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Here & There: Collected travel writing
From acclaimed writer AA Gill comes this collection of travel pieces selected from his monthly column in Australian Gourmet Traveller – ‘AA Gill is away’. Witty, acerbic and often moving, these pieces are far from standard travel writing fare.
Touching on tourism, airports, world cuisine and countries including Madagascar, Iceland and Albania, Gill’s perspective is often controversial and always unique. He ponders Italy’s ability to turn organised crime into a tourist attraction, stumbles upon lobster-shaped coffins in Ghana, contemplates the Darwinian drive of bastardised dishes around the globe, explains why Johannesburg is the luckiest place in the unluckiest continent and considers the great black lake of tears that immigration leaves behind.
With an introduction and extra piece written exclusively for this collection, Here and There showcases the very best of Gill’s hilarious and insightful travel writing, and is a must read for anyone who is curious about the world we live in.
Touching on tourism, airports, world cuisine and countries including Madagascar, Iceland and Albania, Gill’s perspective is often controversial and always unique. He ponders Italy’s ability to turn organised crime into a tourist attraction, stumbles upon lobster-shaped coffins in Ghana, contemplates the Darwinian drive of bastardised dishes around the globe, explains why Johannesburg is the luckiest place in the unluckiest continent and considers the great black lake of tears that immigration leaves behind.
With an introduction and extra piece written exclusively for this collection, Here and There showcases the very best of Gill’s hilarious and insightful travel writing, and is a must read for anyone who is curious about the world we live in.
273 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 7, 2011
39 people are currently reading
374 people want to read
About the author
A.A. Gill
36 books102 followersAdrian Anthony Gill was an English journalist. He was the author of 9 books, including The Angry Island. He was the TV and restaurant critic and a regular features writer for The Sunday Times, a columnist for Esquire, and a contributor to Vanity Fair. He lived in London.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
September 28, 2013
British author AA Gill has become one of my favourite travel writers. Sure anyone can write about travelling to exotic places, or finding joy on your own doorstep, but Gill does it in such a way that I can’t ever begin to explain. Sure he’s witty, but it’s more than that, he has a unique way at looking at the world.
It is well documented that Gill actually dictates his stories rather than writing them as he is dyslexic. In that sense, he becomes a storyteller in my eyes. Here & There: collected travel writing is made up of selected articles from his monthly column in Australian Gourmet Traveller; close to 60 slices of charm, most only four pages in length.
Too many to review, but one that springs to mind worth a mention is Bombay Dreams. “Travellers can be divided into two categories: those who travel to get away from people, and those who travel to find people. …One is all about you, the other…about everyone else.” For the record, Gill believes the humanity commuters are the storytellers, the others, self-regarded bores. Which beckons the question, which type of traveller are you?
It is well documented that Gill actually dictates his stories rather than writing them as he is dyslexic. In that sense, he becomes a storyteller in my eyes. Here & There: collected travel writing is made up of selected articles from his monthly column in Australian Gourmet Traveller; close to 60 slices of charm, most only four pages in length.
Too many to review, but one that springs to mind worth a mention is Bombay Dreams. “Travellers can be divided into two categories: those who travel to get away from people, and those who travel to find people. …One is all about you, the other…about everyone else.” For the record, Gill believes the humanity commuters are the storytellers, the others, self-regarded bores. Which beckons the question, which type of traveller are you?
May 29, 2012
This is a terrific read! The book was funny all the way with A A Gill smart and sauve dry humour , this is a must read if you dream about travelling or a avid traveller already, A A Gill breaks all those traditional prejudices with this travelogue or travel memoir of his. He has travelled to every darned place in the world including Iceland or Greenland!
A A Gill is essentially a renowned food critic and is dyslexic (I Did some research) , he actually dictates and technically doesnt write. But this British author is just brilliant, I want to read all his other books now!
A A Gill is essentially a renowned food critic and is dyslexic (I Did some research) , he actually dictates and technically doesnt write. But this British author is just brilliant, I want to read all his other books now!
