Product Description

Being larger than a cat, the donkey falls into that category of animal which Tim Moore is at least slightly scared of. Yet intrigued by epic accounts of a pilgrimage undertaken by one in three medieval Europeans, and strangely committed to historical authenticity, he finds himself leading a Pyrenean ass named Shinto into Spain, headed for Santiago de Compostela. Nuzzling businessmen at a city-centre zebra crossing, or shuffling after German policewomen across a broiled and lonely plain, the pair bring smiles to every local face, and not all of brazen derision. Over 500 miles of extreme weather, agonising bestial sloth and triple-bunk dormitories, it becomes memorably apparent that for the multinational band of eccentrics who keep the Santiagan flame alive, the pilgrimage has evolved from a purely devotional undertaking into a mobile therapist's couch. Ludicrous, heart-warming and improbably inspirational, "Spanish Steps" is the story of what happens when a rather silly man tries to walk all the way across a very large country, with a very large animal who doesn't really want to.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #36876 in Books
• Published on: 2005-06-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
If Tim Moore's Spanish Steps is a prime example of a new kind of travel writing--sardonically funny, quirkily observed and full of bizarre detail--that's good news for readers; if Bill Bryson has forged a whole new genre, who can complain if other writers plough similar fields? Particularly if they do it with as much gusto as Tim Moore. In fact, Moore is actually a rather more penetrating writer than the better-known Bryson, and this tale of a foolhardy pilgrimage with a recalcitrant donkey makes some salient points in between the healthy crop of stinging one-liners.

Moore had been fascinated by stories he'd heard of pilgrimages which many Europeans had taken through sultry and unwelcoming Spanish terrain to Santiago de Compostela. The sub-title says it all: "One Man and his Ass on the Pilgrim Way to Santiago"--and Moore's treacherous donkey is as much a character as the bizarre dramatis personae the author encounters. Everything is against him: weather that saps his resolve at every step of the way, impossible dormitories (some of the funniest sections of the book), eccentric fellow travellers, and an animal that, if it could speak, would be constantly asking "is this journey really necessary?"

Amid the acres of scary impediments that fall into Moore's path, a whole host of detail crowds in that makes Spain come to vivid life: we're given a seat-of-the-pants experience quite as memorable (and occasionally painful) as the author's. The descriptions are priceless:

Unexpected confrontation with full-frontal, Pilsner-bellied German nudity was an occupational hazard in any refugio bathroom… (the man's) wrinkled pilgrim parts now rested on the rim of the sink I was waiting to clean my teeth in…

But many serious points are made--always lightly--about a million subjects (not least the lessons of history) in the delightful pages of Spanish Steps. --Barry Forshaw

Review
'Moore is a talented and very funny writer' Daily Telegraph 'Hailed as the new Bill Bryson, he is in fact a writer of considerably more substance and the jokes come thick and fast' Irish Times 'Do Not Pass Go is a kind of Grand Tour, Reggie Perrin-style and its author is an original...We need more writers like him...You'll laugh with this book and you'll learn something too' Evening Standard 'He is a rare comic talent' The Times 'A very funny writer, oozing with comic ideas...There are fantastic jokes here, some lovely observation and a wealth of delicious information' Daily Mail

The Guardian
'Andrew Sachs's deadpan reading is a joy'

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Customer Reviews

Walking the Walk
Like many travel books and books about anything to do with places and the people who inhabit or frequent these places, there is an added benefit to having experienced it yourself.To get this book, you don't have to have walked the Camino but it most certainly adds flavour if you have. Or more specifically there is an added glee when you witness Moore's beautiful slapstick unravelling as he makes his way across northern spain to his final destination of Santiago. His struggles are your struggles, the people he encounters you've encountered, and best of all he gives voice to the secret thoughts that played over and over in your mind as you wandered along the way. So if you've walked the Camino I urge you to read Spanish Steps, if you're thinking of walking the Camino I urge you to buy it and read it as soon as you return home, and if you have all ready read it I urge you to walk the Camino and read it again and finally if you have no intention of walking anywhere farther than the corner shop or the bus-stop I urge you to read it and laugh yourself silly. Above all Enjoy.

Tim Moore does it again!
A book about a pilgrim travelling across Spain with a donkey is not the sort of book I would normally read, and indeed if someone other than Tim Moore had of written it, I wouldn't have even picked it up. But that would have been a mistake.

After "French Revolutions" and "Do Not Pass Go", Spanish Steps starts off slowly, rather like a donkey being pulled towards Santiago. However Moore's humour comes to the fore quickly, I laughed out loud at his struggles to keep his ass under control, the way Shinto the donkey is "an unlikely babe magnet", and his struggles with Spain, the Spanish and everyone and everything else he encounters on the way to Santiago.

Moore's reminiscences of his journey are equally humourous, sad, mellon-collie, frustrating, thought provoking and heartwarming, and that is normally within 2 pages of the book. Along with this he paints a picture of Spain that, knowing Spanish people as I do, is remarkably accurate.

Altogether this is an excellent read, don't be put off by the book's concept - this is a travel book, about a voyage of discovery, with a donkey in tow, and a mighty fine book it is too. Unless your name is Shinto you shouldn't have to be dragged down the road to read a copy of this

A fun read
Having read (and thoroughly enjoyed) Moore's other books, with the exception of Do Not Pass Go, which I plan to get to at some point, I had high expectations for this one. For anyone who hasn't read anything by Moore, the usual drill is that he embarks upon some sort of journey or "quest" (cycling the Tour de France, doing the Grand Tour, that sort of thing), and writes a highly amusing, historically informative book about his travels.

The premise for this book follows much the same pattern -- Moore decides to walk across Spain on a pilgrimage to Santiago, as thousands of Christians have done before him. But he doesn't go alone. Put off by the thought of having to carry bags of clothes and supplies while trekking under a burning sun, he enlists the help of Shinto the donkey, who becomes his reluctant companion, local celebrity, the centrepiece of many a tourist holiday snap and the cause of many of the funnier moments in this book.

If I were to be honest I'd have to say that Spanish Steps probably doesn't have quite as much in the way of embarrassingly-loud-laughter-on-the-bus moments as his previous efforts do, but the funny bits when they do come (and they're still pretty frequent -- often, as I mentioned above, as the result of Shinto and his bridge-hating, Moore-taunting antics) are every bit as good as I've come to expect from the author who wrote the funniest book I've ever read (Frost on my Moustache). Some of his descriptions of refugio living conditions and his fellow pilgrims -- a highly eclectic group of whom we see a lot along the way -- are priceless.

For all Moore's comedic, often cynical, outlook, there are some deeply poignant moments in the book, and no shortage of historical information. The end even brought a wee tear to the eye.

Like all Moore's books, it's great fun to read and has both utterly hilarious and deeply moving moments (the former outweighing the latter by a fair bit, admittedly). I thoroughly enjoyed it and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to others.