Paradise

With his mother's impending death, McMurtry embarks on a trip to the South Sea islands, on a working boat with several other well-to-do passengers from all over the world. It starts out with him musing about his parents' relationship, his mother's life, interspersed with notes on his trip of a lifet......more

Admittedly, I haven’t found much value in travel writing. There are curt descriptions of scenery and locations I’ve never heard of much less considered visiting. Beyond a second-hand high, the genre appears relatively useless to a reader who neither cares to nor can visit for themselves. I’ll conced......more

A contemplative non-fiction narrative of McMurtry's trip to Tahiti and the surrounding islands. Along the way he contemplates his parents' relationship and his mother's impending death, and also talks about the artist Gauguin and his experiences on the islands. Turns out Gauguin was what we'd certai......more

Mr. McMurtry loves to travel, apparently, doing so serves as an aide in helping him focus on his writing, his work and his life. As his mother was in the final stages of life, he decided to travel “on the old road, the first road, the original superhighway: the sea.” (p. 55) to reflect upon his par......more

Enjoyed McMurtry's travel memoir to the South Pacific and specifically to former homes and artistic inspirational places of Gaugin. How I would love to visit the South Pacific travel destination of McMurtry and many other interesting authors over the centuries. If we had not seen the Seattle Art Mus......more