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Reviews of A Country in the Moon
The Guardian
‘…the best contemporary travel book on Poland, reminiscent in its finest moments of Patrick Leigh Fermor’s masterful Time of Gifts…[An] erudite, humbling and rhapsodic travel book... No thinking traveller interested in Poland should overlook this essential book.’
The Observer
‘This memoir is in the tradition of Lawrence Durrell’s Bitter Lemons and proves a well-crafted, spirited and original polonaise, triumphantly balancing humour with scholarship.’
Metro London
‘Recalling something of W. G. Sebald…Moran is a sensitive, intelligent companion, as able to capture the rapacious spirit and chaotic conditions of modern Poland as he is the mournful, savage ghosts of its past – the result is moving and absorbing.’
The Spectator
‘There is so much to admire in this well-researched and hugely entertaining book, and so much to learn…A Country in the Moon is a three-star feast.’
The Independent
‘Moran's writing is richly atmospheric with real depth and sparkle. [His] deep knowledge of the country and genuine engagement [make this] an absorbing ... ultimately rewarding travelogue.’
Conde Nast Traveller, Giles Foden
`Wonderful'
Wanderlust Travel Magazine
(the finest travel magazine in the UK where the book was given 5 stars and chosen as ‘Book of the Month’ in May 2008)
'Literary travel writing at its best: elegiac, informative and profound... probably the best travel book I will read this year.'
Bookdealer
(an important book trade monthly in the UK)
‘Moran’s description of his tribulations…could have flowed from the pen of a Dostoevsky…This book has lifted the veil on one of Europe’s most talented and inspiring people.’
The Sunday Times
'a good primer on Poland’s history of dash and gloom….an entertaining account...[which keeps] the reader engrossed to the end.'
The Daily Telegraph
'Moran writes well of the Polish concept of zal (regret after irrevocable loss) ; of Polish pride, honour and exuberance mingled with pessimism; and of the importance of the Catholic church and the family...This well-written book offers some much-needed history lessons.'
The Times Literary Supplement
'This lively and intelligent book is stuffed with original material that is both fascinating and quite new to most people in the West. Moran has a taste for the baroque oddity, the outrageous eccentricity and the all-but-incredible historical anecdote.'
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