Show Me the Magic: Travels Round Benin by Taxi

by Annie Caulfield, Andy L Smith (Illustrator)

This is a travel book about Dahomey (Benin) - an inhospitable country in Africa where corruption is rife and where Catholicism shares a place with Gri Gri, the local Voodoo. The muslim north of the country is arid and tough, whereas the south is colourful, sophisticated and artistic. The countryside ranges from pretty English rural, to arid sub-Sahara. Annie experiences this country of contrasts from the back seat of a taxi driven by a wacky control freak called Isidore.

Genres: Travel, Africa, Benin, Nonfiction, Western Africa, Memoir

372 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Annie Caulfield (1959-2016) was a British stage and radio dramatist, scriptwriter, and author. She was born in Northern Ireland, but lived in England for most of her life. Her Television work included Grim Tales, This Life, Comic Relief, Bosom Pals, and Voodoo Spice. She worked for many years as a scriptwriter for comedian Lenny Henry. Her previous book, published by Penguin, was Show Me the Magic: Travels Around Benin by Taxi.

Reviews

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is hilarious and accurate (at least from the tourist perspective). Why anyone would read this if they didn’t already have an interest in Benin is beyond me, but if they did, they’d be pleasantly surprised. If you plan to visit Benin, this is a great primer. If you plan to live here, there is much to be learned from this book as long as you remember that living in a place will change your perceptions considerably. If you’ve never heard of Benin, you’re not alone. Prepare to be humorously enlightened.

[Rhoda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my read the world selection for Benin.

Benin was the first country I had trouble getting a book from, however I’ve had a few more since purchasing this book!

My first preference is to read a book by an author from each country. I could only find 1 book from a Beninese author that had been translated to English, but the only place I could find that would send a copy to me in Australia was going to cost me $170 AUD ($115 USD). Yeah....no.

So I had to go with Plan B, which is to read a book set in that country, which is where this book comes in.

Show Me The Magic tells of the author’s two trips to Benin within a short time frame (6 months apart), where she hires Isidore as her taxi driver to drive her to a number of different places around Benin.

This was an informative and quite fun book of Annie and Isidore’s adventures of traveling around Benin and I loved the dynamic between the two, as they frequently bickered and sulked with each other when they got tired.

I found some of the translations of Benin’s sayings hilarious, such as their reference to ‘bicycle chickens’ which are not the fat ones good for eating, but the ones that run around (or ‘bicycle’) all day, so they are lean and muscular with not much size to them....and therefore not good eating 😂

I also loved that they just dropped in to visit random kings in the country (Benin has a number of kingdoms). I thought it was a really fun read and probably had a lot of great information for anyone going there as a tourist. It certainly made me intrigued with Benin. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Stephanie Spence · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m sad the author is no longer living, I loved Caulfield’s voice. I found this book from The Travel Book by Lonely Planet and found it informative and hilarious. I was born in New Orleans, and being Cajun French I grew up around voodoo. I loved learning about gri gri in Benin and now hope to visit there someday. What more can you ask from a travel book than to inspire you to a new adventure. I could see this book inspiring a movie as well.

[Michelle Lopez · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was my book choice for Benin. I thought it was mildly interesting. It is full of great information about Benin- maybe more so than any other reading the world challenge book I’ve read so far, but it is a bit slow and at times stories pop out of nowhere and end just as abruptly.

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are coming to Benin, you should read this!

[Alice Mutasa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this book; it's brilliantly funny, warm and fascinating. Really made me want to visit Benin!

[Mary Isaac · Rating 3 out of 5]

Benin
52 book challenge 27 book has a map

[Niccy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very readable and I learned lots about Benin - made me want to go there.

[Marsha]

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[Jean Matthews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Benin- round the world reading challenge.