It's so exciting to see my partner's book being included in his publisher's
catalogue for the
Frankfurt Book Fair this year. It was all a rush to make sure it gets included into
Allen & Unwin's catalogue for the Fair. Walter's is only one of nine non-fiction books they're taking to Frankfurt. It's so amazing to see him included in the same catalogue as Christos Tsiolkas, Clive Hamilton, Stephanie Dowrick, Armando Percuoco and David Dale.
A&U hold the worldwide rights to
Destination Saigon: Adventures in Vietnam, by
Walter Mason which will be published in Australia in March 2010. They've been incredibly supportive of Walter and amazingly great at promoting his book
I think everyone has great hopes for it.
Walter is in the other room making the final, final corrections to the manuscript even as we speak.
Here's the excerpt about Destination Saigon from
A&U's 2009 Frankfurt Book Fair catalogue:
DESTINATION SAIGON
Adventures in Vietnam
Walter Mason
A personal insight into one of the world’s most popular travel destinations.
This funny, fascinating travelogue is the perfect book for travellers wanting to know more about the people and places they’re about to visit. With Walter’s distinctive voice, knowledge and wicked sense of humour, the sacred and profane meet in a riotous celebration of a remarkable and resilient nation which has become a great tourist destination.
Walter Mason has spent the last fifteen years madly in love with Vietnam. In that time he has made numerous trips to the country, and he has seen the country undergo huge changes. In Destination Saigon, he shares many of the bewildering, frequently funny cultural complexities that face any visitor to Vietnam, and at the same time provides a rare insight into Vietnam’s rich culture.
Travelling to the little-known south-western provinces where the last vestiges of Khmer life is to be found; to far-flung villages where he is imprisoned, and caught up in local wedding celebrations; to experience the Cao Dai religion, made famous in Graham Greene’s The Quiet American, where Charlie Chaplin and Victor Hugo are worshipped as saints; to forbidden fortune tellers and the Ien Dong ceremony where ghosts and celebrities are channelled; these are just some of the adventures Walter will share.
Walter Mason has several blogs, gives regular talks and has a strong feel for popular taste in travel writing.
Category: Travel writing March 2010 paperback