Travels with Alice

by Calvin Trillin

This delightful book collects Calvin Trillin's accounts of his trips to Europe with his wife, Alice, and their two daughters. In Taormina, Sicily, they cheerfully disagree with Mrs. Tweedie's 1904 assertion that the beautiful town "is being spoilt," and skip the Grand Tour in favor of swimming holes, table soccer, and taureaux piscine. In Paris, they spend a day on the Champs-Elysées comparing Freetime's "le Hitburger" to McDonald's Big Mac. In Spain, Trillin wonders whether he will run out of Spanish "the way someone might run out of flour or eggs." Filled with Trillin's characteristic humor, Travels with Alice is the perfect book for summer travelers.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Humor, Memoir, Food, Essays, Food Writing

216 pages, Paperback

First published July 23, 1999

About the author

Calvin (Bud) Marshall Trillin is an American journalist, humorist, and novelist. He is best known for his humorous writings about food and eating, but he has also written much serious journalism, comic verse, and several books of fiction.

Trillin attended public schools in Kansas City and went on to Yale University, where he served as chairman of the Yale Daily News and became a member of Scroll and Key before graduating in 1957; he later served as a trustee of the university. After a stint in the U.S. Army, he worked as a reporter for Time magazine before joining the staff of The New Yorker in 1963. His reporting for The New Yorker on the racial integration of the University of Georgia was published in his first book, An Education in Georgia. He wrote the magazine's "U.S. Journal" series from 1967 to 1982, covering local events both serious and quirky throughout the United States.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this charming, funny book about travel and food. In the beginning he discusses how Americans travel and I was laughing so hard it almost hurt. He talks about long summer trips in the backseat of a car driving across America. It reminded me of my youth when we took 3 weeks every summer and travelled across America and Canada. We would be driving across the more boring parts of Texas and my dad would yell at us to get our noses out of our books and look at the "lovely" scenery he spent thousands of dollars for us to see. Really? Sagebrush?

The book then evolves into a story of how he and his wife took their daughters around the world to experience food and culture, sort of. Part of the cultural hunt included finding the best hamburger in Paris and finding "baby foot" games in Italy. Baby foot is like the game Chandler and Joey played in "Friends."

Although a little outdated now, it was written in the 1980's, it is still fun.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Calvin Trillin seems like someone you’d like as a friend. He’s witty, full of good stories, and can appreciate the smaller pleasures the world has to offer. His writing suggests that it’s better to be warm, amusing, and inclusive than edgy, preposterous, and bigger-than-life. This book ties together anecdotes and observations from various trips he, his wife Alice, and their girls had taken through the years. Local cuisine was often a focus. My own wife and I liked Alice’s criterion for judging the gelati in Italy. (Crema is the perfect numeraire.) I also thought Trillin’s tip for fitting in at a Paris café was useful. (It involved staring abjectly into space muttering, “Quelle ironique.”) As a family, they enjoyed staying in the same out-of-the-way town in France every summer, indulging in local pleasures such as table-top foosball. Reading Travels with Alice we see the virtues of a more laid back approach to life, sans glitz. [Note to self: read Trillin’s homage to Alice written after she passed away – sure to be affecting.]

[Bev · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now this was more like it. Delightful travel book by this staff writer for the New York Times is essentially a food tour through So. France, Italy, New York, Barbados and parts between. I loved this book on so many levels, not the least of which was that most of the places he describes (in scrumptuous detail) are places where I have been. I love reading what might have been had we not been on a tour. Specifically, you must learn about taureaux piscine, which combines bullfighting and swimming. Seriously. Watch the video and read the description -- in-the-middle-of-the-curve.blogspot.com/2007/11/taureaux-p.... This is the kind of touring I'd like to do if (a) we were rich and (b) Walt enjoyed eating as much as I do. (Alice, by the way, is Trillin's wife, often referred to as la principessa.)

[Susy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book in a "to be sorted" box of my sister Alice. For a 20 year old little travel memoir written for his beloved wife Alice, Calvin Trillin delights with his witty and urbane narratives of some of their favorite destination spots. While others might wear themselves out seeing all the sights in Provence or Capri, the Trillons and their travel friends find the best cafes to enjoy pommes frites among other delights and people watch. I have some new destinations on my bucket list after reading this book.
It was also fun to read it knowing that my mother had chosen it and read it first before giving it as a gift. Boy, was she clever "back in the day".........

[jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trillin recounts his travels all over the world with his wife Alice and their two daughters and various friends. The essays are often about food, but also about culture, language and Trillin's obsession with "babyfoot" across Italy. I especially liked the essay about his need to verify the authenticity of American-style fast food at the Champs-Elysees by dragging four children around the neighborhood and forcing them to eat and critique burger after burger.

[Elise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Darren found this book very distracting, primarily because I kept chuckling aloud as I read it.
His descriptions of touring Italy and the Caribbean searching for perfection at each meal, while his wife pursued her own search for gelato bliss are amusing anecdotes. It brought back lovely memories of our trip to Italy last year.

[Tracey Gemmell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to love this book as it's billed as a humorous account of travel and exploring new cultures. The snippets on the back cover are funny and pulled me into purchase. Once inside, I found my mind wondering too often and frequently put the book aside. However, I'm grateful for the inspiration to visit many of the places mentioned. That alone made it worth the effort.

[Barbara Mader · Rating 4 out of 5]

a twenty-something could not have written this book.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm halfway through this lackadaisical tour through Europe -- if in the 19th century they took the Grand Tour, this would have to be dubbed the Mini Tou -- and charmed by its irreverence and sly wit. My favorite sentence so far sums up everything wrong with the way this family approaches taking their kids to France and everything right with it as a summer vacation:

"I realize that in the matter of parents' responsibilty to pass on some appreciation for the culture of the Western world there is an argument for raising a child in a home where Santa Croce has never even once been referred to as 'the big church near the babyfoot bar." Still, I couldn't help imagining the looks on the faces of the local champs when Sarah's attack shot slammed into the goal. I had a feeling that babyfoot was Sarah's game.

