Review: The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson

Overview:

The hilarious and loving sequel to a hilarious and loving classic of travel writing: Notes from a Small Island, Bill Bryson's valentine to his adopted country of England

In 1995 Bill Bryson got into his car and took a weeks-long farewell motoring trip about England before moving his family back to the United States. The book about that trip, Notes from a Small Island, is uproarious and endlessly endearing, one of the most acute and affectionate portrayals of England in all its glorious eccentricity ever written. Two decades later, he set out again to rediscover that country, and the result is The Road to Little Dribbling. Nothing is funnier than Bill Bryson on the road—prepare for the total joy and multiple episodes of unseemly laughter.

Review:

Once again Bill Bryson proves himself as one of my favorite writers. His descriptions of quaint and not-so-quaint towns throughout Britain paints such vivid pictures. Plus, who wouldn't love Bryson's sense of humor? From concerns about society's march toward total stupidity to his personal struggles at McDonald's, the jokes are clever and relatable. But perhaps where Bryson shines most is in describing the history of each location, his experience, and how time has treated the place. His thoughts on the British rail system are just one example of Bryson's intelligence.

The Road to Little Dribbling is engaging and charming, much like I imagine Bryson to be. Part history lesson, part personal adventure, this book is definitely a love letter to Bryson's adopted land.

Review: A Thousand Days in Tuscany

Overview:

American chef Marlena de Blasi and her Venetian husband, Fernando, married rather late in life. In search of the rhythms of country living, the couple moves to a barely renovated former stable in Tuscany with no phone, no central heating, and something resembling a playhouse kitchen. They dwell among two hundred villagers, ancient olive groves, and hot Etruscan springs. In this patch of earth where Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio collide, there is much to feed de Blasi's two passions--food and love. We accompany the couple as they harvest grapes, gather chestnuts, forage for wild mushrooms, and climb trees in the cold of December to pick olives, one by one. Their routines are not that different from those of villagers centuries earlier.

They are befriended by the mesmeric Barlozzo, a self-styled village chieftain. His fascinating stories lead de Blasi more deeply inside the soul of Tuscany. Together they visit sacred festivals and taste just-pressed olive oil, drizzled over roasted country bread, and squash blossoms, battered and deep-fried and sprayed with sea-salted water. In a cauldron set over a wood fire, they braise beans in red wine, and a stew of wild boar simmers overnight in the ashes of their hearth. Barlozzo shares his knowledge of Italian farming traditions, ancient health potions, and artisanal food makers, but he has secrets he doesn't share, and one of them concerns the beautiful Floriana, whose illness teaches Marlena that happiness is truly a choice.

Like the pleasurable tastes and textures of a fine meal, A Thousand Days in Tuscany is as satisfying as it is enticing. The author's own recipes are included.

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Review:

I found this book utterly enchanting. Marlena de Blasi has a way of describing an ordinary day that transports it to anything but ordinary. She captures the beauty in everyday life, and of course her description of life in Tuscany are magical. Every time de Blasi described a meal, I felt I could taste all the flavors coming together; as a result I was often quite hungry while reading. I've used some of her recipes, and the food has been divine. 

Having spent some time living in Italy myself, it was nice to be reminded of the slower way of life. Reading about days spent harvesting olives or baking bread; the daily rituals of breakfast at the bar, made me long to return. de Blasi has such a way with language. She paints such a vivid portrait of her life in Tuscany and the family she creates there.

I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in food or travel. I cannot wait to read the rest of her books.

Review: No Baggage by Clara Bensen

Overview:

 

No Baggage is a memoir that will resonate with adventurers and homebodies alike—it’s at once a romance, a travelogue, and a bright modern take on the age-old questions: how do you find the courage to explore beyond your comfort zone? And can you love someone without the need for commitment, or any expectations for the future?

When Clara Bensen arranged to meet Jeff Wilson on the steps of the Texas State Capitol, after just a few email exchanges on OKCupid, it felt like something big was going to happen. Clara, a sensitive and reclusive personality, is immediately drawn to Jeff’s freewheeling, push-the-envelope nature. Within a few days of knowing one another, they embark on a 21-day travel adventure—from Istanbul to London, with zero luggage, zero reservations, and zero plans. They want to test a simple question: what happens when you welcome the unknown instead of attempting to control it?

