Wanderlust: A History of Walking

Solnit, Rebecca

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1859843816 ISBN 13: 9781859843819

Publisher: Verso Books, 2002

With profiles of some of the most significant walkers in history and fiction - from Wordsworth to Andre Breton's Nadja - Wanderlust offers a pastoral and poetic investigation of the interplay between the body, the imagination, and the world around the walker. Solnit argues passionately for the preservation of the time and space in which to walk in an ever-more car dependent and accelerated world.

Review:

"Rebcca Solnit's engaging cultural history of walking is full of enthusiasm for simply getting about on foot, wherever and whenever; it is streaked with an activism that makes her willing to cheer all kinds of applied walking." Times Literary Supplement "...a history of walking that is about time and space and consciousness of the world as much as about putting one foot in front of the other." The Times "Solnit marshals an impressive body of research to support her zeal for the liberating and humanising activity of walking." Daily Telegraph "... by treating walking as a protest, pilgrimage, therapy and exercise, Solnit has written an exciting and thought-provoking book." Scotland on Sunday "Walking, by somehow integrating the body, the mind and the inhabited place, civilises the world." Evening Standard "... the idea of the mind working at three miles per hour is one I shall treasure and quote forever." The Herald "Solnit walks, but her prose soars. This is a stunningly original account of the simple, subversive activity that keeps us all human. Pedestrians of the world unite!" Mike Davis

From the Back Cover:

'Solnit walks, but her prose soars. This is a stunningly original account of the simple, subversive activity that keeps us human. Pedestrians of the world, unite!' Mike Davis, author of City of Quartz

'Through landscapes of pleasure, over the hills and dales of politics, Wanderlust is a long, sweet walk through history in very good company. With her unique combination of erudition, lyricism, and irreverence, Rebecca Solnit has written a book for those who trespass with both mind and body.' Lucy R Lippard, author of On the Beaten Track: Tourism, Art and Place

'Solnit certainly knows her subject, as some famous and not so famous walkers move across the page. She knows how and where they move. She knows why they take to the road in the first place. It's a pleasure and an education to follow them.' Duncan Minshull, editor of The Vintage Book of Walkin