Tantalised by the image of a golden city near a black lake in the deepest south of Europe, Duncan Fallowell sets off one morning from London in his Ford Capri. He weaves his way down to Provence, through Tuscany and Calabria, to the furthest tip of mafioso Sicily. Within shimmering landscapes and citrus groves, along blue coastlines, and behind radiant, crumbling facades, lies an unsuspected world. As Fallowell strays into it, he becomes involved with an increasingly exotic cast of characters, and paints an unforgettable portrait of the Mediterranean – comic, cultured, sexy, unpredictable, violent, humane, and timelessly superb. To Noto was something quite new for candour and directness in travel writing when originally published in 1989. Fallowell said ‘I wanted the reader to be perched on my shoulder, as it were, as I go along,’ and so it proves. To Noto has appeared in four distinct volume editions and is now published as an ebook for the first time.
Duncan Fallowell is the author of novels, travel books, a biography of the trans-sexual April Ashley, and a collection of interview-profiles. His book How To Disappear: a memoir for misfits won the 2012 PEN Ackerley Prize. He has also worked with the avant-garde German group Can, especially with Irmin Schmidt for whom he wrote the opera libretto Gormenghast and the lyrics to three albums of songs. As a journalist Fallowell identified with the movement known as the New Journalism which advanced a literary form taking in interview, reportage, commentary, autobiography, history and criticism. He lives in London.
Praise for To Noto:
‘A book which takes risks: stylish, clever and spiced with amoral high spirits.’ Colin Thubron
‘In a class of its own. A journey you will never forget.’ William Boyd
‘Compelling, eccentric, and very funny . . . He has too an unusual gift for creating a sense of intimacy with his reader.’ Selina Hastings, Evening Standard
‘Unique, a bizarre rake’s progress, described with insight, intelligence, wit.’ Anthony Sattin, Sunday Times
‘One of the great travelogues of the century.’ Professor Edward Chaney
Praise for Duncan Fallowell’s writing:
‘Brilliant and haunting.’ Alan Hollinghurst, Guardian.
‘Mordant, energetic and outrageous.’ Camille Paglia
‘The modern Petronius.’ Richard Lewis, What Am I still Doing Here?
‘His prose is as good/better than anyone now writing non-fiction.’ Susan Hill
‘An acerbic wit and wonderful prose can take you a long way . . . He writes like a spikier Sebald.’ David Evans, The Independent.
Duncan Fallowell is the author of novels, travel books, a biography of the trans-sexual April Ashley, and a collection of interview-profiles. His book How To Disappear: a memoir for misfits won the 2012 PEN Ackerley Prize. He has also worked with the avant-garde German group Can, especially with Irmin Schmidt for whom he wrote the opera libretto Gormenghast and the lyrics to three albums of songs. As a journalist Fallowell identified with the movement known as the New Journalism which advanced a literary form taking in interview, reportage, commentary, autobiography, history and criticism. He lives in London.
Praise for To Noto:
‘A book which takes risks: stylish, clever and spiced with amoral high spirits.’ Colin Thubron
‘In a class of its own. A journey you will never forget.’ William Boyd
‘Compelling, eccentric, and very funny . . . He has too an unusual gift for creating a sense of intimacy with his reader.’ Selina Hastings, Evening Standard
‘Unique, a bizarre rake’s progress, described with insight, intelligence, wit.’ Anthony Sattin, Sunday Times
‘One of the great travelogues of the century.’ Professor Edward Chaney
Praise for Duncan Fallowell’s writing:
‘Brilliant and haunting.’ Alan Hollinghurst, Guardian.
‘Mordant, energetic and outrageous.’ Camille Paglia
‘The modern Petronius.’ Richard Lewis, What Am I still Doing Here?
‘His prose is as good/better than anyone now writing non-fiction.’ Susan Hill
‘An acerbic wit and wonderful prose can take you a long way . . . He writes like a spikier Sebald.’ David Evans, The Independent.
