Gary Gray (1)Critiques

This reads like its cobbled-togehter from a series of 'Gosh Mom' letters from a student travelling abroad for the first time. The subject is interesting but less than interesting is knowing which of his travelling partners is drunk, throwing up, wants to sleep, makes stupid jokes etc. And that's just the beginning....

After some months I picked up the book again and the story did improve. By this time the student had become an investment banker and was travelling to Spain once a year to take part in the running of the bulls. The first description or two and the details of a bullfight were undoubtedly interesting. However, the author's penchant for leaving one word or more in almost every paragraph in italicised Spanish was tedious. There are words which lose their flavour when translated, perhaps muleta rather than cape is one, but writing cow, sun, cushion, mayor and all the other plebian words in Spanish came across as an affectation more than anything else.

I finished this book only because I wad determined to. It gets two stars because the initial descriptions of the running of the bulls and the bullfights were interesting.

This is a very simply written and shallow book which assumes you know nothing of Spain, bullfights, or the Spanish language. A sixth grader who had never been to Spain, and had yet to take a course in geography might find it informative.