November 7, 2016
Excellent little book of travel writing by noted British travel writer and food critic, A. A. Gill.
Interesting, and thought provoking, though Gill's style may not be for everybody. He comes across at times as a little bit pompous, but his sense of humour is almost stereotypically British.
The perfect book for the armchair traveler.
Interesting, and thought provoking, though Gill's style may not be for everybody. He comes across at times as a little bit pompous, but his sense of humour is almost stereotypically British.
The perfect book for the armchair traveler.
June 16, 2013
On the one hand, this is a travel book, of sorts. On the other, a wonderful set of short stories, with glorious and rich descriptions of the world, witty, sarcastic, biting and humorous observations about people and places. The author has a way with words, and I spent much of this book simply enjoying his wonderful prose. I can't say I know too much more about places he visited, but I do feel I've been there now - sat in the heat of Chad ("You get the feeling that Chad is only a country because cartographers, like quilt makers, can't abide gaps"), mulled life in a cafe in Paris, and kicked the sand out of my sandals on some beach in the Pacific.
Some quotes:
* "It was the Spanish who had the uncharacteristically blue-sky idea of taking interest out of travel, of removing the place from the destination" - on the mass UK Spanish holiday style. Lovely observation.
* "Everything you think of with slowness comes with an accompaniment of sybaratism. Slow soup, slow-ripened peaches, slow kisses."
* "Ghanaians don't just wear their hearts on their sleeves, but in repeat patterns all over their bodies."
* "Fashion is a vanity of temperate climates."
Some quotes:
* "It was the Spanish who had the uncharacteristically blue-sky idea of taking interest out of travel, of removing the place from the destination" - on the mass UK Spanish holiday style. Lovely observation.
* "Everything you think of with slowness comes with an accompaniment of sybaratism. Slow soup, slow-ripened peaches, slow kisses."
* "Ghanaians don't just wear their hearts on their sleeves, but in repeat patterns all over their bodies."
* "Fashion is a vanity of temperate climates."
July 26, 2012
AA Gill's style, flair, wit, unique voice (sometimes very politically incorrect, but he doesn't care!), eye for detail, and ability to put into words what may at first have seemed intangible...all this makes 'Here and There' a supremely pleasurable, enchanting and eye opening read. This isn't the usual travel writing of do this, eat that, but rather one that will make you think about what it means to be a traveller, to embark in journeys.
July 11, 2014
Вцелом неплохая книга. Свежий взгляд на самые отдаленные уголки планеты - от Свальбарды до Гаити Но мне совершенно не понравилось читать филосовские зарисовки автора на отвлеченные темы. А они занимают половину книги.
October 8, 2015
Though pithy in places, overall it felt like a collection of random ramblings of a curmudgeon.
February 11, 2020
I'm not usually one for reading acollection of writings, but this from travel writer A.A.Gill is very good, a collection of columns from Australian Gourmet Traveller.
"Every place is three places. A trinity, seperate but indivisible. A place is first the place you imagine, then the place you see, and then finally the place you remember. They are all distinct, they're all related, all different, though none of them remain the same. The place you imagined is changed by the place you see, and that in turn changes as everything does. And memory is as ethereal as a performance that alters with every retelling".
I loved Gill's perspective on places I've seen, places I want to visit and places I've never before considered.
Enjoyable summer read
"Every place is three places. A trinity, seperate but indivisible. A place is first the place you imagine, then the place you see, and then finally the place you remember. They are all distinct, they're all related, all different, though none of them remain the same. The place you imagined is changed by the place you see, and that in turn changes as everything does. And memory is as ethereal as a performance that alters with every retelling".
I loved Gill's perspective on places I've seen, places I want to visit and places I've never before considered.
Enjoyable summer read
January 15, 2019
Loved it!
It’s an adventure of the highest sort from beginning to end What a gift the author shares, his own intellect and experience! I d definitely grown from thee reading!such a loss he is no longer with us.
It’s an adventure of the highest sort from beginning to end What a gift the author shares, his own intellect and experience! I d definitely grown from thee reading!such a loss he is no longer with us.