[MariaK · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't like Trillin's writing at all. Way too many adjectives that clutter the text, too much beating around the bush. He goes on and on and on about Mrs. Tweedie's opinions on Taormina; if I wanted to read pages and pages of someone else's views, I would have bought that someone else's book. Then he goes on and on about "taureaux piscine", a fun and curious activity which became very boring and annoying after reading about it for the Nth time. Overall I think Trillin tried too hard to be funny and entertaining that he overloaded his text with repeated information and unnecessary "decorations".

[Sally Bennett · Rating 2 out of 5]

Usually, I love travel memoirs. This one, however, was just too much for this vegan, animal-rights reader to handle. Mention of unusual meals seemed to contain only animal parts, and the topic seemed to be the focus of each chapter. If not the eating of, then the exploitation of animals (taureaux piscine) told in an isn't-this-funny and who-cares-about-the-animals way.

A seasoned traveler myself, I understand and appreciate all the differences in cultures, and that's what I'd hoped to discover in this book. It just really wasn't the kind of writing that I looked forward to reading. I quit reading at Page 70.

[Kara · Rating 2 out of 5]

not for me. this was given to me as s book club pick, so I worked through it (even though it took me a while). I thought the author came off as kind of an entitled dick (like, I think it's his humor? but I can just picture my eyeballs rolling out of my goddamn head if I spent any time with him). I think I would've been more interested if it focused more on the "with Alice" instead of the "travels," but I suppose that's a different genre.

also keep in mind that I have 0 interest in traveling and even less of an interest in elaborate foods so

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want to hang out with Calvin. His idea of a special trip is a tour of Renowned Neighborhood Taverns of the Industrial Midwest. But because he loved (LOVED) his wife Alice, they went on special trips to Italian gardens, French villages and Caribbean islands, and ate everything in sight. Calvin appreciates taureaux piscine on a higher level than most people. This was a library book, but I need to own it, in case of emergency.

[Ak · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nearly done. Started out very funny, then the humor quickly petered out - at most a half-smile every ten pages or so. Can't shake the impression throughout that the entire book is a thinly veiled excuse to brag about his or family members' [fill in the blank - discernment, brilliance, precocity:]. Also gives the plain impression that he greatly favors his younger daughter to his older, which is distracting and a little disturbing.

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book about travel in which Trillin spends most of his time describing great meals he has had. As a special bonus we learn about the sport taureaux piscine, in which players attempt to get a bull to chase them into a swimming pool. I am tempted to travel to France just for that. Here is a video of a bull that seems to be having a great time leaping in and out of the pool in pursuit of teenage boys: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf4K_...

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very pleasant book, except for the last part about his wife’s super expensive birthdays. A series of very loosely connected travel essays about Europe and the British Caribbean, it is like Paul Theroux light for the well healed upper middle class. Or for readers who like travel books but don’t want to be troubled with history, insights, or the people who live in the visited countries.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet, silly, and utterly lacking the service element so ubiquitous in travel writing today. I especially liked his quest to bring Italian to the West Indies (his hatred of the food in the Caribbean is a foundational tenet, as is his deep devotion to his wife and the idea that the best travel experiences involve just "hanging around").

[Martha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This funny book flags a bit at the end but until then it's a laugh out loud travel book whose adventurers eschew cathedrals for doing a survey on the best places to buy gelato. I am thinking this was out of the box travel writing for the 80's. Now hunting down the golden mushrooms and scarfing up creamy crap soup is to be expected. I hope Trillin was as fun a dad as he comes across here!

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweet, funny travel memoir, centered on the author's love of food! Made me long to be in France or Italy again, or at least chowing down on the cuisine :) Extra poignant because of Calvin Trillin's great love for his late wife, Alice.

[Annie Bentley Waddoups · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining book of essays about travels with his wife and daughters. I love Calvin Trillin: funny, self-effacing, warm. This made me want to travel the globe with my family (not that I needed any real persuading...)

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Calvin Trillin is always amusing and since he writes about food, my favorite subject, I always find something to enjoy in his writing. That said, this was not my favorite. Too slow paced and his humor did not have the natural flow that it usually has. A bit forced.

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trillin has a great sense of wit to liven up his travelogue of foreign destinations. I enjoy his obsession with food, and his easy going way. He seems the perfect man to travel with a wife and two daughters. If you like reading about other people's travels, you will enjoy this book.

[Leila Cohan-Miccio · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want the Trillin family's life - a world in which a magazine dude and an educator can afford a brownstone in the village and take a month long vacation every year. I also just want to meet Calvin Trillin. He is the best.

[Ronn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had this book sitting around for quite a while before I finally got around to reading it. Trillin's travel writing is as entertaining as his food writing, and almosst as food oriented as his food writing.

[Andrea Paul Amboyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a mix of truly charming and hilarious essays of a man traveling with his wife and daughters and some essays that are a little underwhelming.

[Tony · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite travel and food writer.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. It's one of a few that I've actually read more than once. I love his style and humor, and I love his descriptions of pre-McDo French food and culture. "TAU-REAU PISC-INE!!"

[kristy · Rating 4 out of 5]

not exactly a food book but that's primarily why i read calvin trillin's books...more of an entertaining travel book, a light read.

[Edith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such warm and funny and loving stories about travelling with someone you love. Of course, travelling and food and love are bound to make for love and generosity.

[Amy Tashjian]

Love Calvin Trillin and love reading about food - have just started this one but for you friends out there in the USVI there is a mention of eating in STT.