World, the World - Softcover

From Graham Greene and Anthony Burgess to Pico Iyer, the world of letters heaps praise on Norman Lewis's deserving head, while the general readership discovers his books with amazement and joy. His memoir begins on a train to Rome in 1937, and continues, unabatedly readable for the next 60 years. He travels to remote nooks in Cuba, Guatemala, Vietnam, Burma, India, and Spain, and recalls war experiences, his publishing history with Jonathan Cape, and encounters with Ian Fleming and Ernest Hemingway. He writes with the finesse of a master, his observant eye and finely crafted prose providing the humor, detail, and absorbing narrative that all travel writers aspire to but few attain.

Lewis (An Empire of the East, LJ 2/15/94) has traveled for more than 50 years to provide material for books and magazine articles (for, e.g., The New Yorker), making this memoir most absorbing. Throughout, he vividly describes situations, people, and places, often contrasting recent visits with those in the past. One interesting theme is the loss of traditional ways of life to modern development, which at one point creates havoc with Lewis's need for a peaceful location for writing. Lewis's voyages, which encompass Spain, Cuba, India, Peru, and Italy, are tied together with fragments of his life; though the focus is always on places visited and people met, glimpses of the traveler do come through, revealing a complex and intelligent man. This book will be popular with a variety of readers. Recommended for public libraries.?Alison Hopkins, Briarwood Lib., N.Y.
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