May 23, 2020
Прекрасный сборник эссе о жизни в соседнем дворе и на другом континенте. Живо, вдумчиво, с иронией и местами с сарказмом, захватывающе описывает журналист прогулку в соседнем парке или поездку на крайний север
December 18, 2020
I enjoy having a book of short stories or essays by the bed, so that I can read something ‘self contained’ before sleeping. This is a cracking collection of travel stories. Keenly and humorously observed and beautifully written. I recommend.
November 16, 2018
Loved it! He was a wonderfully talented writer with great wit
April 8, 2019
Works as a selection of short anecdotes. I prefer it in the newspaper. But Gill's writing is witty and cynical and on point.
April 9, 2019
Wish I had started reading this writer earlier. Brilliant.
June 26, 2019
Прекрасный слог, даже в те моменты, когда не очень согласен с автором. Очень рекомендую!
December 7, 2022
Wonderful read, I do miss his columns.
May 18, 2025
A re-read and well worth another
March 21, 2017
Interesting collection of travel writing by an author I had not read before. Much food for thought.
September 7, 2018
Smart, funny, clever, articulate...
January 31, 2015
I am an unabashed A.A. Gill fan. I love his work in Vanity Fair and have read a number of his collections. I get that his acerbic wit is not for everyone but he strikes the right balance for me. This collection centers on his travel writing, and if anything, its too gentle. The bite he uses in Vanity Fair is missing here and its a stretch to call a few of the chapters "travel writing" (what does the song Happy Birthday have to do with travel?) but I still love him. I freely admit that he does tend to get carried away, saying the same things six times in a single paragraph, but at least one of those six will contain a clever and unexpected turn of phrase. His insights are sharp and go well beyond the standard travelogue fare. Not his best collection, but absolutely worth the time.
October 25, 2013
A sublimely curated collection of travel articles by A.A. Gill. What makes this book such an interesting read and a real page-turner, are the keen insights and highly honed observational skills that A.A. Gill applies to mundane issues, a skill no doubt perfected in his incarnations as a restaurant critic, as well as a cultural commentator for The Sunday Times. Magnifique!
November 30, 2013
Full of broad stereotypes about nations yet full of hilarious anecdotes and observations, great insights (and not just into travelling), and stunningly vivid descriptions, all combining to produce some really tempting/off-putting/bewildering (delete as appropriate) impressions of various countries. Loved it.
September 3, 2020
This is some of the best travel writing you are likely to come across. I have read this book a couple of times now and never get bored of AA Gill's dry sense of humour and unique observations.
Picking this book up again reminds me how his writing was on a whole other level to his contemporaries and it is such a shame that there is no more. Highly recommend.
Picking this book up again reminds me how his writing was on a whole other level to his contemporaries and it is such a shame that there is no more. Highly recommend.
April 20, 2014
I love AA Gill's brand of snide criticism. That language is some Zorro-style sword work. Fittingly, my copy has pages and pages marked with a shredded boarding pass. And I'm now obsessed with going to Madagascar.
August 10, 2015
Not every single essay here is as brilliant as Adrian Gill can be but I would buy this book just for the stories about Rome ("Cashmere If You Can") and on pretentiousness ("Paree or Paris?").
I recommend this book to anyone who can appreciate intelligent humour and good writing.
I recommend this book to anyone who can appreciate intelligent humour and good writing.
January 31, 2016
This is a collection of the travel writings of A. A. Gill. who has an acerbic, biting way of looking at the world. Mostly very entertaining, sometimes thought-provoking views about countries, peoples and travellers.
August 2, 2013
Great collection of short articles on various aspects of the world and travelling it. Some thought-provoking, some inspiring, all of them wonderfully written.
August 18, 2013
First class. A A Gill is a travel writer, correspondent and philosopher. Highly recommended.
April 30, 2014
Only made it 37 pages, but I found the writing style (florid + snarky) too off-putting to continue.
May 3, 2014
If there is a better observer/reviewer/travel writer out there I have not read their work. AA Gill is one of a kind and we are all better for his amazing observations.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews