In Xanadu - Softcover

Dalrymple, William

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0006544150 ISBN 13: 9780006544159

Publisher: Flamingo, 1999

Synopsis

This is an account of the quest which took William Dalrymple and his companions across the width of Asia, along dusty, forgotten roads, through villages and cities full of unexpected hospitality and wildly improbable escapades

About this title

From the Publisher

'William Dalrymple has written a delightful book of travels ... a brilliant debut.' - PHILIP GLAZEBROOK, Spectator

'A splendid piece of British eccentricity with all manner of echoes: Freya Stark, Peter Fleming, Robert Byron ... Dalrymple is plainly either brilliant, or bonkers, or both.' - ALAN FRANKS, The Times

'In Xanadu is so uncommonly satisfying because of the rare skill with which William Dalrymple blends his ingredients: history, danger, humour, architecture, people, hardship, politics.' - DERVLA MURPHY, Literary Review

'Superb ... The vivid, engaging, and often hilarious account of an amazing 12,000-mile quest, His marvellous book - rich with the sights, smells, history and feel of Asia - will become a classic.' - Sunday Express

'This is travel writing in the grand tradition, with a true whiff of high adventure. Dalrymple recounts his saga with a fine mixture of humour and erudition, and with the exuberance of youth.' - Evening Standard

'Bright, sharp, laconic and outrageous, his is an adventurous account of hippies and mad mullahs, mosques and sacred tombs, dangers and celebrations, Dionysian rituals and rich discoveries. It is full of life and very funny.' - Sunday Times, Books of the Year

'Outstanding ... William Dalrymple is a natural writer. His models are, perhaps, Peter Fleming and Evelyn Waugh rather than more serious travellers, but he's a better scholar than either. Best of all, he has the gift of comedy ... In Xanadu marks the arrival of a new star.' - Sydney Morning Herald

'In Xanadu leavens adventure story and scholarly history with farcical dialogue and high-spirited buffoonery. It's a fast, furious, funny read ... clearly the stuff bestsellers are made of.' - SUNIL SETHI, Times of India

'Rarely does one review a book which so obviously marks the start of a splendid career. Brave and exultant, rich in esoteric knowledge and a sense of the ridiculous ... it is my guess that William Dalrymple will become one of the great English travel writers.' - Eastern Daily Press

About the Author

William Dalrymple was born in Scotland and brought up on the shores of the Firth of Forth. He wrote the highly acclaimed bestseller In Xanadu when he was twenty-two. The book won the 1990 Yorkshire Post Best First Work Award and a Scottish Arts Council Spring Book Award; it was also shortlisted for the John Llewelyn Rhys Memorial Prize. in 1989 Dalrymple moved to Delhi where he lived for six years researching his second book, City of Djinns, which won the 1994 Thomas Cook Travel Book Award and the Sunday Times Young British Writer of the Year Award. His third book, the acclaimed From the Holy Mountain, was awarded the Scottish Arts Council Autumn Book Award for 1997; it was also shortlisted for the 1998 Thomas Cook Travel Book Award, the John Llewelyn Rhys Memorial Prize and the Duff Cooper Prize. Dalrymple was recently elected the youngest Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and the Royal Asiatic Society. He has written and presented a series about the architecture of the Raj for Channel 4 and is currently working on a major BBC series about the religions of India. William Dalrymple is married to the artist Olivia Fraser, and they have a baby son and daughter.

About this edition

• Publisher: Flamingo
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0006544150
• ISBN 13: 9780006544159
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320