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Roadshow
David Nunan
其他書名
A Personal Odyssey
出版AuthorHouse, 2010
主題Travel / GeneralTravel / Essays & Travelogues
ISBN14520508569781452050850
URLhttp://books.google.com.hk/books?id=N6GFvgEACAAJ&hl=&source=gbs_api
註釋I am about to embark on my first 'roadshow'. These used to be called 'author speaking tours' until young marketing directors wearing Hugo Boss suits and designer stubbles usurped the older and more staid generation of publishing executives. They 'repackaged' their charges as rock stars rather than presenting them for what they really were: housewives; people with a good idea who got lucky; ferociously talented and highly intelligent younger people; or, as in my case, middle-aged academics. Now, we no longer give talks, we do 'gigs'. Our audiences consist of 'fans'. We are expected to sign autographs and be photographed. Post-presentation questions are as likely to be about aspects of our personal life as about the content of the talk. Although this collection of pieces could loosely be described as a travel book, it is not a conventional travel book. Suns do not set slowly in the West; there are no glistening fjords; wildebeests do not add a majestic presence to the plains, stretching as far as the eye can see, and elegant undergraduates do not glide their punts along the River Cam. You will not find directions to cozy restaurants in the high Pyrenees. Nor will you read descriptions of colourful tavernas on Mykonos where tourists drink to excess, attempt to ape the local dance steps and then fall down. What you will find is an idiosyncratic author tour through parts of Asia and the Americas. You will encounter characters, events, and places in Japan, Thailand, the United States, Colombia, Chile, Argentina, and Brazil that conventional travel books never get to see or touch.