From Publishers Weekly
In 1997, famed Italian author and essayist Celati accompanied his friend, filmmaker Jean Talon, on a journey to West Africa that took them from Mali to Senegal and Mauritania. The original purpose of their journey, to do research for a documentary on the methods of Dogon healers, soon became of ancillary importance. As Celati's diary-turned-book relates, the two white Europeans became lost and spent much of their trip wandering about unmoored. But more than a comedy of errors, Celati's book recounts the travails of a writer whose encounter with the unknown, the "other," clarifies his understanding of himself and allows him to regain a "state of self-forgetfulness" from which, Celati believes, the best writing emanates. Celati is no stranger to literary adventure. In Italy, he is best known as an experimental writer, unafraid to venture into uncharted territory. But while the author is certainly experimenting, this book is still a record of actual events, places and people; it provides an unusual portrait of West African countries. Instead of following a linear plot, the narrative bounces on the melodies of Celati's keen insights. (Most amusing are his reflections on tourists, whom he portrays as a bona fide ethnic group, thoroughly a part of Africa's cultural and economic landscape.) Out of his encounter with the "other" is born Celati's concept of "nothing"Athe unconscious goal toward which his ostensibly reckless plot is moving. But only upon his return to orderly Paris does he fully elucidate its meaning. Celati's writing exposes the age-old power of travel to induce shedding the self and one's preconceptions. (Nov.) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Acclaimed Italian novelist and essayist Celati transforms a series of journal entries recorded while traveling in West Africa into a tantalizing travelogue of cultural color and texture. As Celati and his friend, filmmaker Jean Talon, journey through Mali, Senegal, and Mauritania, their carefully laid plans are continually disrupted by the chaos and uncertainty that seem to characterize daily life in many Third World nations. The author, actively deciding to transcend the spirit of smug superiority that grips most European and American tourists visiting Africa, opts to embrace and enjoy the "diversity of sights, experiences, and people" he encounters. This delightful sojourn into the exotic and the unexpected will appeal to both seasoned and armchair travelers. Margaret Flanagan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Book 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. 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-Marimó prize, Adventures in Africa is a modest yet profound account of the utter discombobulation of travel.




Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Italian


From the Inside Flap
"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?' Question that sets in motion the great cinema of justification to oneself, so that one doesn't have to seriously say to oneself: 'I'm here to do 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. 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 chaotic and disorienting splendor 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-Marimó prize, Adventures in Africa is a modest yet profound account of the utter discombobulation of travel.



About the Author
Gianni Celati, the author of ten books including The Adventures of Guizzardi and Voices from the Plains, is one of the best known and most popular Italian writers today. His work has been recognized with several of the most prestigious Italian literary prizes.

Adria Bernardi's collection of short stories, In the Gathering Woods, was awarded the Drue Heinz Literature Prize, and her novel, The Day Laid on the Altar, won the Katharine Bakeless Nason Prize.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"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. 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￯﾿ﾽ prize, Adventures in Africa is a modest yet profound account of the utter discombobulation of travel.

FROM THE CRITICS

Jabari Asim

One doesn't necessarily learn much in the way of hard facts by reading Celati's Adventures. Let's leave concrete findings to the social scientists, after all. (Egad!) However, at the end of Celati's brief, intriguing recollections, it's easy to gratefully take note of his novelist's eye for detail and his unruffled bemusement in the midst of chaos (what Celati deprecatingly calls his "idiot's contentment"). One also recalls with sympathy his sense of tranquillity and relief after conquering those challenging slopes: "Buzzing in my ears, exhaustion, and quiet exaltation at being here."
&3151; Washington Post

Publishers Weekly

In 1997, famed Italian author and essayist Celati accompanied his friend, filmmaker Jean Talon, on a journey to West Africa that took them from Mali to Senegal and Mauritania. The original purpose of their journey, to do research for a documentary on the methods of Dogon healers, soon became of ancillary importance. As Celati's diary-turned-book relates, the two white Europeans became lost and spent much of their trip wandering about unmoored. But more than a comedy of errors, Celati's book recounts the travails of a writer whose encounter with the unknown, the "other," clarifies his understanding of himself and allows him to regain a "state of self-forgetfulness" from which, Celati believes, the best writing emanates. Celati is no stranger to literary adventure. In Italy, he is best known as an experimental writer, unafraid to venture into uncharted territory. But while the author is certainly experimenting, this book is still a record of actual events, places and people; it provides an unusual portrait of West African countries. Instead of following a linear plot, the narrative bounces on the melodies of Celati's keen insights. (Most amusing are his reflections on tourists, whom he portrays as a bona fide ethnic group, thoroughly a part of Africa's cultural and economic landscape.) Out of his encounter with the "other" is born Celati's concept of "nothing"--the unconscious goal toward which his ostensibly reckless plot is moving. But only upon his return to orderly Paris does he fully elucidate its meaning. Celati's writing exposes the age-old power of travel to induce shedding the self and one's preconceptions. (Nov.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Italian novelist and essayist Celati wrote this travelog as he accompanied a filmmaker friend on a trip to Mali, Senegal, and Mauritania. After the original intention of filming a documentary on the Dogon priests of Mali had been foiled by endless uncertainties and societies where nothing seemed to work as planned, Celati decided to record their daily encounters and experiences as tourists. The result is a culturally combative account, often arrogant and intolerant and with incessant complaints. Yet the book does draw attention to everyday Africans amused by their encounter with the European, confused by unrealized visions and aspirations, resigned to a harsh existentialism, and enlivened only by a brutish desire to survive. Celati exposes the failure of post-colonial structures and institutions with the casualness of a carefree tourist. Recommended only for larger public libraries.--Edward K. Owusu-Ansah, Murray State Univ., KY Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

La Repubblica

More than conventional, Celati is a melncholy vagabond, an acerbic picaro...But above all, and in the first place, he is a storyteller whose touch is unmistakable.

Kirkus Reviews

Snapshots of western Africa, taken from the journal of an Italian writer on tour.