Walking Backwards

From Istanbul to New Delhi to Boulder, Colorado, through Venice, Paris, Rome, and points between.

As travellers, we are always walking backwards, forever on the verge of stepping into the unknown, never knowing what waits around the next corner.

You could be lost, forget your passport, fall ill. You could be served a bowl of food and not know whether it?s animal, vegetable, or mineral. Even flushing the toilet can be an adventure.

You are a child again, innocent and hoping for the best, forced to trust strangers. Quite often this works out. Not always.

Walking Backwards is a return to 10 cities and what happened there. Whether inadvertently smuggling cloth into Istanbul, reading poetry in New Delhi to a crowd expecting a world-famous pianist, or wandering endlessly through Mantua searching for a non-existent hotel on a street that?s fallen off the map, Mark Frutkin is a master at rediscovering the magic at the heart of all travel.

AUTHOR

Mark Frutkin

Mark Frutkin has published nineteen books of fiction, poetry and nonfiction, most recently The Artist and the Assassin (Porcupine’s Quill, 2021). His novel, Fabrizio’s Return (Knopf), won the Trillium Award and the Sunburst Prize, was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Prize. His novel, Atmospheres Apollinaire, was a finalist for the Governor General’s Award.

Reviews

The form of travel Frutkin describes is no longer the norm in our wired world, so many of his anecdotes are tinged with nostalgia. Walking Backwards is a reminder of the travellers we once were, and, as such, is both sentimental and entertaining.
– Quill and Quire

we are happy to join Frutkin with whomever he meets and wherever he goes. His innocence is charming, his wit razor sharp. This is a lovely read.
– The Globe and Mail

Walking Backwards is often tongue in cheek. But the book also has dreamy poetic moments and always loads of insight.
– The Ottawa Citizen

A poet and published author of both fiction and non-fiction, Frutkin has a keen eye for detail, a boundless interest in people, an appreciation for natural beauty, an epicurean love of fine food, a playful yet droll sense of humour and a talent for visual imagery.
– Glebe Report