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The Battle for Room Service : Journeys to All the Safe Places
Beginning in Timaru, reputedly the most activity-challenged place in New Zealand, Lawson travels through Australia and Canada, where he learns to be especially wary of any place named after Queen Victoria or her close relatives. After dropping in on Normal, Illinois, and Dead Horse, Alaska - place names in the quiet world are sometimes disarmingly honest - he travels through soothing Switzerland, Milton Keynes, and Belgium, before his journey's end in EuroDisney, Expo '92, and Center territories of Somewhere, the new tourist continent where, in a reversal of the usual rules of travel, countries come to you.
- GenresTravelNonfiction
Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
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About the author
Mark Lawson
75 books16 followersMark Gerard Lawson is an English journalist and author. Specialising in culture and the arts, he is known for his column in The Guardian, and for presenting the flagship BBC Radio 4 arts programme Front Row (1998-2014), and BBC Four's Mark Lawson talks to... series.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 19, 2013
I think there was the potential to write a good book (or at least a diverting one) on this topic, but Lawson seems entirely the wrong person to do it.
By his own admission in the introduction he doesn't go to these places because he feels any kind of affinity for them, or because he thinks there's something interesting to say about them, but because a) it's a relatively original pitch for a book, and b) he's too scared to go anywhere too exotic or potentially dangerous. From the outset he's made up his mind that these places are boring, and everything he does and sees just confirms his prejudices. It's not entirely clear what his idea of an exciting travel destination is, but judging from what he criticizes in the places featured in the book he seems to like big, noisy cities. Anything else is deemed "differently interesting". The stunning natural scenery of New Zealand, to take one example, is dismissed as merely something which "looks good on a postcard."
He's obviously a news junkie, as his main priority whenever he checks in to a new hotel is to tune in to CNN, and when he should be describing the places he visits he's instead detailing the day's current affairs developments (Charles and Diana's split, Ross Perot's election campaign, John Major and the ERM), which is not only irrelevant but also immediately dates the book. It's all very '90s.
His trip to Brussels tackles precisely two topics: the crappiness of the Mannekin Pis statue, and his reminiscences about the first time he was in Brussels as a student and his unrequited lust for another student in his group. We learn nothing at all about Belgium or its capital.
Some of his anecdotes are amusing, and he squeezes in some interesting historical information about most of the towns he sees (in the acknowledgments he admits that most of this info comes from Fodor's guidebooks), but this doesn't hide the fact that he doesn't really have anything interesting to say for himself.
He's also overly fond of excruciating puns, and keeps using the phrase "Even in America" when he clearly means "Only in America".
By his own admission in the introduction he doesn't go to these places because he feels any kind of affinity for them, or because he thinks there's something interesting to say about them, but because a) it's a relatively original pitch for a book, and b) he's too scared to go anywhere too exotic or potentially dangerous. From the outset he's made up his mind that these places are boring, and everything he does and sees just confirms his prejudices. It's not entirely clear what his idea of an exciting travel destination is, but judging from what he criticizes in the places featured in the book he seems to like big, noisy cities. Anything else is deemed "differently interesting". The stunning natural scenery of New Zealand, to take one example, is dismissed as merely something which "looks good on a postcard."
He's obviously a news junkie, as his main priority whenever he checks in to a new hotel is to tune in to CNN, and when he should be describing the places he visits he's instead detailing the day's current affairs developments (Charles and Diana's split, Ross Perot's election campaign, John Major and the ERM), which is not only irrelevant but also immediately dates the book. It's all very '90s.
His trip to Brussels tackles precisely two topics: the crappiness of the Mannekin Pis statue, and his reminiscences about the first time he was in Brussels as a student and his unrequited lust for another student in his group. We learn nothing at all about Belgium or its capital.
Some of his anecdotes are amusing, and he squeezes in some interesting historical information about most of the towns he sees (in the acknowledgments he admits that most of this info comes from Fodor's guidebooks), but this doesn't hide the fact that he doesn't really have anything interesting to say for himself.
He's also overly fond of excruciating puns, and keeps using the phrase "Even in America" when he clearly means "Only in America".
July 18, 2022
Such a very British approach from the viewpoint of a Londoner abroad. This is an unpredictably interesting book on the follies and foibles of countries which the author deliberately visits to: 1) criticize 2) belittle 3) praise (a little) . But it is FUNNY even when Lawson is dismantling the self esteem of one and all.
Highly recommended.
Highly recommended.
November 24, 2024
I stumbled on this travel book written 30 years ago in a second hand book shop. As I often read paperbacks when I want to sleep, its contents, and the places visited proved quite soporific.
However, the whole idea of visiting all the safe places, like Timaru, Milton Keynes and EuroDisney was amusing, and the nostalgic read about travel pre-9/11 was enjoyable
However, the whole idea of visiting all the safe places, like Timaru, Milton Keynes and EuroDisney was amusing, and the nostalgic read about travel pre-9/11 was enjoyable
March 19, 2018
A little slow and lacking zing in parts but entertaining.
May 11, 2009
Amazing book - the sections on the literary output of Lake Geneva and the allocation of breakfast rolls are brilliant, as is the description of how his father goes after those who questioned their relationship. The "jailbait" references are also very funny!
December 21, 2007
Well-written enough to make up for the dated (early 1990's) references, and clever, although the author does get a bit carried away at times.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews