Book Review: Walking on Thin Air by Geoff Nicholson*

[Ad-gifted] In his own words, Geoff Nicholson’s Walking on Thin Air is ‘a short book about walking and mortality.’ Nicholson is someone who has walked all of his life.

Published by The Westbourne Press under Saqi Books, Walking on Thin Air is a reflection on the nature of walking, why we do it, how it benefits us and, in some cases, how it can damage and even destroy us.

Geoff’s recent diagnosis with a rare, incurable form of cancer has made him all too aware of his own mortality. Sooner or later there will be a last step, a last excursion, a final drift, for him just as there will be for all of us. Geoff vows to continue to walk for as long as he can.

This moving, vital book describes his own walks and relates them to the walks of street photographers, artists and writers, such as Garry Winogrand, Diane Arbus, Sophie Calle, Jorge Luis Borges and Virginia Woolf, among many others.

What did we think of the book?  

This book captures his honest perspective about walking. What he sees and feels when he is walking and his interesting perspective on the impact that walking can have. Nicholson’s health has meant that walking has not always been the most comfortable for him. However, his anecdotal commentary captures his personality and outlook. From walking sticks with concealed swords to his ambles down a Franklin Avenue, this is more than your standard review of walking routes. Nicholson writes about the way that walking has wound it’s way through the threads of his life and will continue to do so, until he isn’t able to carry on.

Not having read any of the author’s other works, of which there are many, this book may have been passed over. However, the way into the book was a shared interest in walking and the emotional experience of their settings.

It proved an entertaining ramble through the life and experiences of the author and the people he has met or who have shared his enjoyment for walking in different settings including street photographers and writers. It introduces the reader to settings and characters which may be well known but could merit further research.

Although the author has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, the account is not  downbeat. It may be regarded as a valedictory journey through a life of interesting encounters.

A celebration of a life well-lived and in the end an enjoyable read.

How much is the book and how can you buy it?

The book can be purchased via Amazon for £11.45 for a paperback copy, the Kindle Edition is also available for £7.49. Do check back on Amazon for the pricing as this might change.

About the Author

Geoff Nicholson is the author of over twenty books, which have been widely translated with one made into a Hollywood film. These include the acclaimed novels Bleeding London (shortlisted for the Whitbread Prize), Gravity’s Volkswagen and The City Under the Skin, as well as the classics of psychogeographical non-fiction, The Lost Art of Walking and Walking in Ruins. He has written for publications including the Guardian, Telegraph and New York Times, and is a contributing editor to the Los Angeles Review of Books. He lives in Essex.

About the book

Publisher ‏ : ‎ The Westbourne Press
No of pages ‏: ‎ 240
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1908906571
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 13.34 x 1.91 x 20.96 cm

Review by: Rowena Jukes in conjunction with Norman Bridges

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* Disclaimer: We were given a copy of the book in return for a feature. All opinions are our own.