Don't Tell Mum I Work on the Rigs: (She Thinks I'm a Piano Player in a Whorehouse) - Softcover

Paul Carter

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1857883772 ISBN 13: 9781857883770

Publisher: Nicholas Brealey Publishing Ltd, 2007

Synopsis

A take-no-prisoners approach to life has seen Paul Carter heading to some of the world's most remote, wild and dangerous places as a contractor in the oil business. Amazingly, he's survived (so far) to tell these stories from the edge of civilization. He has been shot at, hijacked and held hostage; almost died of dysentery in Asia and toothache in Russia; watched a Texan lose his mind in the jungles of Asia; lost a lot of money backing a scorpion against a mouse in a fight to the death, and been served cocktails by an orangutan on an ocean freighter. And that's just his day job. Taking postings in some of the world's wildest and most remote regions, not to mention some of the roughest rigs on the planet, Paul has worked, got into trouble, and been given serious talkings to, in locations as far-flung as the North Sea, Middle East, Borneo and Tunisia, as exotic as Sumatra, Vietnam and Thailand, and as flat-out dangerous as Columbia, Nigeria and Russia, with some of the maddest, baddest and strangest people you could ever hope not to meet.

About this title

Review:

'Carter's romper-stomper tour of the world's oil rigs - a highly enjoyable tale.' —The Glasgow Herald

'Great two-fisted writing from the far side of hell.' —John Birmingham, bestselling author of He Died with a Felafel in his Hand and Dopeland

'Here's one book you can probably judge by its cover. Paul Carter's memoir of his life as an oil man in some of the freakiest, most lawless locations in the world is not for the faint-hearted, as the name - borrowed from an old bumper sticker and now possibly my favourite book title ever - suggests. But if you've got the stomach for exploding monkeys , explosive dysentery, gunfights, hijacks and brothels staffed entirely by dwarves, you're in for a treat. Don't Tell Mum I Work on the Rigs takes the reader on a white-knuckle ride around the oilfields of Nigeria, Russia, Asia, the Middle East and South America, barely stopping for breath as it scrambles from one audacious adventure to the next, skipping from near death experience to side-splitting hilarity so fast you hope he's kept a few anecdotes up his sleeve for the next book.' —The Press and Journal, Aberdeen

'Carter's tales are always entertaining and offer a few unblinking apercus about Big Oil seen from the inside.' —Scotland on Sunday

'A unique look at a gritty game. Relentlessly funny and obsessively readable.' —Philip Noyce, director of The Quiet American and Clear and Present Danger'

If you think that working on an oil rig is all work and no play then red Paul Carter's book and you'll discover a side of being a roughneck that you never knew existed. His candid, autobiographical tale on life in the oil industry pushes the legal policy and bureaucracy to one side and delivers the realities of working in some of the most inhospitable environemtns on the planet and offers an insight into why the oil industry creates so many odd characters, alcoholics and psychopaths. All in all, it's a good romp through one man's life journey with a relentlessly funny take on what are rather serious situations.' —The Firm

'A Boy's Own yarn from the front line of the oil industry. The only chicks to make an appearance are man-eating prostitues, fantasy cheerleaders and a barmaid, Ah Meng (who happens to be an orang-utan).' —Kate Hamilton, Men's Style

'A fascinating and funny life story well worth the read.' —Sportsladmag.com

'Full of colourful stories and well-worn anecdotes accumulated over almost two decades working the oil rigs.' —TNT Magazine

'Paul Carter spins a good yarn. The disturbing this is that the yarns are real. Don't Tell Mum can be read in a single or dual sitting if you find the story captivating enough - and for most men, it would be. As the title says, it's about a bloke who works on an oil rig in some of the most dangerous places on earth - and not always getting danger pay for it. This autobiographical paperback is one of the most readable Lucire Men has come across.' --Jack Yan, Lucire Men

Book Description:

A take-no-prisoners approach to life has seen Paul Carter heading to some of the world's most remote, wild and dangerous places as a contractor in the oil business. Amazingly, he's survived (so far) to tell these stories from the edge of civilization.

About this edition

• Publisher: Nicholas Brealey Publishing Ltd
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1857883772
• ISBN 13: 9781857883770
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224