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Tim Moore |
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First published in paperback by Abacus, 2001 February 22 as Continental Drifter, with subtitle Taking the Low Road with the First Grand Tourist). First UK hardback by St Martin's Press, 2001 July titled The Grand Tour, with subtitle The European Adventure of a Continental Drifter. Abacus paperback re-published 2002 May 2 ISBN 0-349-11419-6 . St Martin's Griffin paperback published in USA 2002 June as The Grand Tour, with subtitle The European Adventure of a Continental Drifter.
Normally, I avoid reading blurbs until after I've read the book. Unfortunately, this often gets reversed where I happen across a reference to a book dealing with naturism, since blurbs can be relied on to pick up on any reference to nudity. At least the Abacus blurber seems to have read Continental Drifter, and gives a pretty fair pen picture of what's inside the covers: "Treading an uneasy line between Coryate's turnip-stealing frugality and the bawdy self-indulgence of the later Grand Tourists, Moore's confrontations with Continental croupiers, nudists, sugar-beet farmers and offshore welders are a grotesque blend of Raldrick and Blackadder." The problem is that the confrontations noted are either not confrontations at all, or are amongst the more mundane or less interesting encounters. Why not mention the violin bowmaker, for example? Or the snowplough which brought both enormous annonyance and unexpected joy?
Tim Moore has been a freelance travel writer for some years. His work has often appeared in The Observer, whose critic apparently said of Continental Drifter: "the British heir to Bill Bryson". Leaving aside the fact that Bryson is still very much alive and writing, I think this viewpoint both over-simplifies and misleads. Unlike the overwhelming majority of readers, I don't care for Bryson, and I find Moore's writing least enjoyable where it most resembles Bryson's ridiculing of those he meets. Fortunately for me, Moore is happy to applaud and praise where he feels it is appropriate, and is disarmingly frank about the extent to which his various troubles are self-inflicted or result from his own awful choices.
The book is the story of an extended trip made in the footsteps of Thomas Coryate, a jumped-up not-quite gentleman who, in 1608, was probably the first Englishman to attempt a Grand Tour. Moore is brilliant at explaining the context and extent of Coryate's achievements (and his less laudable accomplishments), as well as providing a guide to Grand Tourists over the centuries, along with interesting information on the towns and countryside he visits. Much of the text is amusing or genuinely funny, and I really enjoyed this sometimes bizarre tale. From the point of view of naturism, the pickings are extremely slim - you can read the whole of his "confrontation with ... nudists" in the extract. Don't worry about the nudity, just get hold of Continental Drifter (under whatever title and subtitle it happens to be using) and enjoy an excellent mix of travel and historical writing.
Ratings:
| Nudity | Naturist nudity | A good read? |
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Last updated 2005 December 6.
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Other content Copyright © author Tim Forcer
