The Lost Art of Walking

I first came across Jeff Nicholson via his excellent novel Bleeding London (read twice). Given that the protagonist of this work sets out to walk every square of the London A to Z, it is no surprise that Nicholson has a keen interest in walking. To give his non-fiction piece its full title, it covers, “the history, science, philosophy, literature, theory and practice of pedestrianism”. Similar to my recent read of Simon Garfield's On the Map, Nicholson does for walking what Garfield did for the map. Both books “works” because not only are they multidisciplinary, but because they fuse both factual and personal. It is easy to get where Nicholson is coming from, given my own keen interest in walking. Enjoyment of The Lost Art is further enhanced by his referencing of both pedestrian experiences in London and New York (cities I know well), as well as his homage to Ballard. Finally, a great — and justified — analogy between walking and writing; one step/word at a time. N/R.

By Geoff Nicholson