Globetrotters (or budding travellers, at least) and foodies will adore this collection of writings based on A A Gill’s travels across the globe.
Gill is one of my favourite writers. I love his precise turn-of-phrase; the way every single word he uses has a point and a value. His biting wit never fails to make me laugh and the vividness of his description is pure magic.
Here And There is coming up to its first birthday (it was released on 1 November last year) and is a collection of some of his finest writing pieces. As above, his prose manages to catapult the reader into the here-and-now with him: we’re tasting the dishes, surveying the sunsets and considering life in these far-thrown locations.
His acerbic observations have the power to intrigue and/or repel, and the breadth of his travels mean that almost every corner of the earth is covered in his writings. From New York to Istanbul and Ghana, Gill is the Louis Theroux of travel: investigating, exploring and presenting a different angle via his writing to that which we may have considered before.
If you’re not used to Gill’s writing, you may find the first chapter or so a little difficult. But persevere – it’s worth it, and will really open your eyes.
Here And There by A A Gill, published by Hardie Grant Books. £9.29 on waterstones.com
