About the Author:
David W. McFadden has published over twenty books of poetry and prose, including Gypsy Guitar, nominated for a Governor General’s Award in 1987 and The Art of Darkness, nominated for a Governor General’s Award in 1984. He lives in Toronto.
From Kirkus Reviews:
A wisecracking, colloquial travelogue of Scotland in all its smirr (a constant, fine rain) and glory. McFadden, the author of over 20 books of prose and poetry, retraces the path of H.V. Morton, a prolific travel writer of the 1920s, across Scotland, using Morton's text as a lens through which to refract his own observations. And while McFadden complains about his muse's sentimentality, he suffers much the same fate as he bombs around the countryside in his wee rental car and waxes generic about various postcard scenes. In his words, Loch Ness becomes ``an area of deeply serene beauty, with a blue mist rising from the long, narrow loch, deep as time itself (as Morton would say).'' Most scenery receives similar treatment, and, once it's been dispensed with, McFadden proceeds to indulge his true interest: tourist watching. He's far more interested in people than in places, and his chapters read like long series of chance encounters, which is what they are. Most such encounters are banal, but a fewsuch as his chat with a student taking tickets at the Duart Castleoffer tantalizing information. Apparently the McFaddens (from whom the author is descended) were known as ``tinkers'' and ``hangers-on'' to the McLeans. While the complexity of clan rivalries is only hinted at, the student's comments seem to indicate that names still carry considerable power: respect can still be accorded (or denied) on the basis of ancient clan affiliation. And in that moment, present and past converge: suddenly, Scotland doesnt seem so far removed from Ireland, with its tribal and religious divisions, or even the Balkans. But McFadden is content to skim the surface of Scottish culture, never delving too far into its fascinating clan hierarchies or ancient hatreds. An Innocent in Scotland is just that; McFadden has produced a saccharine, easy book that glosses both national character and historical context. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.