Comments
Michael Palin's popularity as a travel writer and TV presenter is at its zenith. His likeable, unassuming personality and accessible approach to challenging foreign journeys is the perfect conduit for the reader and viewer: Palin does not come across as a hardy adventurer, but just as we ourselves might be if we were coping with exotic and bizarre locales. Hemingway's Adventure represents a remarkable progression and is probably his most engrossing book yet. Writing about Hemingway in Hemingway's Chair, Palin became fascinated with the life and travels of the hard-living writer. As he re-traces the writer's footsteps across the globe, he encounters an army of remarkable characters in his search for the truth behind the legend. From the writer's haunts as a child in North Michigan to the battlefields of Northern Italy, we are taken on a compelling and colourful epic journey that takes in running the bulls at Pamplona, dangerous safaris in Kenya and Uganda and (of course) Hemingway's beloved marlin fishing in Cuba. Palin's eye is as sharp and vivid as ever. Carnival in Venice, for instance, is presented in striking detail. The book itself is a beautiful object too: illustrated with many images from the TV series, it's likely to be on many a Christmas shopping list.-- Barry Forshaw
