Fraser Harrison
Auteur van The Yellow Book: An Anthology, April 1894 - April 1897
Over de Auteur
Fraser Harrison, the author of nine books, contributed regularly to major newspapers in the United Kingdom and worked as a freelance broadcaster for the BBC. He holds an undergraduate degree from Cambridge University and a master's in human rights from Essex University. His childhood love of the toon meer West has since been strengthened by many visits to South Dakota. toon minder
Werken van Fraser Harrison
Tagged
Algemene kennis
- Geboortedatum
- 1944
- Geslacht
- male
- Nationaliteit
- England
UK - Woonplaatsen
- Walsham le Willows, Suffolk, England, UK
- Opleiding
- University of Essex
- Korte biografie
- Fraser Harrison took up full-time writing in 1975. He has written reviews and articles for a wide variety of papers and magazines, including The Guardian, The Independent, Country Living and BBC Wildlife, has been a regular contributor to Radio 4's Kaleidoscope, and has published many books.
In 1993 he travelled to the Midwest to make a programme for Radio 3 about the Black Hills, South Dakota and write a travel article for The Sunday Times. Since then he has written frequently for the travel section of The Sunday Times.
In June 1995 he made a second radio feature in the US, this time tracing General Custer's last trail to the Little Bighorn in Montana. His third feature covered Davy Crockett's death at the Alamo. The American explorers Lewis and Clark have been a long-standing interest of his, and in 1998 he followed their trail across the Rockies. He is writing a play for Radio 4 based on their famous journey of 1804-6.
Fraser lives in Suffolk with his wife and two children.
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Statistieken
- Werken
- 6
- Leden
- 121
- Populariteit
- #164,307
- Waardering
- 3.6
- Besprekingen
- 15
- ISBNs
- 11
I really enjoyed this interesting and entertaining exploration of a state that the author had first 'discovered' for himself while on a family holiday some twenty years earlier. That visit came at the end of an American sabbatical for the English academic. Fraser Harrison's writing has been described by some earlier reviewers as reminiscent of Bill Bryson's. As an admirer of Bryson's books, I wouldn't disagree, but would add that Harrison is often perhaps more charming, more laconic, and more willing to put more of himself into the book than Bryson is. ("I could tell the story of my youth in rivers.")
The book is split into seven lengthy chapters each focusing on the different main locations or aspects of South Dakota's story: 'Harrison' (a quirky self-indulgence in which the author explores the tiny township of his name - which in turn leads, among other things, to an unexpected exploration of the earliest pioneer settlers of the state), 'Lewis and Clark', 'The Badlands', 'Mount Rushmore', 'Deadwood', 'Wounded Knee', and a final chapter 'Sketches' which pulls together all sorts of diverting loose ends from his travels as a whole.
Harrison is not afraid to explore uncomfortable truths concerning the USA's historic westward expansion, and her relations with, and treatment of, the indigenous populations. The section on Wounded Knee is a case in point, and while it does not amount to what could reasonably be called 'enjoyable' reading; the all too tragic subject matter is very sensitively approached and covered in a way that I found profoundly moving.
I was usually pleased by his frequent tangents and interesting distractions as he floats smoothly from one subject area to the next. All in all a book I found well worthwhile my time. I'll certainly keep an eye out for other titles by the same author. My 'uncorrected proof' copy was devoid of photographs or maps, and I hope that the final edition included some, as that would probably elevate the book to a more complete publication of the South Dakota State Historical Society Press.… (meer)