The Top 5 Traveller Reads in December
Italy from Lonely Planet
From Assisi to Bologna and Venice to Rome this brick of a book has an opinion, a guide, a map, a recommendation, a phone number and everything you could possibly need – short of a solution to world hunger, poverty, war and disease. In other words no matter where your plane, train or hitch hike takes you – you will without a doubt find this guide useful. Vatican City and the Grand Canal of Venice might be the staple diet of your regular, pre packaged traveller but if like me you'd rather max out your credit card and bomb along the back roads of Italy in a hired, red sports car, then this will help. The lakes are irresistible described, the mafia death toll is duly noted and every inch of the stimulating and stunning Amalfi Coast is described in the pedantically consistent way that only the Lonely Planet guide writers know how to do.
Italy from Lonely Planet is published by Lonely Planet (paperback; £15.99). It is also available through shop.lonelyplanet.com and all good booksellers.
The Rough Guide to Tutankhamun by Michael Haag
Browsing through the Rough Guides website - you might be shocked to find a book list which has little or nothing to do with travel. This was not familiar or within the confines of my carefully constructed comfort zone but when the shock faded, the titles on offer appeared to be pretty impressive. Intrigued I opened up The Rough Guide to Tutankhamun and soon became enthralled in the yesteryear tales of discovery and a very well written chapter, documenting the curse of the king. If the fate of Howard Carter's canary in the jaws of a cobra (an Egyptian symbol of royal power) was anything to go by, the death of his colleague and his own nervous break down appear to be sure signs of the curse in action. It's enthralling stuff and the juvenile in all of us will be drawn to the photo of Tutankhamun's preserved penis on page 191.
The Rough Guide to Tutankhamun by Michael Haag is published by Rough Guides (paperback: £6.99). It is also available through roughguides.com and all good booksellers.
The Rough Guide to Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials by Paul Simpson
This is another titillating title in the new Rough Guide domain. This is also the fourth month in a row that Mr Pullman has been featured in the top five. Now after the luke warm conclusion to an otherwise mind blowing trilogy, this in depth analysis brings the trilogy back into the legendary and memorable domain and inches it away from the -world saved by love, genre. The threat from McCarthy –esk absolutist regimes is thoughtfully related to the plot, the trans-dimensional trips are tied into the modern day threat of climate change, the historical foundation of the trilogy's fictional magic is interestingly explained and the man behind said magic, is humanised in the opening biography. I might be biased but Mr Pullman has to be the British equivalent of Dan Brown, only with a little less academic obsession and a little more writing style. He was deemed a heretic for - God forbid, opening people's eyes to the way things work and entertaining them at the same time. If that's what it takes then I'm right there with him in camp Pullman. In a nutshell it's the literary equivalent to Cocaine – or so I hypothesise.
The Rough Guide to Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials by Paul Simpson is published by Rough Guides (paperback: £7.99). It is also available through roughguides.com and all good booksellers.
The Family Arsenal by Paul Theroux
When it comes to the world of travel writing Paul Theroux certainly set the bar high and titles like Hotel Honolulu are the subject of admiration and envy the world over. Mr Theroux is also something of a heavy weight in the world of fiction and this foray into the world of London slums in the 1970s is no exception to that stylistic rule. The indestructible and unavoidable relationship between poverty and crime is realistically explored and the terror incited by the IRA is recreated with a scary accuracy. Theroux's lucid descriptions represent a style that is yet unmatched and when historians look back on an era which is undeniably a scar of the twentieth century, it might be an idea to use The Family Arsenal as a point of reference. It's dark, addictive, well written and there isn't a fluffy kitten in sight. We likey!
The Family Arsenal by Paul Theroux is published by Penguin (paperback; £8.99). It is also available through amazon.co.uk and all good booksellers.
More Ketchup Than Salsa: Confessions of a Tenerife Barman by Joe Cawley
The relationship between Summersdale and the British Guild of Travel Writers seems to be stronger than ever and this month that partnership throws Joe Cawley, winner of Best Narrative Book 2007, into the Top Five spotlight. After my own twenty to thirty something holiday from hell on this island, I opened this book with a certain amount of trepidation. This read isn't to everyone's taste and the style is very much a one point perspective - but on the flip side the warts and all narrative is a genre in itself. In true Brits Abroad fashion – social stereotypes rule, the token dolphin spotting boat trip is thrown in and the inevitable bout of food poisoning features with some prominence. Think of this as a collection of your best drunken moments abroad – told by the person serving the social lubricant we know and love as alcohol.
More Ketchup Than Salsa: Confessions of a Tenerife Barman by Joe Cawley is published by Summersdale (paperback; £8.99). It is also available through amazon.co.uk and all good booksellers.
- Rob Savage
