John Gimlette

theatre-of-fish

For the latest books, recommendations, author interviews and more

source_10558

By signing up, I confirm that I'm over 16. To find out what personal data we collect and how we use it, please visit our <a href="/company/about-us/notices/privacy-policy/">Privacy Policy</a>

Keep an eye out for a confirmation in your inbox

Stories, ideas and giveaways to help you spark young imaginations

source_10972

The latest books, activities and tips to help you grow little readers

source_10975

About us

About Us (Header 4)

john-le-carre-a-legacy-of-spies-960-2.jpg

Margaret Atwood

Richard Osman

Malorie Blackman

George Orwell

marian_keyes_mobile_320x200px.png

Elif Shafak

shonfaye

Authors (Header 3)

Books (Header 2)

Company

Features (Header 1)

Penguin Shop (Header 5)

Useful links

A European Journey in War and Peace

Panther Soup

Travels through Paraguay

At the Tomb of the Inflatable Pig

Theatre Of Fish

'Terrific stuff... Hugely entertaining... As a descriptive writer, a master of the telling observation and the well-chosen epithet, [Gimlette] is in the highest class.'

'An exhilarating [book], lit up by the vividness of the reporting, the sense of history it conveys, and the irresistible verve of Gimlette's prose. It told me a great deal I did not know and am glad to know, and entertained me greatly'

'John Gimlette is a writer of vivid comical prose... Mingles ancestral history and humorous anecdote... Highly entertaining'

'A sprawling travelogue of fascinating anecdotes, flashes of brilliant wit'

'With his quiet respectability shining throughout, Gimlette's tale is not just a travel yarn or a family history, it tells a story in its own right too'

'The arrival of a new book by John Gimlette, barrister and author of the critically acclaimed At the Tomb of the Inflatable Pig, is a cause for celebration. Few modern writers knit such meticulous prose, boast such a keen eye for detail, or possess such mordant wit ... Theatre of Fish is a superbly apt title for the results. As a kind of outpost on the edge of the Americas, Newfoundland's people seem to have an almost Dickensian quirkiness, perfect for Gimlette's approach. Yet perhaps most admirably, the book holds them up to the light without a hint of ridicule. As in Paraguay, the author appears genuinely drawn to its cast of lost souls, eccentrics and the bizarre. Similarly, much of the history he recounts is darkly unpleasant, and yet he manages to recount it without either losing his sense of humour or perspective. Intellectually, Theatre of Fish is a delight.'

Travels through Newfoundland and Labrador

John Gimlette's travels through this harsh and awesome landscape, the eastern extreme of the Americas, broadly mirrors that of Dr Eliot Curwen, his great-grandfather, who spent a summer there as a doctor in 1893, and who was witness to some of the most beautiful ice and cruelest poverty in the British Empire. Using Curwen's extraordinarily frank journal, John Gimlette revisits the places his great-grandfather encountered and along the way explores his own links with this brutal land.

An extraordinary journey across the magnificent, bizarre coast of Newfoundland and Labrador.

John Gimlette is a well-established travel writer, having won the Shiva Naipaul Memorial Prize and the Wanderlust Travel Writing Award. He writes regularly for a number of broadsheets. His first book, At the Tomb of the Inflatable Pig: Travels through Paraguay, was published in 2003 to massive critical acclaim. When not probing the extreme corners of the Earth he practises as a barrister in London.

Theatre Of Fish

Select a format:

Retailers:

Summary

Reviews

About the author

John Gimlette

More from this Author

Sign up to the Penguin Newsletter