Not A Rowing Book

The reason Gail Caldwell’s book Let’s Take the Long Way Home caught my eye was because the free paper Book Page (August 2010) had a cover story about the book. The cover picture, symbolizing the book, was of two women rowing in a double scull. Reading the Book Page interview, I quickly understood that this is not a ‘rowing book’, but a memoir of the friendship between Gail Caldwell and Caroline Knapp. Not only did these ladies had writing in common, but also the love of books and dogs, and water, as Caldwell swam and Knapp rowed; they also united in having a drinking past.

Even if there seem to be episodes in the book where Knapp takes Caldwell sculling on the Charles River in Boston, this is not a book for me. However, for you readers who would like to make up your own minds, here is the review of the book in The New York Times (22 August 2010).