- Paperback: 305 pages
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster (Oct 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0743276671
- ISBN-13: 978-0743276672
- Product Dimensions: 21.1 x 13.5 x 2.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,445,580 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
AA Gill Is Away
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More About the Author
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
AA Gill: waspish restaurant critic and destroyer of schlock TV, a figure who never comes across as a sensitive soul in his columns for the Sunday Times and GQ. His new collection of travel reportage, AA Gill is Away, frequently warns against travelling with preconceptions, though, and so it is no surprise to peel off that veneer and find a different sort of writer in this book.
Gill's assignments have taken him around the world in pursuit of the great stand-first: a visit to the worst place in the world (the Aral Sea), how to write a porno film in a weekend and the joys of owning a Rolls Royce. In accordance with what is clearly a whistle-stop lifestyle, his book takes us all over the world: to Sudan, Bethlehem, Los Angeles, Patagonia--and Wilmslow in Cheshire. His writing is usually acute and provocative, and the various African articles are particularly sharp as he rails against the creeping colonialism perpetuated by aid agencies and international finance, and the crass priorities of drug companies whose profits are in Prozac and not cures for malaria or sleeping sickness.
Inevitably with a ragbag collection of this sort, the quality of the pieces vary. At times, you feel that Gill has dragged out his copy for his editors, and at others there is a surfeit of metaphors in which Gill tries too hard to be funny. But his trademark fury polishes his prose, which usually retains its sharpness and succeeds in conveying the thrill of immediacy without which no travel writing can sparkle. --Toby Green --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
AA GILL IS AWAY by AA Gill AM AA Gill did an excellent event at the Hay Festival on Sunday 2 June and there has been masses of coverage for his collection of travel essays.GQ magazine have run an eight page illustrated extract from the introduction in the book, which is in their May issue, out now. The Sunday Times Travel Section have run a big piece about the Kalahari desert, which is similar to the one in the book but hasn't been used by the Sunday Times.Adrian is doing/has done the following interviews: Jonathan Ross Show (BBC Radio 2) live interview on Saturday 27th April for 45 minutes, Richard Allinson Show (BBC Radio 2) a pre-recorded interview to run Thursday 9th May; Nicky Campbell Show (BBC Radio 5 Live) live interview on Wednesday 1st May from 11 - 12noon with other guests and phone-in from general public; Cover Stories (BBC Radio Scotland), Muriel Gray is doing a pre-recorded interview to be broadcast on Thursday 9th May, Robert Elms Show (London Live) on 1 May and an interview on Loose Ends (BBC Radio 4), 4 May. Adrian has done the regular Q&Aslot for Scotland on Sunday which ran on 28 April, an interview with the Edinburgh Evening News, an interview in the Evening Standard, which ran on 1 May, an interview in DSide magazine (Irish Face), May issue, and in interview with Bol.com which will run around publication together with the Sunday Telegraph's Case History interview in their travel pages Reviews are starting to come in and they're excellent 'in this collection of 25 accounts of trips abroadhe comes across as both funny and compassionate.'Clare Heal, The Daily Express 'His reporting here is spot-on: clear-eyed, informative and compassionate...his work is always ...surprising, original, stimulating and, for that reason, always worth reading.'Lynn Barber Daily Telegraph 'This is one of those rare books that I never wanted to end. While I hate missing any of Gill's acerbic restaurant and television reviews, I'll no longer wince at the words 'AA Gill is away' printed on the bottom of the page. It means that I'm in for a real treat when he returns to tell me where he's been.'Lee Randall, Scotland onSunday 'His objective is to interview places, and perhaps this is why the feel of the journalism is compassionate.... Entertaining.'Sarah Jenkins TNT Maga
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
AA1,
By A Customer
This review is from: AA Gill is Away (Hardcover)
AA Gill is a maddening writer, but gets away with it because he's funny, prejudiced and original. Its hard to pin him down. He is snobbish about Cheshire and Monaco, withering about fashionistas in Milan, beastly to the huns, but adores Africa, Argentina and an English trailer park. Its a bit of a New Labourish divide and rule kind of trick - dropping little bombs of warmth and insight here and there to make you think he's not really an upper class, public schoolboy who secretly despises the oiks. But he does write supremely wittily and well and I read the whole book over two evenings. I would happily buy a follow up.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A world of difference,
By A Customer
This review is from: AA Gill is Away (Hardcover)
This book is essentially a compilation of travel articles already published in the Sunday Times. They are split into neat categories (North, South, East and West). Gill has chosen their order well and sets up each section with personal observations from his travels in that region.By far the most interesting part is the Introduction, it makes the rest of the book worth reading. It gives the reasoning behind the compilation and insights into Gill's development as a journalist as well as his goals. It is all classic Gill and so easily readable. The only flaw contained within the pages is saying that Ethiopia is home to Islam's third holiest site, and in the very next article claiming that Jerusalem is home to Islam's third holiest site. That aside, it is equally enjoyable to read cover to cover as it is to read just by articles that seem interesting.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
AA Gill is Away,
By iandliz (Dubai, UAE) - See all my reviews
This review is from: AA Gill is Away (Paperback)
I received this book for Christmas having never read Gill before. It is a collection of articles written for the Sunday Times and GQ magazine arranged geographically into chapters South, East, West & North.I think the book started well with the articles on Africa - the one on Uganda was outstanding. Throughout he challenges the reader: we all know the problems faced by people of Africa but how much do we really care? Do we get up and actively do something or do we turn the page and read about something else? 'East' had an eye-opening chapter about Japan, a country I now realise I know very little about, and an excellent one about the Aral Sea highlighting an ecological disaster that very few people know about. Towards the end of the book I began to get annoyed with Gill. He is scathing about the lifestyles of the wealthy in his articles on Milan and Monaco and points out that these lifestyles are about posing, parties and living the high life whilst, actually, the participants are lonely individuals who aren't really happy at all, despite their wealth. This brings me to my objection - Gill states in his introduction that he wanted to 'interview places', that's fine but in doing so he has watched the people and formed his own judgements without out appearing to speak to these people. Does he look at them and decide that they can't be intelligent or happy or that they're all the same - try speaking to them, they might surprise you! I liked this book and enjoyed Gill's writing and humour. The whole point of journalism is to inform and spark debate. I think giving 1* because you don't agree with his views or background is missing the point. I didn't agree with everything but it certainly got me thinking.
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