A dispatch from a foreign land, when crafted by an attentive and skilled writer, can be magical, transmitting pleasure, drama, and seductive strangeness.
In "The Moon, Come to Earth, " Philip Graham offers an expanded edition of a popular series of dispatches originally published on "McSweeney's," an exuberant yet introspective account of a year's sojourn in Lisbon with his wife and daughter. Casting his attentive gaze on scenes as broad as a citywide arts festival and as small as a single paving stone in a cobbled walk, Graham renders Lisbon from a perspective that varies between wide-eyed and knowing; though he's unquestionably not a tourist, at the same time he knows he will never be a local. So his lyrical accounts reveal his struggles with (and love of) the Portuguese language, an awkward meeting with Nobel laureate Jose Saramago, being trapped in a budding soccer riot, and his daughter's challenging transition to adolescence while attending a Portuguese school--but he also waxes loving about Portugal's "saudade"-drenched music, its inventive cuisine, and its vibrant literary culture. And through his humorous, self-deprecating, and wistful explorations, we come to know Graham himself, and his wife and daughter, so that when an unexpected crisis hits his family, we can't help but ache alongside them.
A thoughtful, finely wrought celebration of the moment-to-moment excitement of diving deep into another culture and confronting one's secret selves, "The Moon, Come to Earth" is literary travel writing of a rare intimacy and immediacy.
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A dispatch from a foreign land, when crafted by an attentive and skilled writer, can be magical, transmitting pleasure, drama, and seductive strangeness.
In "The Moon, Come to Earth, " Philip Graham offers an expanded edition of a popular series of dispatches originally published on "McSweeney's," an exuberant yet introspective account of a year's sojourn in Lisbon with his wife and daughter. Casting his attentive gaze on scenes as broad as a citywide arts festival and as small as a single paving stone in a cobbled walk, Graham renders Lisbon from a perspective that varies between wide-eyed and knowing; though he's unquestionably not a tourist, at the same time he knows he will never be a local. So his lyrical accounts reveal his struggles with (and love of) the Portuguese language, an awkward meeting with Nobel laureate Jose Saramago, being trapped in a budding soccer riot, and his daughter's challenging transition to adolescence while attending a Portuguese school--but he also waxes loving about Portugal's "saudade"-drenched music, its inventive cuisine, and its vibrant literary culture. And through his humorous, self-deprecating, and wistful explorations, we come to know Graham himself, and his wife and daughter, so that when an unexpected crisis hits his family, we can't help but ache alongside them.
A thoughtful, finely wrought celebration of the moment-to-moment excitement of diving deep into another culture and confronting one's secret selves, "The Moon, Come to Earth" is literary travel writing of a rare intimacy and immediacy.
Imprint | University of Chicago Press |
Country of origin | United States |
Release date | November 2009 |
Availability | Expected to ship within 12 - 17 working days |
First published | November 2009 |
Authors | Philip Graham |
Dimensions | 217 x 147 x 10mm (L x W x T) |
Format | Paperback |
Pages | 168 |
ISBN-13 | 978-0-226-30515-8 |
Barcode | 9780226305158 |
Categories | |
LSN | 0-226-30515-5 |