With a sharp eye for detail and a historian's capacious knowledge, Padraig Rooney has written a superbly amusing guide to all the writers who've been drawn to or emerged from Switzerland. This is a book that should be stuffed into every stocking - the perfect Christmas gift! -- Edmund White, author of 'Our Young Man' and 'The Flaneur'
Constantly engaging... and highly entertaining. Rooney is almost casually brilliant on Joyce, Nabokov and Mann, but revelatory on such as Durrenmatt and Frisch. He shows a deftness of touch but can, too, be powerful. A love letter to reading that does not shy away from the sins of reality. * The Herald *
An enjoyable wander around literary Switzerland. The Gilded Chalet tracks the snow prints, shattered booze-glasses and missed spy drops of the likes of Rousseau, Byron, Hemingway and le Carre, sniffing the air of inspiration they found in the hills, huts and bars. * Wanderlust *
A gossipy feel [with a] touch of Clive James in its humour. What has Switzerland ever done for us? Quite a bit. * Irish Mail on Sunday *
'A lively and entertaining tour of literary Switzerland. Rooney has an eye for a telling anecdote. Informative and full of surprises, not least the portrait of Switzerland as a hotbed of literature and revolution.' * The Tablet *
A fascinating look behind the scenery at how Switzerland has influenced and affected some of the greatest authors and some of my favourite books. -- Diccon Bewes, author of Swiss Watching
PRAISE FOR PADRAIG ROONEY:
There is a mastery in his handling of prose-rhythm which I find exciting. It is in order for an ageing writer, in a valediction to Irish readers, to essay a prophecy about Irish letters. Mr. Rooney will be a credit to them.
-- Anthony Burgess
A fascinating account of how Switzerland has always provided something of a refuge for writers - from war, oppression, tuberculosis and even marriage - as well as an inspiration to them too. * The Bookseller *
Rooney's thoroughly absorbing book bundles up all of Switzerland's gilded ambiguities into a dazzling package that is part road trip, part reading list, part memoir, and part historical expose. [It] makes one want to pick up old favourites and seek out new literary discoveries. It is a book for those who love to travel, whether in the mind or on the road. It [is] easy to tear through the volume in a few voracious sittings. * Times Literary Supplement *
The Gilded Chalet entertains, informs and whets the appetite for more. And there are more discoveries in Rooney's tasty assortment of literary bonbons. * Portland Book Review *
