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A Year in the World (Abridged): Journeys of A Passionate Traveller Audiobook
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(3.00) - 2,594 listener ratings
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The author who unforgettably captured the experience of starting a new life in Tuscany in bestselling travel memoirs expands her horizons to immerse herself—and her readers—in the sights, aromas, and treasures of twelve new special places. 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. An ideal travel companion, Frances Mayes brings to the page the curiosity of an intrepid explorer, remarkable insights into the wonder of the everyday, and a compelling narrative style that entertains as it informs. 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, and North Africa. In Andalucía, she relishes the intersection of cultures. She cooks in Portugal, gathers ideas in the gardens of England and Scotland, takes a literary pilgrimage to Burgundy, discovers an ideal place to live in Mantova, and explores the essential Moroccan city of Fez. She rents houses among ordinary residents, shops at neighborhood markets, wanders the back streets, and everywhere contemplates the concept of home. While in Greece, she follows the classic Homeric voyage across the Aegean, lives in a bougainvillea-draped stone house in Crete, and then drives deep into the Mani. In Turkey with friends, she sails the ancient coast, hiking to archaeological sites and snorkeling over sunken Byzantine towns. Weaving together personal perceptions and informed commentary on art, architecture, history, landscape, and social and culinary traditions of each area, Mayes brings the immediacy of life in her temporary homes to the reader. An illuminating and passionate book that will be savored by all who loved Under the Tuscan Sun, A Year in the World is travel writing at its peak.
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"This is going to be one of my constant rereads. I love Mayes' poetic cognitive wandering through all of her travel memoirs. Readers never know exactly where she's going in each paragraph, but they gladly follow her beautiful imagery as she drifts from food to art to history to life."
— MrsErica (4 out of 5 stars)
A Year in the World Listener Reviews
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" 100% condescending rich white lady writing 75% of the time. But food, so much food. "
— Kelsey, 2/14/2014 -
" I bought this a long time ago and was looking forward to finally reading it. But for some reason, Frances Mayes' writing is a little too flowery and poetic for me. She is a beautiful writer, but when reading travel/ nonfiction writing, I guess I like it with a little more substance or structure. I never finished this book or Under the Tuscan Sun. I will try it again in a few years though! "
— Robin, 2/5/2014 -
" Nice discussion of food, art and literature along with travel descriptions. So autobiographical stories mixed in. Long. And hardly the world. Europe and mostly around the Mediterranean at that: Spain and Portugal, parts of Italy, England, Scotland, Turkey. "
— Mckinley, 1/26/2014 -
" Armchair traveling with a writer who can conjure a full scene is fun, but I was distracted by how often she wished she could buy this or that property. The note of acquisitionism is unpleasant in an otherwise good read. "
— Ashley, 1/23/2014 -
" Just sort of Eh. Mayes travels around the world, staying a month in each place, and falls into a repetitive descriptive style for each chapter/month. Not bad but I couldn't finish it. (Honestly, I bought it for the cover) "
— Camas, 1/15/2014 -
" If you loved "Under the Tuscan Sun" and all its follow-ups, then you'll love Mayes' latest series of adventures. "
— Jenny, 1/13/2014 -
" Had been working on this slowly but gave up, which is a cardinal sin in my world. The gardens get a little tedious, but a good description of the places she visits, to at least create interest in doing further research. I do get tired of *her* though. "
— Kari, 1/11/2014 -
" Not sure if this will get past "currently reading" status. It's dull. It reads more like a list than anything else. "
— Mo, 1/3/2014 -
" I skipped around this book and read the parts I was interested in. "
— Kristine, 12/15/2013 -
" Mayes's enthusiasm for life and travel shine in every sentence. She presents a vivid sense of each place she visits. Written with flair and imagination. "
— George, 12/7/2013 -
" I love the observations Mayes makes while travelling and her discussion of the things I, like her, am interested in - food, history, art, architecture and literature. "
— Myra, 12/6/2013 -
" Liked this book, didn't love it. Having been many of the same places probably helped. Also I also love renting places to stay so you mix more into the culture and shy away from group tours. Hey, maybe I could write a book and then buy a house in Italy! "
— Kay, 10/31/2013 -
" I would actually give this 3 1/2 stars. Not as good as Under and Bella, but I do love her very personal explorations of places, food, drink, authors and their books. I also felt she revealed more of herself in this book, which made me like her more. "
— Wanda, 10/12/2013 -
" This was a fascinating and enjoyable book. It was perfect for short periods of reading time but not a book to spend a day with. I liked her style of travel and got some great ideas about both future trips and trips I don't ever want to take. "
— Laura, 10/9/2013 -
" boring, elitist, dense. yet gorgeously written, jealousy-inducing. couldn't finish it. "
— Clare, 5/31/2013 -
" Entertaining at times but overall kind of boring. I have never read a travelog before and I'm not sure I would again. While it was interesting learning about some of the different countries Frances Mayes visited, it did not pull me in at any time. "
— Aubrey, 2/11/2013 -
" ehhh.... not as good as Under the Tuscan Sun, drags some... "
— Katie, 1/17/2013 -
" I chose to return this book before finishing it. While the language was very poetical and beautiful it didn't make for very interesting reading. "
— Heidi, 12/5/2012 -
" Mayes makes me want to travel! "
— Michelle, 10/11/2012 -
" i listened to this audio. it was not as good as i thought it could have been. it was read by the author which hindered my world-view a bit. i think i would have liked it more in bookform. i love travel writing. "
— Karen, 6/16/2012 -
" Putting me to sleep, haven't been able to finish..... "
— Lois, 2/12/2012 -
" Fatuous self absorbed puff pieces, I couldn't see the point. Bogus too since she went to each destination separately. Not MY kind of travel. Or writing. "
— Peggy, 1/31/2012 -
" Though this book contains one of my favorite lines ever, I found myself struggling to actually get through it. Probably jealousy, again. "
— Maya, 9/1/2011 -
" Beautiful writing about some amazing places in the world! "
— Kristine, 8/9/2011 -
" I barely made it through the first chapter, only because it was Spain. It's was bunch of randam notes, or details about her life that were irrelevant. Horrible. "
— New_worlds, 5/22/2011 -
" It is a very descriptive book and at times it can be difficult to read because there are so many details. However, if you are ones of those people that likes to experience things vicariously, Mayes does a wonderful job in this book. "
— Brooke, 4/30/2011 -
" Liked this book, didn't love it. Having been many of the same places probably helped. Also I also love renting places to stay so you mix more into the culture and shy away from group tours. Hey, maybe I could write a book and then buy a house in Italy! "
— Kay, 3/23/2011 -
" It wasn't a terrible book, I just couldn't get into it. I read about 200 pages and finally decided to give up. "
— Rachel, 1/29/2011 -
" LOVED this book! I can't wait to raed more of Frances Mayes. "
— Noel, 1/18/2011 -
" Made me want to visit Greece even more! "
— Kelly, 1/9/2011 -
" Boring! How could anyone make traveling to Europe seem like such a snooze? I couldn't finish it. "
— Beth, 10/29/2010
About Frances Mayes
Frances Mayes is the author of several fiction and nonfiction books, including the classic Under the Tuscan Sun, which was on the New York Times bestseller for more than two and a half years and was the basis for a major motion picture starring Diane Lane. Her writing has been translated into more than fifty languages.