Reports from Hell

by Chas Smith

A gonzo ride through the Middle East as only Chas Smith, the award-winning author of Welcome to Paradise, Now Go to Hell and Cocaine + Surfing: A Sordid History of Surfing's Greatest Love Affair, could provide. Follow Smith and his misfit band of merrymakers as they search for the true origins of Al Qaeda and endeavor to ride the unsurfed waves of Yemen all while exploring the slim opportunities for fun in the margins of our global war on terror and at what cost--even if it means eventual kidnapping by Hezbollah.

Genres: History

276 pages, Hardcover

First published June 9, 2020

Reviews

[Gordon]

One of the Worst Experiences of my Life

Good for Chas Smith, because he has certainly bamboozled a company into publishing this work, and a couple of hundred people into buying it. Presumably he has profited from this. So good for him, for pulling off this heist. The only thing that kept me going through this book was my own resolve to finish after I got halfway through and realized it would never get interesting.

Chas Smith spends 224 pages flailing desperately to make 2 pages worth of material interesting enough to multiply by 112x. His skills as a story teller aside (spoiler: they’re bad), his story just isn’t that interesting, but I don’t think he is aware of that. If anyone out there knows him, please do the world a service and tell him.

And he has given me and every other mediocre writer hope, because if he get can published three times, maybe anyone can.

[Glen]

Want to read what it would be like for a person with no introspection to travel the world of american war crimes? This is the book for you. Is it about surfing? He barely talks about it and isn't good at it. Is it about war? Most times he doesn't even know what conflict he's in or who is fighting in it. It's mainly an ironic journal on vapid selfish straight-man nihilism where you keep hoping for a realization that never comes.

[Lucas Ramirez]

100 pages too long. Yemen and the middle east stories were cool. Thought it was a surf book but honestly talked about surfing for a chapter. Good adventures tho but the end was dragging!

[Justin]

Probably the most bizarre memoir I've ever read. If a tale of Christian surfer bros fumbling their way through hotspots of Islamic terror sounds like your jam, then this is your book.

[Pierson White]

I expected a totally self absorbed surf journalism book about surfing in Yemen during the peak of the war one terroir. What I got: a journalism book through the lens of a self absorbed journalist that surfs probably a little bit better than me. I think his writing style is funny and I appreciate it.. sue me

[Cameron Lee]

It’s quiet a good light read, I have never surfed so my opinion isn’t biased but people don’t seem to like the author. The book alone is fun, but the faff around it makes the surfing scene seem full of egos and divas.

[Reader]

The 1st half, about their 1st trip to Yemen is a wonderful piece of engaging writing that anyone would enjoy, as is the telling of the Lebanon kidnapping, but the second half is much poorer, boring in places and lacking the energy and entertainment of earlier…

[Shortsman]

It's exciting, but he's not exactly the best writer. I wish he had more stories condensed into one book, since this one is short and he has more books anyways.

[Graham Whelan]

Incredible

[Christian Bruchman]

super fun adventure book. Author is funny. Stories through Yemen. Going to read his next book. Was a fun read

[Tyson Sommerville]

listened to audiobook on Spotify, very interesting and well read.

[Lisa]

He talks about his outfits more than anything else