Donning a single green dress and a small purse with her toothbrush and credit card, Clara travels through eight countries in three weeks. Along the way, Clara ruminates on the challenges of traveling unencumbered, while realizing when it comes to falling in love, you can never really leave your baggage behind.

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Review:

 

The book chronicles a three-week vacation- where Bensen and maybe-boyfriend Jeff bring nothing but the clothes on their backs. Interspersed are memories of Bensen's nervous-breakdown and how she met Jeff.

 

I found the book to be disjointed. The trip really took backseat to relationship worries that painted Jeff as almost entirely unlikable, and Bensen slightly unbalanced. There was also quite a bit of time spent exploring Bensen's "existential crisis,' which read more like a self-indulgent fissy fit. Rather than garnering sympathy, it all felt very forced and melodramatic. I would have like to learn more about Bensen's travel experiences, and how her grand no baggage experiment played out.

However, all that criticism aside, Bensen is clearly an intelligent and skilled writer. Her research into the scientific and mathematical implications of coincidence or Greek philosophers is stellar. Her thoughts on the nature of being are quite interesting as well.

 

I understand that Bensen and Jeff continue to travel sans baggage. I'll be interested to see how future writing manifests itself.

 

*I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Review: A Beginner's Guide to Paradise by Alex Sheshunoff

Overview:

So You Too Can:

- Move to a South Pacific Island
- Wear a Loincloth
- Read a Hundred Books
- Diaper a Baby Monkey
- Build a Bungalow

And Maybe, Just Maybe, Fall in Love! *

* Individual results may vary.

The true story of how a quarter-life crisis led to adventure, freedom, and love on a tiny island in the Pacific.From the author of a lot of emails and several Facebook posts comes A Beginner's Guide to Paradise, a laugh-out-loud, true story that will answer your most pressing escape-from-it-all questions, including:

1. How much, per pound, should you expect to pay a priest to fly you to the outer islands of Yap?
2. Classic slumber party stumper: If you could have just one movie on a remote Pacific island, what would it definitely not be?
3. How do you blend fruity drinks without a blender?
4. Is a free, one-hour class from Home Depot on “Flowerbox Construction” sufficient training to build a house?

From Robinson Crusoe to Survivor, Gilligan's Island to The Beach, people have fantasized about living on a remote tropical island. But when facing a quarter-life crisis, plucky desk slave Alex Sheshunoff actually did it.

While out in Paradise, he learned a lot. About how to make big choices and big changes. About the less-than-idyllic parts of paradise. About tying a loincloth without exposing the tender bits. Now, Alex shares his incredible story and pretty-hard-won wisdom in a book that will surprise you, make you laugh, take you to such unforgettable islands as Yap and Pig, and perhaps inspire your own move to an island with only two letters in its name.

Answers: 1) $1.14 2) Gas Attack Training Made Simple 3) Crimp a fork in half and insert middle into power drill 4) No.

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Review:

Having orchestrated my own move to a foreign country, I really enjoy reading about others' experiences. A Beginner's Guide to Paradise follows Alex Sheshunoff's adventure after he leaves his life in New York City for life on a remote Pacific island. I found the story sincere and real, There were plenty of opportunities to over-sell hilarious mishaps or wax poetic about life in paradise. But Sheshunoff doesn't do that. He presents his experience: the funny, the serious, the daring, and the... cheesy?? There were moments when I felt the story dragged a bit. There were quite a number of experiences I wish were explored more fully.

 

All that being said, I thought it was a charming and delightful read, and definitely recommend this book.

 

* I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Review: This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance! by Jonathan Evison

Overview:

 

With her husband Bernard two years in the grave, seventy-nine-year-old Harriet Chance sets sail on an ill-conceived Alaskan cruise only to discover that she's been living the past sixty years of her life under entirely false pretenses. There, amid the buffets and lounge singers, between the imagined appearance of her late husband and the very real arrival of her estranged daughter, Harriet is forced to take a long look back, confronting the truth about pivotal events that changed the course of her life.

