Tales from the Torrid Zone: Travels in the Deep Tropics - Hardcover

Frater, Alexander

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0330375288 ISBN 13: 9780330375283

Publisher: Picador, 2004

Synopsis

Part memoir, part travelogue, Tales From the Torrid Zone is rooted in his birthplace, the tiny tropical republic of Vanuatu where his father ran its hospital and his mother, in her front garden, built its first school. From this obscure South Seas group he ranges over the hot, wet, beautiful swathe of the world that has haunted him ever since - dines with a tropical queen in a leper colony, makes his way across tropical Africa (and two civil wars) in a forty-four-year-old flying boat, delivers a new church bell to a remote Oceanian island and visits scores of countries to learn about their history, politics, medicine, flora and fauna (including the remarkable role of the coconut in tropical life). But, as becomes plain, the torrid zone is not just a geographical phenomenon, it's also a state of mind. The result is a witty, entertaining and immensely readable book from a fine storyteller. Part memoir, part travelogue, Tales From the Torrid Zone is rooted in Alex Frater's birthplace, the tiny tropical republic of Vanuatu where his father ran its hospital and his mother, in her front garden, built its first school. From this obscure South Seas group he ranges over the hot, wet, beautiful swathe of the world that has haunted him ever since - dines with a tropical queen in a leper colony, makes his way across tropical Africa (and two civil wars) in a forty-four-year-old flying boat, delivers a new church bell to a remote Oceanian island and visits scores of countries to learn about their history, politics, medicine, flora and fauna (including the remarkable role of the coconut in tropical life). But, as becomes plain, the torrid zone is not just a geographical phenomenon, it's also a state of mind. The result is a witty, entertaining and immensely readable book from a fine storyteller.

About this title

Review

" Chancy, devastating weather is the bad news about the tropics. The good news is that the travel writer Alexander Frater has again been navigating the region, as he did so memorably in "Chasing the Monsoon" . . . Frater skips lightly among dozens of countries and several centuries . . . He is unfailingly jolly even when- especially when- faced with wretched food and sanitation . . . As in Proust' s epic, this is the story of how a child grew up to become the author of the savory book we are reading." - Richard B. Woodward, "New York Times "(Armchair Traveler) " Ranging broadly over this vast area [of the tropics], Frater tells tall tales, gives lessons in history, politics, and economics, and recounts his personal adventures. This world is literally teeming with natural wonders, local characters, and wild stories . . . Entertaining." - Barbara Fisher, "Boston Globe" " Frater' s thoughts and conversations reveal the torrid zone on a very personal level. The reader can almost feel the stifling wet heat . . . [A] beautifully written book." - "Library Journal" " "Tales from the Torrid Zone "[has a] jagged edge of authenticity . . . Part memoir, part travel yarn, a hymn to the solar lands where people ' wear their shadows like shoes' . . . Frater adopts a tropical profusion of language to match his teeming subject, writing with gusto . . . He' s bracingly willing to take verbal as well as physical risks [but] some of the best things in the book are quieter, more lyrical moments . . . Wide-ranging . . . Impressive." - Christopher Benfey, "The New YorkTimes Book Review" " Part memoir, part travelogue, "Tales From the Torrid Zone" is a pleasing grab bag of a book, a jumble of funny encounters, strange sights, forgotten history and really bad food. Mr. Frater, a genial tour guide and a stylish writer, makes excellent company . . . [A] diverting tour of the earth' s hot zones." - William Grimes, "The New York Times" " An outstanding memoir . . . Not everyone born and bred in the tropics likes tropical life. But just as church bells in the tropics have a unique resonance, so Frater himself has the human version of ' tropical resonance.' Everything about life in the tropics- food, diseases, insects, religion, rivers, language, drink, forestry, human sweat- is endlessly fascinating for him, reminding him of a story he heard traveling downstream from Mandalay, or filming in Mozambique, or riding a bus into Rarotonga. He finds the smallest details of tropical life so entertaining, he barely notices the attendant inconveniences. Thus he makes the insects eating his grandfather's book-selectively consuming its constituent parts, ' the spine's sweet glue and crunchy muslin, biscuity strawboard covers, a confit of gold leaf licked from the titles' - sound like regular gourmands." - "Publishers Weekly "(starred) "From the Hardcover edition."

Book Description

A wonderful new book - part travelogue, part memoir - from author of the bestselling BEYOND THE BLUE HORIZON and CHASING THE MONSOON.

About this edition

• Publisher: Picador
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0330375288
• ISBN 13: 9780330375283
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 400