Starred review from November 1, 2012
My only comfort is, in Motion, claimed Charles Dickens in 1857. Bookseller Coverley (London Writing, 2005; Occult London, 2008; Psychogeography, 2006; Utopia, 2010) invites readers on an engaging and fascinating stroll through the cultural history of walking. Presenting in chronological order a rich ensemble of writers from diverse parts of the literary spectrum, Coverley expertly demonstrates the varied representations of walkers, from pilgrim and pedestrian to tourist and wayfarer. The first chapters trace the earliest literary accounts of walking from its biblical roots in Adam and Eve's expulsion from Eden and Abel's nomadism to its philosophical traditions. Selected works by Virgil, Horace, and Homer exemplify the integral role the act of walking plays in the classical canon, as do writings from Aristotle's Athenian school, Saint Thomas Aquinas, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. In succeeding chapters, Coverley critically examines the pilgrimages of Dante, Chaucer, Whitman, and Wordsworth while focusing on the central motifs of journey, opportunity, nature, and the imagination. Most compelling is the chapter devoted to the flneur, in which the wanderings of Baudelaire ( Paris becomes a book to be read by walking her streets ) and Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway (who positively leaps through the streets of central London) are celebrated. Splendid, scholarly, and suffused with evocative stories and biographical sketches, Coverley's book not only proffers pleasure and diversion but also potently explores the historical significance of the art of walking.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)