Neither here nor there

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Douglas Kennedy

‘To the western mind’, writes Douglas Kennedy, ‘Egypt has always been a land apart — *the cradle of history and human culture*, as one guidebook put it — filled with the symbolic left-behinds of one of civilization’s first big trial runs... But what about the modern state lurking behind this mythic realm? While countless travel chronicles have been written about Egypt the Immortal, few writers have ever undertaken journey through the contemporary Egyptian condition.’ In this clever, quirky and highly original travel book, Douglas Kennedy takes us on such a journey as he loiters with intent in modern Egypt. Sidestepping the usual assortment of pyramids, Ptolemaic temples and other ancient debris, he instead finds himself encountering an Egypt far removed from the common ‘archaeological theme park’ image — an Egypt where Bedouin watch American television in an oasis on the edge of nowhere...where monks in a desert cloister know a thing or two about word processors... where an entire community of Cairo's poor have set up residence in a cemetery… and where a young law student can simultaneously express his devotion to the word of Allah and to the songs of Michael Jackson. He discovers an Egypt delicately balanced between a multitude of conflicting identities; a major Arab nation struggling to find its way in the late twentieth century, while attempting to keep the gathering forces of Islamic fundamentalism at bay. *Beyond the Pyramids* is a dazzling chronicle of travels through a landscape strewn with incongruities; a landscape peopled by a vivid supporting cast of intriguing characters, whose stories all form part of Kennedy's pungently funny, compulsively entertaining, yet ultimately serious portrait of Egypt today.

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Susan Orlean

"In My Kind of Place, Susan Orlean takes readers on a series of remarkable journeys in a uniquely witty and sophisticated travel book. In this collection of adventures far and near, Orlean conducts a tour of the world via its subcultures, from the heart of the African music scene in Paris to the World Taxidermy Championships in Springfield, Illinois - and even into her own apartment, where she imagines a very famous houseguest taking advantage of her hospitality."--BOOK JACKET.

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Lawrence Durrell

With the publication of Justine Lawrence Durrell became, almost overnight, one of the most talked about, widely acclaimed novelists of the decade. Now, in Bitter Lemons, his focus has shifted from the world of his imagination to life itself. Writing in the exquisite poetic prose that critics have hailed as unequalled in contemporary literature, he tells the perceptive, often humorous story of his experiences on the island of Cyprus -- first as a visitor, then as a householder and teacher and finally as Press Advisor to a government on the verge of revolution. Partly because of his ability to speak fluent Greek, but mainly because of his rare understanding of the people of Cyprus, Durrell found a ready welcome in the little village where he chose to settle. His portrayal of the warm, friendly people among whom he made his home is but one of this book's many delights. There are vivid pictures of the villages on their ways of life, the ancient edifices, the flowers, mountains and sea, the sunlight that gave the island its unique, peaceful quality. There are, too, hilarious descriptions of the problems of buying a house and teaching English in the local high school, where all the girls fell in love with Durrell and showered him with presents of roses, poems and even a special kind of meatball. Gradually, however, life on the sunny island was darkened by political turmoil which exploded into a revolution when Cypriots, crying for union with Greece, rose up against the British. Durrell movingly recounts the slow deterioration of the political situation and the part he tried to play in helping both sides to understand each other. Finally forced to admit defeat, he resigned from the post he had held for two years as Press Officer and left the island.

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Jerome K. Jerome

Three feckless young men take a rowing holiday on the Thames river in 1888. Referenced by [Robert A. Heinlein][1] in [Have Spacesuit Will Travel][2] as Kip's father's favorite book. Inspired [To Say Nothing of the Dog][3] by [Connie Willis][4]. [1]: [2]: [3]: [4]: