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65th out of 781 books
—
1,336 voters
A Year in the World: Journeys of a Passionate Traveller
A Year in the World is vintage Frances Mayes—a celebration of the allure of travel, of serendipitous pleasures found in unlikely locales, of memory woven into the present, and of a joyous sense of quest. With her beloved Tuscany as a home base, Mayes travels to Spain, Portugal, France, the British Isles, and to the Mediterranean world of Turkey, Greece, the South of Italy,...more
Paperback, 420 pages
Published
March 13th 2007
by Broadway Books
(first published 2006)
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I must confess that I haven't finished reading Frances Mayes' A Year in the World. I love travel books, and read a favorable review of this one...reviewers sometimes exaggerate . After a few running starts, the book wound up in the bathroom. Listening to the tap drip was more interesting, so I've moved it to the side of my bed where I read it whenever I'm suffering from insomnia, which is fairly often.
So I pick up A Year in the World, read it for a few pages of it's eternal present tense where...more
So I pick up A Year in the World, read it for a few pages of it's eternal present tense where...more
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Jul 02, 2007
Agnes
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Someone really starving for idyllic descriptions of Western European small towns
The author's tone was extremely annoying in this book, whose title is completely misleading, as this is a compilation of her trips mainly to Western Europe over 5 years, not one year in the world at all. Admittedly, I quit halfway through when I got completely fed up with her staying in 5-star hotels and rented villas and eating in gourmet restaurants, without mentioning the price of anything, or how she can possibly afford it as a university writing professor (I guess the profits from the awful...more
A lyrical and enchanting and excellent book about travels in Europe. I was there with the author as she traveled, she is that descriptive and aware of the holy places. Her descriptions of starry nights brought me to my knees in awe as well as her attention to detail: architectural, holy places, holy encounters, books, nature, food! Absolutely gorgeous in scope and detail and love and passion. I want to go to the places she has gone, and rent a house for a while, and travel by private boat, and h...more
Being someone who considers herself to be passionate, a traveler and passionate about traveling, I love nothing more than reading about someone else who shares these qualities. I also love someone who, while writing about the sea off the coast of Sardinia, feels it necessary to quote D.H. Lawrence. Bliss, I tell you. Pure, transportational bliss.
I've actually started reading this book again, for the first time. In its original incarnation into my life, this book was a gift to my mother. And in...more
I've actually started reading this book again, for the first time. In its original incarnation into my life, this book was a gift to my mother. And in...more
Apr 01, 2009
Lynne
rated it
1 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
biography-memoir,
did-not-finish
I am halfway through the book, the author still hasn't left Southern Europe. I give up. I would prefer more adventure and fewer descriptions of luxury meals.
2 likes · like · see review
Sep 11, 2008
Catherine
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
everyone who likes travel
Recommended to Catherine by:
noone
A wonderful trip through Spain, Greece, Italy, Morocco, Scotland and places in between. She really "lives" the culture and gets to know the people by tasting their food, learning their gardening habits, reading their poetry, swimming in their waters, and living in their homes (by renting villas or apartments). She and her husband do endure a few package trips (a cruise through Greece, a small charter around Turkey)which only highlight the pleasures of independent travel. I loved this book and ha...more
Contrary to the somewhat misleading title, this is not a book about a single year-long travel excursion. Instead, it is a collection of tales of shorter trips, which add up to a year altogether. Most of the destinations covered are not very exotic…Italy, France, England, and the Greek Isles (to name a few), yet the author manages to recount her experiences with such a great deal of charm that it doesn’t matter these are places we’ve read about many times before. She focuses on uncovering the oft...more
A Year in the World as a title is slightly misleading, as it’s a series of shorter journeys across the Mediterranean over a five-year period. Having read Mayes’ previous books on Tuscany, I was prepared to be captivated by another series of deftly drawn vignettes. And captivated I was. She remains a first-class writer with an eye that picks the essence of a scene.
We are treated to a series of sketches ranging from the Alhambra in Spain, to Morocco, Portugal, Greece and Turkey. What I love about...more
We are treated to a series of sketches ranging from the Alhambra in Spain, to Morocco, Portugal, Greece and Turkey. What I love about...more
I don't give low reviews lightly. However, there were several problems with this book. 1. It wasn't a year in the world, it was a number of separate trips, most of which weren't too far from the author's residence in Tuscany. 2. Despite the (slight) differences in locales, the things she sought out were very similar, so the book became rather redundant. 3. I don't like the word 'pretentious' except when it fits and in this case it did. Long after reading this book, one scene stuck with me -- a m...more
Jan 02, 2013
Mishana
added it
I bought this book by Frances Mayes because 'Under the Tuscan Sun' is one of my favourite movies, and I thought her writing would have the same sunshine quality to it. I realize now that the sunshine came from Diane Lane and from the Tuscan settings, but this book was an unusual experience for me. I read it, and during the first 100 pages or so, struggled to not put it down. I hate giving up a book half-way, but she didn't grab my interest for a long time. She is talking about travel, giving up...more
After disliking the movie, I was encouraged to read "Under the Tuscan Sun" and loved it. I found "Bella Tuscany" a couple years later and also enjoyed that read, so I had no problem buying "A Year in the World" for my Kindle.
For me, it was worth it. We are travelers and have found every way of traveling imaginable so it was great to see another travelers perspective. I love enjoying the food, coffee, and sites of another country... but I also enjoy the days of sitting in an apartment and wishin...more
For me, it was worth it. We are travelers and have found every way of traveling imaginable so it was great to see another travelers perspective. I love enjoying the food, coffee, and sites of another country... but I also enjoy the days of sitting in an apartment and wishin...more
A Year in the World is a traveloque. With her home in Tuscany as a home base,Frances Mayes travels to Portugal, England, Scotland, Turkey, Spain, France and southern Italy.
Mayes seems to love the different cultures she encounters. She rents homes and shops in the local markets. She tours the gardens in England and Scotland. She sails along the Turkey coast hiking to archaeological sites. She explores the Greek isles. Mayes provides information about art, architecture, food, and social traditions...more
Mayes seems to love the different cultures she encounters. She rents homes and shops in the local markets. She tours the gardens in England and Scotland. She sails along the Turkey coast hiking to archaeological sites. She explores the Greek isles. Mayes provides information about art, architecture, food, and social traditions...more
When I saw this book at the library one day and read the description I thought it would be a perfect book for mine and Tom’s little book club. It was my turn to chose the book and I thought we would both enjoy it.
As I began to read I knew that this travel novel would provide us with a lot of tips and suggestions that we could take with us once we were able to spend A Year In The World.
One passage that really stood out to me was, “The need to travel is a mysterious force. A desire to go runs thro...more
As I began to read I knew that this travel novel would provide us with a lot of tips and suggestions that we could take with us once we were able to spend A Year In The World.
One passage that really stood out to me was, “The need to travel is a mysterious force. A desire to go runs thro...more
Wow, this book was major snoozeville. I guess I should have learned from reading "Under the Tuscan Sun", one of two books I've ever read which were actually worse than the movie.
Mayes is a boring writer - there's just no other way to say it. I thought reading about her travels would be exciting, but it wasn't, because SHE isn't an interesting person, so her stories aren't. She drones on and on about things on the walls of a museum, or ingredients in food, and somehow seems to only touch on the t...more
Mayes is a boring writer - there's just no other way to say it. I thought reading about her travels would be exciting, but it wasn't, because SHE isn't an interesting person, so her stories aren't. She drones on and on about things on the walls of a museum, or ingredients in food, and somehow seems to only touch on the t...more
I have never read any of Ms. Mayes previous books, but I have seen the movie--many, many times when my own wonderust arose. This book was long--too long. Boring and tedious, the author forced me to filter through all her superficial and lackluster descriptions of many of the places I have loved to visit myself. She, herself, a tourist, hated the fact that other people thought as much to visit the same places. There is a lot of foreign words, terms and phrases to get through. She ate so much food...more
When I saw this book was being published, I immediately put it on my must-read list. I ordered it and decided to make it my entree for summer reading. By nibbling on it and picking off pieces of it, I've managed to make it last for over a month. In many ways, it was a perfect summer read, for a person who couldn't travel herself. Mayes took me to places I've always wanted to go, Portugal, Spain, Greece, even Turkey and North Africa.
But the book annoyed me, too. Mayes seemed hypercritical, judgm...more
But the book annoyed me, too. Mayes seemed hypercritical, judgm...more
Frances Mayes, author of Under the Tuscan Sun, has, true to form, produced a remarkable work of literature. A Year in the World is a memoir of a year spent travelling, but it’s more than that, it is “a celebration of the allure of travel, of unexpected pleasures found in unlikely places”.
The by-line of the book is “Journeys of a passionate traveller”, and right from the word go you know she’s passionate about travel. Unlike many travel memoirs, this book doesn’t set out to divulge every tiny li...more
The by-line of the book is “Journeys of a passionate traveller”, and right from the word go you know she’s passionate about travel. Unlike many travel memoirs, this book doesn’t set out to divulge every tiny li...more
This is okay but I was a bit disappointed in the traveling being
done over a long period. I felt she gave a great deal of history
and that was helpful. I probably would not travel to many of the
places she mentioned in the chapters. I was interested in renting
a house for short terms and that can be tricky, from some of her
experiences. Since I am not very adventuresome when it comes to
meals and eating, I was closely reading those chapters. I love fish
and sea food but my husband is a beef man and tha...more
This is a very well written travel book, one of the best I've read. It's a little different in that the author has taken her experiences from various trips over several years and strung them together to produce a narrative describing a year's worth of travel. Usually I want a book to let me stay in one place longer than this one does, but the writing is so good it's impossible not to love it.
Mayes totally immerses herself in the places she visits and the reader reaps the happy results. Her trave...more
Mayes totally immerses herself in the places she visits and the reader reaps the happy results. Her trave...more
I am thus far disappointed in this book...the author is self righteous and contradictory, and writes annoyingly like someone who just wants to prove how rich and well-read they are.
It starts with her definition of "adventurous traveling"...to me, staying in 5-star hotels and eating at sit-down fancy restaurants for every meal is a futile way to explore and understand a different land and culture. To truly "get" a different country is to live as much like a temporary local as possible...staying i...more
It starts with her definition of "adventurous traveling"...to me, staying in 5-star hotels and eating at sit-down fancy restaurants for every meal is a futile way to explore and understand a different land and culture. To truly "get" a different country is to live as much like a temporary local as possible...staying i...more
One of the most enjoyable things about this book is the way Mayes describes the local culture (good or bad) and connects it to the history of the place through traditions, history, poetry, her own experiences, and most importantly, the food. Reading through some of the other reviews, some people find her writing pretentious or snobbish, a rich person unconcerned about cost. That is not what she's writing about, her books are not travel guides. She admits her follies. SHe doesn;t hide the fact sh...more
"Travel releases spontaneity. You become a godlike creature full of choice, free to visit the stately pleasure domes, make love in the morning, sketch a bell tower, read a history of Byzantinum, stare for one hour at the face of Leonardo da Vinci's Madonna dei fusi. You open, as in childhood, and--for a time--receive this world. There's the visceral aspect, too--the huntress who is free. Free to go, free to return home bringing memories to lay on the hearth." (p xix).
"One of my favorite quotes f...more
"One of my favorite quotes f...more
I loved this book! In so many passages, Mayes expressed feelings, opinions, or reflections that felt as if she had voiced my thoughts. I have visited several of the places in Greece, Turkey and Italy that Mayes toured in her Year in the World and envied her the houses she rented and cultures she perceived. I might quibble that at times her descriptions of some amazing places were too brief, but perhaps of necessity to keep the book a manageable size. I understand the criticism that Mayes tended...more
I really wanted to like this book, but ultimately it was just okay. I found the use of present tense sometimes odd, when obviously all of this occurred in the past. The constant now just felt strange.
