A Year in the World : Journeys of A Passionate Traveller
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A Year in the World : Journeys of A Passionate Traveller
by Authors:
Frances Mayes
Released: 14 March, 2006
ISBN: 0767910052
Hardcover
Sales Rank: 627
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List price:
$26.00
Our price:
$15.60
(You save: $10.4)
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| Book > A Year in the World : Journeys of A Passionate Traveller > Customer Reviews: |
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Average Customer Rating: 
A Year in the World : Journeys of A Passionate Traveller >
Customer Review #1:
Get Ready to Escape on a Nice Long Vacation
What would it be like to live in another country? Would it feel like home? Frances Mayes, author of Under the Tuscan Sun, tries to discover how one could feel at home in the different places she and her husband visit.
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lt;br /gt;The whole idea of "feeling at home" suggests that an individual needs to discover the in-depth reality of the people, culture and everyday life experiences of each destination. What fun Mayes has as she processes each experience with wonder.
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lt;br /gt;Delving into the history, along with looking through the eyes of poets and writers from these places, she experiences a bit of the past and present.
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lt;br /gt;Mayes would make a wonderful food critic, as her description of the large variety of cuisine she experienced makes drooling from the reader a possibility. The tapas tasted throughout Italy, rissoles in Lisbon or food passed around on the flight to Naples is a gourmet experience for the reader.
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lt;br /gt;Whether Mayes and her husband stay in castles, rented houses, hotels, monasteries, homes of people or are cruising to their destination, the delightful experience is thoroughly shared with the reader. Its fun to share in the shopping experiences and see what souvenirs Mayes picks up in different markets and the reasons she and her husband want the items. Treasures they find include a five-pound book from a museum in Madrid, CD of flamenco music in Sevilla, different foods or seasonings, tiles and animal skins.
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lt;br /gt;Travel adventures include Andalucia, Portugal, Naples, Taormina, Italy, Fez, Burgundy, The British Isles, Islands of Greece, Crete and Mani, Scotland, Turkeys Lycian Coast, Capri and Mantova. These are not in chronological order but listed as separate vacations. There is little mention of price for these trips. That may have been for the purpose of not marring the dreamy image of the freedom to go and do whatever an individual desires.
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lt;br /gt;Dip into this delightful escape and be refreshed as you feel more at home...away from it all.
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A Year in the World : Journeys of A Passionate Traveller >
Customer Review #2:
 Sadly, disappointed
While it is difficult to call anything that Frances Mayes writes "bad", she has not met my expectations with this one. I loved her books on Tuscany and anxiously awaited the publication of this one. Unfortunately, it falls short of the mark. I am a person who reads a book from front to back and only rarely skips though it or quits. With this one, I read the first two chapters and found myself looking for the index to see if I could find anything I found to be more interesting. I ended up selecting various chapters that seemed to be more intriguing and only read those (and out-of-order at that). I was able to read most of the book, but had to put it down in between each chapter. At times I felt like Ms. Mayes was trying very hard to impress us with her vast knowledge of history, literature, food and plants and the writing suffered.
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lt;br /gt;That being said, there are some wonderful portions of the book. I particularly enjoyed the section on Scotland and her chapters on Italy were up to her usual standards. In the Scotland chapter, she shares a country home with friends (in an effort to reconnect with them) and the inclusion of the more personal is very refreshing.
A Year in the World : Journeys of A Passionate Traveller >
Customer Review #3:
A bit of a disappointment
Some armchair travel books draw you in immediately. You feel as if you are accompanying the author, savoring every page. This book didnt.
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lt;br /gt;I almost didnt make it through the preface and first chapter of the book. It wasnt quite clear as to why the author and her husband resigned their positions for time and freedom. The journeys in the book were accomplished over a time period of several years, not just in one year as the title would suggest. Perhaps the time was needed to write this book with a lot of superlatives. A random selection of one page includes a grandiose exit, smeared sky, gold orb, and miraculous places in just one paragraph. I dont doubt that the author is a passionate traveller but Im not sure that she is any more so than most, if not all, of her readers.
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lt;br /gt;We enjoy stretching out our travel pleasure by reading good books about our favorite places. For us that is England and I really enjoyed the chapters on England and Scotland including the authors interest in gardens and gardening. I wished those two chapters were much longer. And, maybe that is part of the reason I was unable to sustain an interest in the book. Since so many areas are covered, there isnt as much information as wed like on any one of the individual journeys.
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lt;br /gt;For me, A Year in the World is pleasant but not compelling reading.
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A Year in the World : Journeys of A Passionate Traveller >
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