Driving Over Lemons: An Optimist in Andalucia
by Chris Stewart
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Book Summary Information
Author: Chris StewartEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1999-06-01
ISBN: 0953522709
Number of pages: 240
Publisher: Sort of Books
Book Reviews of Driving Over Lemons: An Optimist in Andalucia
Book Review: Lovely, optimistic (as the title says), very funny writing
Summary: 5 Stars
If you have a fantasy of living as an ex-patriot in retirement or of quitting your crappy job and taking off for parts far away, this is the book for you. The book is about a husband and wife who buy a farm in a remote part of southern Spain, leaving their English way of life behind, including running water, electricity and all the other conveniences. They had a dedication to make it work and they did -- modernizing their farm, raising their food, making friends and a good life.
What I liked most about the way they chose to live their lifes was their desire to blend in with the local folks and not seek out fellow Brits. They truly blended with their environment in every way. It was very enjoyable to read about their experiences. The writer has a wonderful sense of humor and makes reading it fun.
Summary of Driving Over Lemons: An Optimist in Andalucia
Meet Chris Stewart, the eternal optimist. At age 17 Chris retired as the drummer of Genesis and launched a career as a sheep shearer and travel writer. He has no regrets about this. Had he become a big-time rock star he might never have moved with his wife Ana to a remote mountain farm in Andalucia. Nor forged the friendship of a lifetime with his resourceful peasant neighbour Domingo...not watched his baby daughter Chloe grow and thrive there...nor written this book. Fate does sometimes seem to know what it's up to. "Driving Over Lemons" is that rare thing: a funny, insightful book that charms you from the first page to the last...and one that makes running a peasant farm in Spain seem like a distinctly good move. Chris transports us to Las Alpujarras, an oddball region south of Granada, and into a series of misadventures with an engaging mix of peasant farmers and shepherds, New Age travellers and ex-pats. The hero of the piece, however, is the farm that he and Ana bought, El Valero - a patch of mountain studded with olive, almond and lemon groves, sited on the wrong side of a river, with no access road, water supply or electricity. Could life offer much better than that?When English sheep shearer Chris Stewart (once a drummer for Genesis) bought an isolated farmhouse in the mountains outside of Granada, Spain, he was fully aware that it didn't have electricity, running water, or access to roads. But he had little idea of the headaches and hilarity that would follow (including scorpions, runaway sheep, and the former owner who won't budge). He also had no idea that his memoir about southern Spain would set a standard for literary travel writing.
This rip-roaringly funny book about seeking a place in an earthy community of peasants and shepherds gives a realistic sense of the hassles and rewards of foreign relocation. Part of its allure stems from the absence of rose-colored glasses, mainly Stewart's refusal to merely coo about the piece of heaven he's found or to portray all residents as angels. Stewart's hilarious and beautifully written passages are deep in their honest perceptions of the place and the sometimes xenophobic natives, whose reception of the newcomers ranges from warm to gruff.
After reading about struggles with dialects, animal husbandry, droughts, flooding, and such local rituals as pig slaughters and the rebuilding of bridges, you may not wish to live Chris Stewart's life. But you can't help but admire him and his wife, Ana, for digging out a niche in these far-flung mountains, for successfully befriending the denizens, and for so eloquently and comically telling the truth. The rich, vibrant, and unromanticized candor of Driving over Lemons makes it a laudable standout in a genre too often typified by laughable naiveté. --Melissa Rossi
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