The writing meandered around and didn’t really have any story or a direction, which quite frankly does remind me of travelling. There were a few chapters that were done differently than the rest of the book, such as one as several letters to a friend. That was okay, I liked how it was broken up. S...more
The writing meandered around and didn’t really have any story or a direction, which quite frankly does remind me of travelling. There were a few chapters that were done differently than the rest of the book, such as one as several letters to a friend. That was okay, I liked how it was broken up. S...more
Is there a decent travel writer who isn't a pretentious windbag? It's fascinating to me how a woman who has made a career out of traveling to amazing places can be SO DULL. Her disdain for most of the British Isles annoys me. Sorry it's not your gorgeous Italy, but get over it. Also, she called Wales England, which it is not. England is one of my favorite places, and Frances Mayes managed to bore me to death because she wanted to explain the whole country through GARDENS. Ok, maybe gardens are a...more
The title of the book should probably be something different, since she stays on the same side of the world the whole time. The book was interesting at times, but there is a lot of filler that drags somethings out for quite awhile and I wouldn't be fully paying attention as I listened to the book, would've been harder to read.
I like hearing about the different foods, some sound good, others not so much. I would love to try some of these things she describes and travel to some of the locations.
As...more
I like hearing about the different foods, some sound good, others not so much. I would love to try some of these things she describes and travel to some of the locations.
As...more
An Amazon review I wish I'd read before I bought this book summarized my opinion of Mayes' travel writing: the writer criticized the discrepancy between the title and the substance:
"A year spent unmoored -- from home and errands and work and the ties that bind -- would have yielded a very different sort of book from this. These trips -- house rentals, hotel stays, even a cruise -- represent a series of vacations, instead of the year-long quest that the title promises."
In short, it's neither a *y...more
"A year spent unmoored -- from home and errands and work and the ties that bind -- would have yielded a very different sort of book from this. These trips -- house rentals, hotel stays, even a cruise -- represent a series of vacations, instead of the year-long quest that the title promises."
In short, it's neither a *y...more
If it were possible to give this book zeros stars for "hated it", I would do so. One star (didn't like it) just doesn't cover it.
This book had such a great premise too. The author spends time living in different locations around the world (a month at a time or so, in Portugal, Edinburgh, Morocco etc). But instead of dicussing life there, or the history, or the culture or anything interesting, it was basically several hundred pages describing their breakfast lunch and dinners. References to thing...more
This book had such a great premise too. The author spends time living in different locations around the world (a month at a time or so, in Portugal, Edinburgh, Morocco etc). But instead of dicussing life there, or the history, or the culture or anything interesting, it was basically several hundred pages describing their breakfast lunch and dinners. References to thing...more
I found this book the hardest to get through of Mayes' books, so it's a good thing each chapter can be read independently of the others, as she documents her travels to various locales. As other reviewers have mentioned, while the sum total of her time traveling may equal a year, the journeys in the book took place over a much longer period of time.
Mayes' writing is very lyrical, and the sense of place comes across well through her style. However, her writing is so flowery and poetic that it fee...more
Mayes' writing is very lyrical, and the sense of place comes across well through her style. However, her writing is so flowery and poetic that it fee...more
A Year in the World follows Frances Mayes, famous for her beloved Under the Tuscan Sun, and her husband, Ed, as they travel throughout England, France, North Africa, the Mediterranean, and many remote and not-so-remote corners of the globe. Mayes offers reflections and bits of history on each place they visit.
While I enjoyed the whirlwind trip of the world, I found the format of the book boring at times. Yet another country, yet another handful of reflections. I suppose I didn't find Mayes' tho...more
While I enjoyed the whirlwind trip of the world, I found the format of the book boring at times. Yet another country, yet another handful of reflections. I suppose I didn't find Mayes' tho...more
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Frances Mayes's book,
Every Day in Tuscany
, the third volumne in her bestselling Tuscany memoir series, was published March 9, 2010, from Broadway Books.
In addition to her Tuscany memoirs, Under the Tuscan Sun and Bella Tuscany , Frances Mayes is the author of the travel memoir A Year in the World; the illustrated books In Tuscany and Bringing Tuscany Home; Swan, a novel; The Discovery of Poe...more
More about Frances Mayes...
In addition to her Tuscany memoirs, Under the Tuscan Sun and Bella Tuscany , Frances Mayes is the author of the travel memoir A Year in the World; the illustrated books In Tuscany and Bringing Tuscany Home; Swan, a novel; The Discovery of Poe...more
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“The world cracks open for those willing to take a risk.”
—
20 people liked it
“As travel pushes me forward, memory keeps dragging me backward.”
—
10 people liked it
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