EW's GRADE
A-

Details Writer: Nik Cohn; Genre: Travel

If jolly travel writer Bill Bryson had an evil twin, he would probably be something like Cohn (best known for the article that became Saturday Night Fever): jaded, biting, with an eye for the underbelly. After all, the seamier parts of life are Cohn's territory, as he more than demonstrates in this tour of English places that don't make it onto the postcard rack.

From Fraggle Rock to Brighton, Liverpool to South London, Cohn seeks out the abandoned, the destitute, the men and women who haven't just fallen off the grid, but jumped with eyes and arms wide open. The result is a jazzy, non-judgmental song of a book, full of riffs that catch your ear and mind like a piano rag. A-

Originally posted Oct 29, 1999 Published in issue #509 Oct 29, 1999 Order article reprints

Add your comment

The rules: Keep it clean, and stay on the subject or we might delete your comment. If you see inappropriate language, e-mail us. An asterisk * indicates a required field.

500 characters remaining
Advertisement