Cathedrals of the Flesh: In Search of The Perfect Bath

by Alexia Brue

Release Date: January, 2003

Edition: Hardcover

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An approach to travel and an approach to life

I haven't read much travel writing so I wasn't really sure what to expect. I was drawn in from the very first page to a world of public bathing that I really had no idea existed. By the end of this book I feel that I desperately need to see the baths of Turkey, Russia, Finland and Japan. But what I also discovered is that I want to have Ms. Brue's intrepid sense of daring, her willingness to following the road as it unfolds before her, and her innate ability to have respect and reverence for the various cultures she visits(without sentamentalizing them or making them precious). Brue's question "was it an approach to travel or an approach to life?" stuck with me throughout. The delightful surprise was that the book is highly personal(funny and poignant) but also historical and informative.

FABULOUS!!!

I thought this was a fantastic book. I bought this book thinking that I'd get a relatively straightforward discussion of the history of bathing, but this is actually much more. The author, a young woman with a taste for adventure, writes about her own experiences as she tackles the problem of how to open a bathhouse, crossing the globe and visiting baths in many countries. But instead of taking a highly authoritative tone from the start, she begins with a naive, befuddled tone, describing how she practically stumbles into the bathing scene, seduced not only by the baths, but by the cultures and places she visits. As a reader, I can see the transformation of the author from a novice to an expert over the course of the book, which to me is reminiscent of some of the best travel writing (consider Bill Bryson's self-deprecatory writing, the feeling that on starting his journey, he is no more informed than you or me). I think this book is only partially about bathing, and equally about getting your imagination captured by something different and exciting. I found it really inspirational, it really gives a sense that there is nothing stopping the average reader from deciding to get on a plane and travel the world to learn about something completely different, even if you don't speak the language or don't have any technical experience. So much bad travel writing condescends to the reader, makes me feel that unless I've lived 25 years in Provence or have climbed Mt. Everest, I couldn't possibly appreciate the world. This book made me feel like, with a little bit of courage and a lot of excitement, even I could explore strange places and meet different people!