The Grand Tour : The European Adventure of a Continental Drifter

by Tim Moore

Release Date: 16 July, 2001

Edition: Hardcover

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Appears unaltered from UK version....

This is my first Tim Moore book and I am enjoying his wicked style. I am a UK native and found it curious that Moore, (or the publishers) decided to leave it in its original form. Many of his humorous references are to such things as well-known 1970s BBC TV programs like the The Good Old Days or the Two Ronnies,(p.18 paperback version). These references are too obscure for the American market, and I feel it should have been edited to make the experience greater for American readers. Maybe it doesn't matter if you don't know what you're missing...

A Slow Start but a Great Tour

Grand Tour is an unusual work for Tim Moore - in addition to his usual generous helpings of laughter, he also serves the reader a fair amount of information and some poignancy.

I think the alterations in Moore's usual style arise from his subject, Thomas Coryate, whose 1608 trip through the Continent inaugurated the British tradition of the grand tour (Coryate also introduced the fork, the umbrella, and the travel narrative to his native land). Coryate was a serious and pompous traveler who couldn't resist copying down every engraving and measuring every column he encountered. Moore responds by doing some actual research and interrupting his usual hysterical rants with actual facts.

Unfortunately, Moore hasn't quite mastered seamless blending of information and narrative, and as a result this book is a bit slower and denser than his other two books. And although Moore manages to evoke quite a bit of sympathy and sadness for Coryate, he never seems totally comfortable with more serious writing. The result is a somewhat uneven book that takes a while to get moving.

But Moore finally hits his stride while writing about Venice, and Grand Tour takes off. The last half of the book is laugh-out-loud funny, a marvelously fun romp that makes the whole book worth reading. And Moore throws in a few unusual extras on top of the laughs; he conveys a clear picture of the Europe of 1608 as well as the Europe of today, and an even clearer picture of Thomas Coryate. Though much of the book had me rolling with laughter, I finished with a lump in my throat for the man Moore calls "poor old Tom."

All in all, Grand Tour is well worth buying. However, if you haven't read any Tim Moore, this book probably isn't the best place to start - try Frost on My Moustache or French Revolutions first.