'Patrick Richardson is an authentic traveller, who is intrepid, curious and endlessly resourceful. He writes about his unusual and adventurous journeys with eloquent zest, with an eye for the revealing, quirky detail, with an open mind and a carefully controlled lyricism. Like the best travel writers, he does not only journey through faraway places; he also journeys through his own imagination. He well understands danger, strangeness, difference and contingency; and he knows that the exotic is not necessarily glamorous. He is a master.'
'This is a record of the most sustained travelling I have ever come across. On tiny budgets, over forty years Patrick Richardson has probably seen more remote parts of the world than any other traveller. He is not looking for funny stories or opportunities to advertise himself; he merely seeks to be there, to see, to look, to listen and to witness. Cities generally leave him cold; it is to the rural, the village, the road, mountain and desert that he is drawn. These reports are at times almost melancholy, openly admitting to suffering, deprivation and isolation as much as to exultation. We, the readers, peek over his shoulder into the dizzying multiplicity of our planet. He has endeavoured to bring it all back home in this remarkable book.'
'Patrick Richardson’s travelogue and memoir is a joy to read. It takes you back to the time when travel was something we did for its own sake and the world was all to be discovered. Reading his fluid and evocative prose is like going down that dusty road again, not knowing where we’ll be tomorrow.'
THE HERALD Paperback of the week 18 October 2008 |
THE SCOTSMAN 25 October 2008 |
WANDERLUST Book of the Month DEC 2008/JAN 2009 |
SCOTTISH REVIEW OF BOOKS Vol Four Number 4 2008 |
THE GEOGRAPHER Spring 2011 |
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SUNDAY HERALD 26th Oct 2008 | SUNDAY HERALD 31 Aug 2008 | SUNDAY TIMES 19 October 2008 |
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