The Longest Way Home - Andrew McCarthy

[Fran Cormack]

Ordinarily, I would tend to shy away from books written by actors.  And it was only as an actor that I knew Andrew McCarthy at that point.  What do actors know about writing I would dismissively ask?  And a travel book?  Another one just jumping on the zeitgeist that seems to have gripped the book world over recent years.

 

But then I started reading about the book.  Excerpts on Twitter, together with interviews with the man himself.  And I was hooked.  First drawn in by his travels.  Then by McCarthy. 

 

The book resonated with me from the first few pages.  Here was a man who appeared to travel for the same reasons I did.  To be alone.  To clear the head and have time to try and work out your place in the world.  But for McCarthy, the paradox was him travelling alone, trying to find the courage to make a life changing decision, and embark on his second marriage.  He was travelling far, to try and come home.

 

Part an introspective of the author and his complex character, the book is also a beautiful travelogue, expertly detailing his experiences in places as diverse as Patagonia, the Amazon and Kilimanjaro. 

 

Reading the book felt like reading about my story.  I share many characters traits with Andrew McCarthy.  Visited the same places, both feeling a connection immediately in El Calafate in Patagonia, and even visiting the same café there, Viva la Pepa.

 

The story concludes in Dublin, another place I have a close affinity with.  But how does it end?  Will McCarthy find the “courage to settle down” of the book’s title?

 

Pick up this great book and see.