City Travel Guides > Books > Travel Writing

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.McCarthy's Bar: A Journey of Discovery in Ireland (A Lir Book)
City Travel Guides > Books > Travel Writing
by: Pete McCarthy

March 15, 2001
This is a humorous - at times hilarious/laugh-out-loud funny/need to quote to the nearest person - travel book by an English man exploring his family ties to Ireland. Pete McCarthy travels across Ireland in the hopes of answering the question: "do I belong here?" Along the way, he paints the picture of a country that has changed due to a rapid economic boom - a place where the old and the new sit side-by-side in what seems to be a very tenuous balance.

Pete believes that one should always stop and have a drink in a pub that bears one's name. Since McCarthy is a popular surname in Ireland, he gets plenty of chances to sip the devil's brew while getting to know the local folk. This is, I suppose, how travel books should be written ... Read More:
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.A Small Place in Italy
City Travel Guides > Books > Travel Writing
by: Eric Newby

June 09, 1995
The urge to escape the comforts, routine and refinements of our living conditions to somewhere more challenging, primitive and raw is something that many of us feel - especially those who read books. The books we read can sometimes stimulate the urge, sometimes satisfy it. All I ask of such books is that the author can write well and that he is not boastful.

Eric Newby, especially in "A Small Place in Italy", meets these requirements admirably. Indeed, he ranks for me as a travel writer of near genius. He was almost 50 years old when he and his Italian born wife Wanda took up permanent residence in a ruined farmhouse in northern Italy. His account of the trials and tribulations that followed, the neighbours and the locality, is told ... Read More:
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.Spain
City Travel Guides > Books > Travel Writing
by: Jan Morris

August 07, 2008
The urge to escape the comforts, routine and refinements of our living conditions to somewhere more challenging, primitive and raw is something that many of us feel - especially those who read books. The books we read can sometimes stimulate the urge, sometimes satisfy it. All I ask of such books is that the author can write well and that he is not boastful.

Eric Newby, especially in "A Small Place in Italy", meets these requirements admirably. Indeed, he ranks for me as a travel writer of near genius. He was almost 50 years old when he and his Italian born wife Wanda took up permanent residence in a ruined farmhouse in northern Italy. His account of the trials and tribulations that followed, the neighbours and the locality, is told ... Read More:
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.In Sicily
City Travel Guides > Books > Travel Writing
by: Norman Lewis

September 07, 2001
This is a short book - 166 pages - and every page is a gem. Nearly every paragraph and certainly all chapters could be read on their own - they make sense, they read beautifully and, more often than not they are very funny. I read Naples'44 years ago and by accident picked up this book and straightaway remembered how brilliantly Lewis writes. I shall now go onto his other books having been a complete idiot not to do so earlier.
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.In Arabian Nights
City Travel Guides > Books > Travel Writing
by: Tahir Shah

May 05, 2008
This delightful book explores the ancient living tradition of storytelling that bridges East and West. Somehow this ancient oral skill seems to survive within contemporary Moroccan society at many more liberal levels of profoundity than we of the West can usually imagine. It is the contrast between the known and the unknown that Shah, like his father and grandfather, also both writers, so eloquently delivers to our minds. This is the work of a rare multi-culturalist, speaking to our hearts.
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.Pies and Prejudice: In Search of the North
City Travel Guides > Books > Travel Writing
by: Stuart Maconie

February 01, 2007
This is a superb book; although it has the appearance of belonging to the recently emerged sub genre of humorous and slightly outrageous travel writing, it quickly become apparent that there's far more to it than that. Maconie takes us on a selective tour of the North of England, visiting both his old haunts and other key areas, such as Liverpool, Harrogate and other parts of Yorkshire. Along the way, there are recollections of various amusing personal incidents and a stock of good one-liners, but alongside these, there's a depth of historical, cultural, political and social information and analysis, which is both well researched and convincingly argued. Well worth reading.
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.A Thousand Days in Venice: An Unexpected Romance
City Travel Guides > Books > Travel Writing
by: Marlena de Blasi

March 20, 2003
I purchased this book as I adore Italy, I have never been to Venice but it is on my lengthy list! I saw this book and I admit it, I fell in love with the romantic cover! The inside did not disappoint either, Marlena de Blasi creates rich vivid descriptions, conjuring up the smells, tastes and feel of Venice as she writes. Dotted amongst the descriptive text are delicious recipes of Venetian dishes, which I have not tried yet, but plan to.

The earthy sensuality of this novel unravels as you learn the story of an American lady moving to Venice and falling in love with Fernando, a Venetian man she meets. The beautiful thing about this book is the character's ability to take risks....of course some may say this unrealistic, and on one hand I agree, but ... Read More:
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.Anthony Bourdain Omnibus: "Kitchen Confidential", "A Cook's Tour"
City Travel Guides > Books > Travel Writing
by: Anthony Bourdain

August 16, 2004
The Kitchen Confidential part of the book was by far the best part for me; fresh, hilarious, useful and about the stuff Tony clearly knows best. The travels roud the world, tho still funny and well-written, got slightly tired and tick-boxy by the end, but I would still recommend this as a good read - especially the bit about returning to France. Just one question, what food was it in Cambodia that made Tony or the TV company wanna go there? hehe
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.The Worst Journey in the World
City Travel Guides > Books > Travel Writing
by: Apsley Cherry-Garrard

November 06, 2003
There are few books that have left so lasting impression upon me. This book deserves all the superlatives too casually granted other, lesser books. This man, so young, so lacking in cynicism, so loyal and idealistic will haunt your memory as surely as he was ever-lastingly haunted by the Antarctic and the loss of his companions. His writing is superlative, a true craftsman, he will lead you into this world and leave the impression of it upon you forever. I return to this book with reverence.
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.Wild: An Elemental Journey
City Travel Guides > Books > Travel Writing
by: Jay Griffiths

May 01, 2008
This Book is such a severe disappointment, Author is too self impressed with herself and also her knowledge of the English language almost as if How may big words can I fit in a sentence until it becomes complete Jibberish. Nothing wild about it at all apart from how uninspiring like an a-z dicitonary

Do not Buy waste of Money
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