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http://www.boomerangbooks.com/content/book-reviews/travel-book-reviews/me-myself-and-prague-by-rachael-weiss.shtmlMe, Myself and Prague by Rachael Weiss
Weiss is marriage-less, childless and of Czech origin, so decides to abandon her life in Sydney and spend a year in Prague. She goes because there is nothing to stop her, but finds it isn’t as easy as she first thought.
Weiss is marriage-less, childless and of Czech origin, so decides to abandon her life in Sydney and spend a year in Prague. She goes because there is nothing to stop her, but finds it isn’t as easy as she first thought.
Me, Myself and Prague: An Unreliable Guide to Bohemia (Rachael Weiss, A&U, $24.95 tpb, ISBN 9781741148206, March) ****
Weiss is marriage-less, childless and of Czech origin, so decides to abandon her life in Sydney and spend a year in Prague. She goes because there is nothing to stop her, but finds it isn’t as easy as she first thought. There is the language barrier, the haphazard laws, not to mention the surly Czech citizens to deal with. Reading people’s travel memoirs can be arduous at times, writers can get bogged down by the superfluous, sentimentality or both—but not Weiss. She gives the reader a sense of place and an excellent insight into a city and country that has been through a tremendous amount of unrest. Me, Myself and Prague also manages to relay historical facts about the Czech Republic without sounding overbearing. Weiss’ voice transcends that of your stereotypical middle-aged person and is illustrated perfectly in a scene where she gets outrageously drunk with a young Swedish friend of hers on ‘murderously alcoholic’ wine, which had me guffawing. Hence the relationships with her family and friends come across as funny and believable. This is the classic ‘finding yourself ’ travel tale, which Weiss manages to pull off with aplomb. A great, highly reliable read for those who have been to Prague or anyone with a sense of adventure!
Katie Horner is editorial assistant at Bookseller+Publisher
This review from Australian Bookseller & Publisher magazine is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2008, Thorpe-Bowker