Jonathan Evison has crafted a bighearted novel with an endearing heroine at its center. Through Harriet, he paints a bittersweet portrait of a postmodern everywoman with great warmth, humanity, and humor. Part dysfunctional love story, part poignant exploration of the mother/daughter relationship, nothing is what it seems in this tale of acceptance, reexamination, forgiveness, and, ultimately, healing. It is sure to appeal to admirers of Evison's previous work, as well as fans of such writers as Meg Wolitzer, Junot Diaz, and Karen Joy Fowler.

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Review:

 

Jonathan Evison has created a real, and all too human, portrait of a life in This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance. As I hopped around through Harriet's life, I could relate to all the hopes, dreams, heartache and disappointments. Harriet was lovable, aggravating, funny, and mean. I couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her, but I suppose that's what life is... all the ups and downs along the way. Nothing is perfect, yet that's what makes life interesting.

It wasn't until the last paragraphs that I realize how philosophical this book was, or that the story was drawing to a close. I would have liked to spend a bit more time with Harriet.

I would highly recommend this book.

Recommended: The Reluctant Tuscan by Phil Doran

Overview:

 

After years of working on a string of sitcoms, Phil Doran found himself on the outside looking in. Just as he and his peers had replaced the older guys when he was coming up the ranks, it was now happening to him. And it was freaking him out. He came home every night angry, burned- out, and exhausted. After twenty-five years of losing her husband to Hollywood, Doran’s wife decided it was finally time for a change—so on one of her many solo trips to Italy she surprised her husband by purchasing a broken-down 300-year-old farmhouse for them to restore. The Reluctant Tuscan is about the author’s transition from being a successful but overworked writer-producer in Hollywood to rediscovering himself and his wife while in Italy, and finding happiness in the last place he expected. In the witty tone that made him a success as a writer in Hollywood, The Reluctant Tuscan captivates those who simply love a good travel narrative as well as anyone who loves the quirky humor of Bill Bryson, Dave Barry, and Jerry Seinfeld.

Review: The Road Less Graveled by Wendy Laird

Overview:

The Road Less Graveled is the account of a family that escapes a collapsing economy and the overscheduled American lifestyle, at least temporarily, by following their dreams to Italy.

Part Tuscan idyll and part cautionary tale, Wendy Laird’s latest Kindle Single tells the flip-side story of expat existence, what it takes to make it happen, and how a life on a well-mapped trajectory can veer off course in the process. Laird’s beautiful prose and acerbic wit keep the book, if not her own agenda, on the right track

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Review:

If a line that begins like this: "And in keeping with the exasperating lack of class distinctions" is meant to be funny, I must have misplaced my sense of humor. Laird is arrogant, narrow minded and silly... at best. The Road Less Graveled reeks of false class. A spoiled, plain-jane middle-classer masquerading as a sophisticated jet-setter. She pokes fun at anyone who seems to have more sophistication or a bigger wallet. The "exasperated" English translations for Italian phrases become repetitive and dull.

I spent two stints living in Italy. Some experiences were wonderful, others less so, but I was always able to embrace the experience. I could accept that in Italy, Italians did things differently, but it didn't make it wrong. Laird spent the better part of the book complaining about how everything was done. For wanting to spend a year abroad, she appears ill-prepared for the experience.

. The later chapters are more reflective. Laird finally seems to be settled in Italy; however it was too late to find the family endearing. As a result their ultimate financial downfall doesn't garner much sympathy.

 I've read many books featuring Americans in Italy. Most were quite funny or inspiring. This was not one of them.

Three Romes by Duncan Fallowell

Overview:

 

In 1972 on a long summer vacation in a near-empty apartment; in September 1987 to track down the designer Valentino; in 2013 for a winter’s stay which – somehow – finds the author entering one of the most astonishing secret places in the world: three eras, three different approaches, but clearly all from the same hand. As original and provocative as ever, Duncan Fallowell takes the reader through his personal experience of the city on an eerie spiral of romance and comedy and wonder. This is Rome as you’ve never read it before

 

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Review:

 

Three Romes records Fallowell's visits to the Eternal City in 1972, 1987 and 2013. Part one reminded me of Jack Kerouac: rambling, conceptual, and slightly hazy. It felt ripped from Fallowell's diary. He was the intended audience. Part two reads as an article, perhaps for the Life & Style section for the Wall Street Journal.  Part three lands somewhere between the two. An established writer taking notes for himself, to use for a later published work.

