BobHarris.com - Montserrat

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"Answer: A hilarious, engaging and highly entertaining book. Question: What is Prisoner of Trebekistan? (All right... that was sort of a lame Jeopardy! joke. But what can I say? It's a great book.)"

-- Paul Feig, creator of Freaks and Geeks, author of Superstud and Kick Me

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-- Orson Scott Card, author of Ender's Game

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"If super-intelligent space aliens invaded our planet and demanded to interview one member of our species to ascertain whether or not we human beings were logical, bright, kind, and entertaining enough to be allowed to continue, I would nominate, with all my powers of persuasion, Bob Harris."

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Books I'm Getting

Now available from the Crown Publishing Group, the kind folks who gave you Prisoner of Trebekistan!

Who Hates Whom:

Well-Armed Fanatics, Intractable Conflicts,
and Various Things Blowing Up
A Woefully Incomplete Guide™

“Revelatory... wryly funny about some very serious subjects... Harris's sly wit and infectious curiosity make understanding world chaos fascinating... witty, horrific, and necessary.”

— Boston Globe

“Only Bob could make a user’s guide to our increasingly hostile world this absorbing, this breezy, and—ultimately—this hopeful.”

— Ken Jennings, author of Brainiac: Adventures in the Curious, Competitive, Compulsive World of Trivia Buffs

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— New York Observer

“Fascinating, enlightening, and surprisingly: NOT TOTALLY DEPRESSING. A gimlet-eyed look at the world we endure that’s also suitable for enjoying with a gimlet.”

— John Hodgman, author of The Areas of My Expertise
and correspondent for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

Order now from Amazon—and pick up Prisoner of Trebekistan at the same time and save a few nickels.

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Montserrat

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Sunday, 22 April 2007

I'm way behind in posting stuff from this trip, a situation which won't be changing anytime soon, so bear with me.

But Montserrat. Man.

When I was in college, I first heard of Montserrat as the tropical haven where Beatles producer George Martin had set up a recording studio frequented by everyone from The Police to Elton John to Stevie Wonder to Lou Reed.

I read a little about it, and it sounded fantastic, a faraway and exotic place I never imagined I'd see.

Unfortunately, the island was largely wiped out by its long-dormant volcano in 1995. The capital of Plymouth was completely engulfed, the airport was destroyed, and about two-thirds of the residents left and never came back.

These days, most of the island is a closed-off Forbidden Zone (actually, they call it the "exclusion zone," but same thing). In the last few months, the volcano has even started to get all rumbly again.

Still the remaining locals are doing their best to make a go of it, hoping to market (a) the island's lush beauty to adventurous tourists, and (b) large swaths of uninhabitable rock as building supplies to less unfortunate islands. I figured what the hell and flew over.

I was one of only three passengers on the flight in. This didn't bode well for the whole tourism thing.

The island truly is gorgeous. In its day, it must have been one of the most beautiful places on earth. On the west coast north of the exclusion zone, there are still barely-touristed beaches you can spend some of the nicest days of your life on.

You can even spot occasional moments of marvelous dark humor.

But what the travel guides I read never mentioned -- but common sense should have told me -- is that most of the people you meet in Montserrat are still the same survivors who lost everything. Their lives have never been the same. And most of their families have moved away. There is an emptiness here.

And when the volcano is in sight and a resident raises their eyes, there's often a haunted look on their face that soon tries to reproduce itself on yours.

And on an island this small, it's impossible not to be reminded.

If you're in the Caribbean, it's worth a visit and a stay. You'll see beautiful stuff every waking minute, your memories will ache with the beauty and sadness, and you'll be helping nice people who could use a break.

Montserrat. Man.