Synopses & Reviews
The tradition of the Grand Tour was started in 1608 by an intrepid but down-at-the-heels English courtier named Thomas Coryate, who walked across Europe, miraculously managed to return home in one piece, and wrote a book about his bawdy misadventures. With
The Grand Tour, Tim Moore proves not only that he is Coryate's worthy successor but one of the finest and funniest travel writers working today. Armed with a well-thumbed reprint of Coryate's book, Moore donned a purple plush suit and set off in a second-hand and highly temperamental Rolls-Royce through France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, and Holland. Like Coryate, Moore possesses an astonishing ability to land himself in humiliating predicaments. His account of his hilariously memorable misadventures on Venice's canals on one fateful afternoon is by itself worth the price of admission. Moore brings new life to the Old World and in the process sends readers into paroxysms of laugher and delight.
Synopsis
When did modern tourism begin? With the Grand Tour around Europe, of course. And who invented the Grand Tour? This wildly witty and uproarious book by travel writer Tim Moore reveals the answer. Moore traces the origins of the Grand Tour to a humbling but determined 17th century courtier named Thomas Coryate, whose memoir was a catalog of bawdy disaster. Not to be outdone, Moore purchases a used -- and temperamental -- Rolls Royce, dons a purple velvet suit, and heads off in Coryate's footsteps. The result is an unforgettable voyage around the Old World that will have readers falling out of their armchairs with laughter.
About the Author
Tim Moore's writing has appeared in
Esquire, the
Sunday Times, and the
Observer, among other places. He is the author of
Frost on My Moustache and
French Revolutions.