 

Personally, I enjoyed the 2013 piece the most. Fallowell seems to have hit his stride; producing a piece that is atmospheric, suspenseful, engaging, and masterful. It was the only piece that really exudes 'Rome' for me. 1972 was a very individualized experience. An excellent example of creative writing, but not necessarily relatable. 1987 was interesting, but said little about Rome or Italy.

 

Recommeded: The Places in Between by Rory Stewart

Overview:

 

In January 2002 Rory Stewart walked across Afghanistan-surviving by his wits, his knowledge of Persian dialects and Muslim customs, and the kindness of strangers. By day he passed through mountains covered in nine feet of snow, hamlets burned and emptied by the Taliban, and communities thriving amid the remains of medieval civilizations. By night he slept on villagers' floors, shared their meals, and listened to their stories of the recent and ancient past. Along the way Stewart met heroes and rogues, tribal elders and teenage soldiers, Taliban commanders and foreign-aid workers. He was also adopted by an unexpected companion-a retired fighting mastiff he named Babur in honor of Afghanistan's first Mughal emperor, in whose footsteps the pair was following.

Through these encounters-by turns touching, con-founding, surprising, and funny-Stewart makes tangible the forces of tradition, ideology, and allegiance that shape life in the map's countless places in between.

Review: The Big House by George Howe Colt

Overview:

 

Faced with the sale of the century-old family summer house on Cape Cod where he had spent forty-two summers, George Howe Colt returned for one last stay with his wife and children. This poignant tribute to the eleven-bedroom jumble of gables, bays, and dormers that watched over weddings, divorces, deaths, anniversaries, birthdays, breakdowns, and love affairs for five generations interweaves Colt's final visit with memories of a lifetime of summers.

Run-down yet romantic, The Big House stands not only as a cherished reminder of summer's ephemeral pleasures but also as a powerful symbol of a vanishing way of life.

 

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Review:

 

A fascinating exploration of a family's history, and the house that bound five generations. Colt presents a history not only of the family, but of the tiny island the house resides. For anyone that had a family vacation home as a child, you'll easily be reminded of those days long past. Additionally, Colt presents not only a portrait of a time long gone, but also the evolution of each generation. His reflects on "The Big House" speaking specifically to his family's history, but also captures the A fascinating exploration of a family's history, and the house that bound five generations. Colt presents a history not only of the family, but of the tiny island the house resides. For anyone that had a family vacation home as a child, you'll easily be reminded of those days long past. Additionally, Colt presents not only a portrait of a time long gone, but also the evolution of each generation. His reflects on "The Big House" speaking specifically to his family's history, but also captures the changes in American society in the last century. By the end, it is impossible to imagine this home in the hands of any other family.

Review: Without Reservations by Alice Steinbach

Overview:

 

"In many ways, I was an independent woman," writes Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Alice Steinbach. “For years I’d made my own choices, paid my own bills, shoveled my own snow.” But somehow she had become dependent in quite another way. “I had fallen into the habit of defining myself in terms of who I was to other people and what they expected of me.” But who was she away from the people and things that defined her? In this exquisite book, Steinbach searches for the answer to this question in some of the most beautiful and exciting places in the world: Paris, where she finds a soul mate; Oxford, where she takes a course on the English village; Milan, where she befriends a young woman about to be married. Beautifully illustrated with postcards from Steinbach’s journeys, this revealing and witty book transports you into a fascinating inner and outer journey, an unforgettable voyage of discovery.

 

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Review:

 

I found this book a refreshing departure from travel logs that are filled with minute details of each and every person, place, and thing the author encounters. Steinbach presents not only insights into what she's experienced, but is able to step back a recognize the person she was and the person shining through along this journey. Her reflections remind the reader that some things we carry with us whether we realize it or not.

Steinbach shares with readers the experiences, memories, and observations that stand out most from her "year of living dangerously." Her stories inspire travel... travel free of obligations and expectations. Without a roadmap of vacation destinations and activities, travel becomes a more surprising and reflective experience. I can't imagine anyone reading Without Reservations and not wanting a year of dangerously living themselves.