Next Exit Magic Kingdom: Florida Accidentally [Paperback]

Rory MacLean (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 16, 2008

Abandoning himself to the winds of chance, MacLean stumbles across an alternative Florida, and spends time in the Psychic Center of the World, meets the Saint of Palatka, chats to Wanda Flip--the head mermaid of Weeki Wachee--and pays $5 to drink from the Fountain of Youth. His final destination is Disney's Magic Kingdom where Mickey Mouse can be best man at your Fairy Tale Wedding. Next Exit Magic Kingdom shatters every stereotypical image you have ever associated with Florida. Entertaining and warm, this is a story of the places that chance can take you to and a portrait of the many sides of Florida, where dreams can be made as quickly as they are broken.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Rory Maclean's book embodies all the virtues of the place it describes - it is zippy and fun; it has heart and energy and a restless haphazard charm. He has wrestled the Sunshine State like an alligator and stuffed and mounted it for our readerly pleasure.” --Louis Theroux, broadcaster, journalist and author

“Punchy, irreverent and funny.” --Independent on Sunday

“Entertaining and insightful. Probably quite unlike any Florida you or I have seen.” --Sunday Times

“Some travel books make you want to ‘go there’ with the writer. This one makes you pleased he’s done it for you.” --Observer

 

“This is a fun, witty and modern travel guide to Florida, the tackiest destination on earth.” -- Company

 

 “A marvellously entertaining and intelligent glimpse of the ‘real’ Florida.” -- James Jauncey, The Scotsman

 

“This marvellous book incorporates the most wonderful scenes of serendipity… wry, astute and beautifully written… I rarely feel so much pleasure reading about somewhere I have never been and would not otherwise have considered visiting.” -- Gabrielle Marley, Wanderlust travel magazine

 

“A fascinating and highly entertaining book, getting to the very soul of that favourite destination of the British holidaymaker.” -- Adventure Travel

 

About the Author

Rory MacLean's books, including best-sellers Stalin's Nose and Under the Dragon, have challenged and invigorated travel writing, and -- according to the late John Fowles -- are among works that 'marvellously explain why literature still lives'. He has won the Yorkshire Post Best First Work prize and an Arts Council Writers' Award, was twice shortlisted for the Thomas Cook/Daily Telegraph Travel Book Prize and was nominated for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary award. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and a regular contributor to BBC Radio 3 and 4. Born and educated in Canada, he lives with his family in Dorset.

Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: Tauris Parke Paperbacks; Revised edition (September 16, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1845116208
• ISBN-13: 978-1845116200
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,459,326 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Rory MacLean's eight books, including UK best-sellers 'Stalin's Nose' and 'Under the Dragon', have challenged and invigorated travel writing, and ­ according to the late John Fowles ­ are among works that 'marvellously explain why literature still lives'. During his research journeys, MacLean walked through the newly-opened Berlin Wall, met Aung San Suu Kyi in Rangoon and interviewed Pashtun elders at the Kacha Garhi refugee camp after the destruction of the World Trade Center.

His books have won awards from the Canada Council and the Arts Council of England, were shortlisted for the Thomas Cook Travel Book Prize and nominated for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary award. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and an active member of English PEN. He has also written and presented over 50 programmes for BBC radio and worked on movies with David Bowie and Marlene Dietrich. Born in Canada, long resident in the UK, he now lives in Berlin.