Avventure in Africa
by Gianni Celati
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Description
"In the life of a tourist who travels a bit far, I think that at a certain point, a question necessarily arises: 'But what have I come here for?' A question that sets in motion a great cinema of justification to oneself, so that one doesn't have to seriously say to oneself: 'I'm here doing nothing.'" In 1997 the celebrated Italian novelist and essayist Gianni Celati accompanied his friend, filmmaker Jean Talon, on a journey to West Africa which took them from Mali to Senegal and Mauritania. show more The two had been hoping to research a documentary about Dogon priests, but frustrated by red tape, their voyage became instead a touristic adventure. The vulnerable, prickly, insightful Celati kept notebooks of the journey, now translated by Adria Bernardi as Adventures in Africa. Celati is the privileged traveler, overwhelmed by customs he doesn't understand, always at the mercy of others who are trying to sell him something he doesn't want to buy, and aware of himself as the Tourist who is always a little disoriented and at the center of the continual misadventures that are at the heart of travel. Celati's book is both a travelogue in the European tradition and a trenchant meditation on what it means to be a tourist. Celati learns to surrender to the chaos of West Africa and in the process produces a work of touching and comic descriptions, in the lucid and ironic prose that is his hallmark. Hailed as one of the best travelogues on Africa ever written and awarded the first Zerilli-Marim#65533; prize, Adventures in Africa is a modest yet profound account of the utter discombobulation of travel. show lessTags
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Italian novelist Gianni Celati accompanied his friend and filmmaker Jean Talon travelling in West Africa to do research for a documentary about Dogon priests. The resulting book has been created from the notebooks Celati kept, which describe how circumstances played havoc with their careful plans. The result, a quick read, is a comedy of errors that provides an entertaining travelogue.
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Author Information
50+ Works 541 Members
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Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- Avventure in Africa
- Original publication date
- 1998
- Important places
- Mauritania; Senegal; Mali
- First words
- Yesterday, arriving at the airport in Bamako, at 2:30 in the morning, I stopped understanding what was happening.
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
- Genres
- Travel, Nonfiction, Biography & Memoir
- DDC/MDS
- 916.604 — History & geography Geography & travel Geography of and travel in Africa West Africa
- LCC
- DT551.27 .C4513 — History of Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania Africa History of Africa West Africa. West Coast French West Africa. French Sahara. West Sahara. Mali. Mali Federation. Sudanese Republic. History
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 39
- Popularity
- 749,456
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.50)
- Languages
- English, French, Italian
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 6
- ASINs
- 1
