see South America so he applied to work at a wild animal rescue in Ecuador in exchange for food and a bed in a bunkhouse.

Slater has almost no experience working with animals and absolutely zero experience working with wild animals - but the rescue center is powered by an enthusiastic but largely unskilled labor pool, so he fits right in.

That Bear At My Pants is written in a series of small chapters (more than 60) that are also broken down into smaller sections. Its design makes it perfect as a bathroom reader. 

His experiences reminded me of a much more wild and dangerous version of my experiences working at a summer camp almost 40 years ago. That camp also was powered by an enthusiastic but unskilled but largely unskilled labor pool.

The only real downer to the book was the author himself. While he writes very clearly, the book is an autobiography and I did not find him to be a very likable person. He often attempts to make jokes that fall flat because he is not so much funny as he is obnoxious. 

The best example of his worst behavior invloves one of his fellow volunteers - a rich girl who bounces in and out of the rescue center two different times during his stay. She is obnoxious, difficult, spoiled and a know-it-all in the worst sort of way.

But, what James dislikes most about her is that she is ugly. He mentions it over and over - nearly as often as he mentions her bad behavior. He states that he would understand her behavior if she were a pretty young lady, but since she is ugly, her spoiled behavior is indefensible. (p. 131)

He is that blunt about it - calling her "a troll" that "must have fallen out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down, and then had the tree jump up and down on her screaming, 'Die bitch, die!'" (p. 132)

He goes on about her looks so many times. Look - I don't mind if he hates this obnoxious young woman, but going after her for her looks is petty and small and, for me, unforgivable. 

I won't even discuss his long term open affair with a married woman with children.

Like I said, the book could have been a lot of fun - but he's that guy that everyone knows who says a lot of stuff because he thinks he is funny, but he's just a big jerk. People read books to get away from guys like this.

I rate this book 2 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: That Bear Ate My Pants! Adventures of a Real Idiot Abroad.

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