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Come Away With Me by Sarah Macdonald (ed)Sarah McDonald’s Holy Cow was the successor to Almost French in the women-go-travelling-and-find-themselves publishing explosion that was spearheaded by Random House a few years ago. Now Macdonald is back: back in Australia and back in the book market. This time she’s using her name as the attention-grabber for Come away with Me, a collection of short nonfiction tales from travel writers and other types.Published 28 February, 2005 Come away with Me (ed by Sarah Macdonald, Bantam, $22.95 pb, ISBN 1863254579, December) ** Sarah McDonald’s Holy Cow was the successor to Almost French in the women-go-travelling-and-find-themselves publishing explosion that was spearheaded by Random House a few years ago. Now Macdonald is back: back in Australia and back in the book market. This time she’s using her name as the attention-grabber for Come away with Me, a collection of short nonfiction tales from travel writers and other types. There are some terrific names assembled here—Nick Earls, Christopher Kremmer, Peter Moore—but unfortunately they do not save what I found to be a patchy collection of writing. The collection begins well with a great story about the saunas of Russia from Irris Makler, before descending into Nikki Gemmell’s self-indulgent tale of a trip to EuroDisney. It’s at this point that the book seems to turn into one for people that used to travel. The collection closes with a piece from Sarah Macdonald about moving back to Sydney to have her first child, which has echoes of the Gemmell piece. I’m sure this book will find a market, the cover design fits well with the genre and the names are recognisable to readers, but I would recommend it with caution. One small irritation: the author’s name across the headers of their pages would have been much more useful than the title of the story and the collection. Eliza Metcalfe is AB&P’s editorial coordinator This review from Australian Bookseller & Publisher magazine is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2004, Thorpe-Bowker More from Travel Book Reviews
A book to appeal to animal lovers, Stanley and Sophie is about one woman’s journey after the death of her husband and the two dogs that join her along the way. Australian-born Kate Jennings, the author, lives in New York and after her husband dies, she ends up giving a terrier called Stanley a home.18 March, 2008 
Weiss is marriage-less, childless and of Czech origin, so decides to abandon her life in Sydney and spend a year in Prague. She goes because there is nothing to stop her, but finds it isn’t as easy as she first thought.23 February, 2008
Daytripper by Simon Webster
Daytripper could be the epitome of ‘a fun read’. It’s not a book you sit down and read cover-to=cover—the bite-sized entries and cross-referencing throughout make that clear—but as a weekend reference and something to leaf through with a grin, it’s hard to imagine how it could be better.10 January, 2008
A Venetian Bestiary by Jan Morris
This small, slim book about animals is not as insubstantial as it looks. Jan Morris's writing is as rich and colourful as ever, and her knowledge of the history and the little-known sights of Venice provides her with a rich source of material.6 December, 2007 
What if everyone travelled through life without an ‘us and them’ mentality? The author of The People Next Door is a Walkley and Human Rights Commission award-winner who has lived and worked in Indonesia for many years.2 February, 2007 
This is a book to read and savour slowly. Ibn Battutah, set off on his travels from Tangier in 1303, at the age of twenty-one. He was as full of curiosity and as attracted by novel situations and characters as any modern travel-writer, and perhaps he had a witty and ironical turn of phrase which kept those who later listened to his travel stories enthralled.2 February, 2007 
First the facts: the dog fence starts near the Western Australia-South Australia border and runs 5600 kilometres across three states to end near the coast in southern Queensland, where an enterprising dingo can just walk around the end of the fence.2 February, 2007
Spain by the Horns by Tim Elliott
An encounter with a bullfighter in Sydney leads Tim Elliott to Spain, hot on the trail of Jesulin, a young, charismatic and talented bullfighter dubbed ‘the Beckham of bullfighting.’ Elliott already has a passion for Spain and the Spanish and, through Jesulin, he hopes to uncover even more about this flamboyant country and perhaps even get to the heart of its colourful people.19 December, 2005
The Perfect Glass of Wine by Ben Canaider
It sounds like a good life to me—being paid to travel the world, drink wine and write about it in a witty and iconoclastic way. Ben Canaider has carved a nice niche for himself as the groovy, unpretentious, tell-it-like-it-is guy in a field that is all too often pompous and opaque.11 December, 2005 |
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