Daunt Books

One might question how interesting a travelogue about a route that the author describes as “pointless ... leading from nowhere in particular to nowhere in particular” could possibly be. But Simon Armitage’s account of his 256-mile trek - penniless and backwards - up the Pennine Way is not a record of human endurance, but a lovely homage to land and people and a charming meditation on his life as a poet. As he writes about his attempts to pay his way by appearing, wind-whipped and bedraggled, at prearranged readings, Armitage comes across as funny, observant and deeply likeable.

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