Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1379743 in Books
• Published on: 1996-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 146 pages

From Amazon.com
When the gentleman traveler George Gissing headed for Calabria in 1897 he wrote, "Every man has his intellectual desire; mine is to escape life as I know it and dream myself into that old world which was the imaginative delight of my boyhood." Gissing, who led a life filled with hardship and bitter disappointment, yearned for the rapture of the river Galaesus and the freedom he associated with the classical vision. Though he encountered rough terrain, poor accommodations, and often bitter disappointment, he learned the truth about himself and emerged triumphant.

Customer Reviews

From Heel to Toe Along the Boot of Italy
What possessed George Gissing -- best known for his hardscrabble pictures of poverty in London, such as NEW GRUB STREET -- to travel to Southern Italy and write a classical travel book about his journey? Yet there he is, working his way along the underside of the boot of Italy as a traveller. Even then, the area was known primarily for its rural poverty and has not attracted tourism at any time in its existence since the Greeks settled there over 2,000 years ago.

And yet this is perhaps Gissing's most charming book. He becomes ill, is taken care of by strangers, does his best to escape the clutches of the local bands of outlaws, and succeeds in his quest to see a corner of Europe known to few outside of Italy.

I highly recommend this book as the best introduction to a writer who deserves a revaluation of his literary reputation.