READING on LOCATION

Reading on Location is a country-by-country guide to the regions and cities made famous by both well-known and cult books. I talked about this title to Noelle McCarthy this afternoon on Radio NZ  National.

From the quintessential English city of Bath, featured in Jane Austen’s Persuasion to the South India of Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things and the Amazon of Mario Vargas Llosa’s La Casa Verde, this book is aimed at those who want to learn more about a potential destination, follow in the footsteps of a favourite character from a novel and get to know a destination through the eyes of a celebrated author.

New Zealand authors featured include Maurice Gee, Alan Duff, Patricia Grace, Keri Hulme, Janet Frame, Fiona Kidman, Witi Ihimaera, Katherine Mansfield, Ngaio Marsh, Frank Sargeson, C.K.Stead, Jenny Patrick, and Kevin Ireland. Lloyd Jones' Mister Pip is the title listed for Papua New Guinea.

Whether it’s visiting a restaurant featured in American Psycho or experiencing an event such as the running with the bulls in Pamplona through the eyes of Ernest Hemingway, Reading on Location will allow readers and travellers to get the most from their trips. I found the book  delightful and absolutely fascinating and I warmly recommend it to all booklovers.

Here are a few further examples of titles and places featured:-

Ivory Coast - The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver and A Bend in the River by V.S.Naipaul, Kenya - The Constant Gardener by John Le Carre and Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen, Edinburgh - Greyfriars Bobby, 44 Scotland Street, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Trainspotting and of course a piece on Rebus's Edinburgh.

About the Authors:
Luisa Moncada is a London-based editor and writer, who has contributed to several volumes on children's literature, science fiction and crime fiction.
She has also published essays on gender, literature, culture and history in such books as Contemporary Poets, African American Biography, Contemporary Dramatists, Film and Filmmakers and the World and its Peoples, among others. She is the editor of New Holland’s Poems and Readings for Funerals and Memorials.
Scala Quin is an editor. She has contributed to magazines and books, writing about children’s literature, science fiction, crime fiction and popular culture.

Publisher - New Holland - NZ rrp $24.99