Island Dreams: Mapping an Obsession

by Gavin Francis

Overview

An exploration of isolation and connectedness based on thirty years of travel, from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Adventures in Human Being and Empire Antarctica

SHORTLISTED FOR WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEAR 

In Island Dreams, Gavin Francis combines stories of his own travels with psychology, philosophy and myth, shedding new light on the importance of islands and isolation in our collective consciousness. Francis draws on thirty years of island adventures from the Faroe Islands to the Aegean, from the Galapagos to the Andaman Islands. He contrasts these quests for freedom with the demands for commitment required as a doctor, community member and parent. Island Dreams riffs on the twin poles of rest and motion, independence and attachment, never more relevant than in today’s ever-connected world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781786898203
Publisher:	Canongate Books
Publication date:	11/12/2024
Edition description:	Main
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	800,786
Product dimensions:	5.08(w) x 7.80(h) x 0.00(d)

About the Author

Gavin Francis is an award-winning writer and GP. He is the author of eight books of non-fiction, including Adventures in Human Being, which was a Sunday Times bestseller and won the Saltire Scottish Non-Fiction Book of the Year Award, and Empire Antarctica, which won Scottish Book of the Year in the SMIT Awards and was shortlisted for both the Ondaatje and Costa Prizes. He has written for the Guardian, The Times, the New York Review of Books and the London Review of Books. His work is published in eighteen languages. He lives in Edinburgh, Scotland.

@gavinfranc | gavinfrancis.com

Editorial Reviews

An exploration of humankind's fascination with islands . . . It is a thought-provoking read that feels timely . . . balancing connection and isolation has never been more important

Herald

"Gavin Francis is a wonderful writer—thoughtful, engaging, immensely knowledgeable, and supremely human"

BILL BRYSON

"An intoxicating voyage during which maps become fictions and fictions verifiable facts. Myths of returning and older legends carry us out in a shared fugue of obsession and release. Here is a worthy companion to the dream labyrinths of Borges"

IAIN SINCLAIR

"A thrilling book - beautiful and spare at once . . . A real achievement"

TIM DEE

Praise for Adventures in Human Being: “Engaging and edifying . . . breathes life into the study of anatomy by situating it in the larger landscape of human experience, connecting the body to art, literature, music, astronomy, and history” New York Review of Books

From the Publisher