Brian Bouldrey traveled to the island of Corsica, with its wine-dark Mediterranean waters, powdered-sugar beach sand, sumptuous cuisine, and fine wine. And then he walked away from all of them.
Bouldrey strapped on a backpack and walked across Napoleon's native land with the same spirit many choose to dance or drink: to celebrate, to mourn, to think, to avoid thinking, to recall, to ignore, to escape, and to arrive.
This wonderfully textured account of a two-week ramble along a famous Corsican hiking trail with his German friend Petra (she was good at the downhills while he was better at the uphills) offers readers a journal that is a launching point for reflection: thoughts on cultural differences, friendship, physical challenge, personal challenge, and getting very, very lost. Part travelogue, part memoir, and part lampoon, this book offers readers an impressionistic view of a little talked about yet stunningly beautiful landscape.
1 of 1 copy available
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
October 1, 2007 -
Formats
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9780299223236
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Open PDF ebook
- ISBN: 9780299223236
- File size: 2157 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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September 15, 2007
Bouldreys walk along the rocky spine of the fascinating Mediterranean island of Corsica becomes a fractured journey in his book, where travel journal, memoir, and social commentary dont so much blend togetheras in the best travel memoirsbut exist as separate strands of fine writing. Interspersed with descriptions of his actual trek in the company of his German traveling companion, the recently divorced Petra, are his ruminations on Why I Walk as well as hilarious anecdotes about his Midwestern youth and a devastating chapter on San Francisco gay life early in the AIDS epidemic. Bouldrey teaches creative writing at Northwestern University, and his own writing here certainly qualifies as creative. There are real gems as he describes his family life, his fellow travelers down Corsicas GR20, and his blue passport outing him as an American. His style is chatty, humorous, and self-deprecating, which makes for an enjoyable read. But the question remains as to just what category of book it is and whether it is more than an optional purchase for most libraries.Janet Ross, formerly with Sparks Branch Lib., NVCopyright 2007 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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September 15, 2007
Corsica is a 5,233-square-mile island in the Mediterranean, 80 miles east of Genoa, Italy. This book chronicles Bouldreys month-long travel experience there, mostly on foot, crossing the island from north to south. He posits that he wants to tells readers why it is that I spend so much of my spare time with a backpack strapped over my shoulders in order to hike, nearly every year, hundreds of milesand why others might do it, too. He hiked with Petra, a German friend, over the Corsican landscape of forests, canyons, mountains, and valleys filled with sheep, deer, pigs, wild horses, and beech and alder trees. Theauthor of six other books, Bouldreyhas edited three volumes of Best American Gay Fiction. Both a travelogue and memoir, Honorable Bandit is a moving story.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)
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