Flying Visits

by Clive James

Book Overview

Clive James has never been able to conceal his passion for air travel. Before he attained long trousers he could identify every aircraft that rattled the crockery in his house near Kingsford Smith aerodrome near Sydney, and he spent his adolescence making himself indispensible to the cleaners who swept out the planes. James' original two 'Postcards' to the Observer recorded his first return to Sydney after fifteen years in Europe. After that, Postcards...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0330288393
• ISBN13: 9780330288392
• Release Date: January 1985
• Publisher: Picador
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.8" x 0.4" x 5.1"

Customer Reviews

A supersonic delight

Clive James was a young person fascinated by planes , airports, and flying. This fascination has its literary expression in this collection of 'Observer' columns focused on his immediate impressions of cities he alights in. He starts with two pieces on his native Sydney and makes something of a world tour which includes Washington,New York, Moscow, Tokyo,Rome, Los Angeles, Salzburg, Epcot, Munich, Paris and Jerusalem. Everpresent is his astonishing liveliness, ironic humor and wit. He is a sharp observer and above all a somewhat cantankerous and brilliant commentator. Non- conventionality and freshness seem to be something which are just what he is. James is not shy and he mixes in everything he knows or has thought. And often the pleasure of the work is in his description of the reality he meets in contradiction to the expectations he has brought with him. There are plenty of delights in this work. It is also a very light read which can be sped through at supersonic pace. A highly enjoyable read.