Bell, Gavin

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BELL, Gavin

PERSONAL:

Born in Lanarkshire, Scotland. Education: Hutchesons' Boys Grammar School.

ADDRESSES:

Agent—c/o Author Mail, Trafalgar Square Books, P.O. 257 Nowe Hill Rd., North Pomfret, VT 05053.

CAREER:

Journalist. Foreign correspondent for Reuters and the London Times.

MEMBER:

Agence France-Presse.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Thomas Cook Travel Book Award, Thomas Cook Publishing, 1995, for In Search of Tusitala: Travels in the Pacific after Robert Louis Stevenson.

WRITINGS:

In Search of Tusitala: Travels in the Pacific after Robert Louis Stevenson, Picador (London, England), 1995.

Somewhere over the Rainbow: Travels in South Africa, Little, Brown (London, England), 2001.

SIDELIGHTS:

For nearly twenty years, Gavin Bell has been a foreign correspondent, traveling all over the world to cover a variety of stories. He has utilized his extensive travel history and reporting skills to write travel books.

Bell's first book, In Search of Tusitala: Travels in the Pacific after Robert Louis Stevenson, received the Thomas Cook Travel Book Award upon its publication in 1995. For this work Bell traveled through Samoa and the South Seas retracing the steps of the famous author of Treasure Island and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Stevenson was an enthusiastic traveler, and Bell hoped to come to an understanding of the author by tracing one of his routes. Jonathan Ford commented in the Times Literary Supplement that through the book one is stricken with similarities between Bell and Stevenson. Bell seeks refuge from his life as a war reporter in a land that was also a refuge for Stevenson. Ford also noted that "they share childish romantic qualities along with an outrage at the decay of Polynesian culture by Western civilization, but though Bell shares much with Stevenson he shares sadly little of his wit and style."

For his second book Bell drew on some of his experiences as a foreign correspondent. From 1988 to 1993 Bell worked in Johannesburg covering South Africa during the last years of apartheid. He returned a few years later in search of the South Africa he did not have the time to find while busy reporting and to see how the country was coping post-apartheid. He spent six months touring the country alone by car despite much warning from his friends and family regarding his safety. He began and ended his journey in Cape Town and visited places of historical significance as well as small towns. He titled his book Somewhere over the Rainbow: Travels in South Africa in reference to Archbishop Desmond Tutu's comment that post-apartheid South Africa was a rainbow nation. Bell found a land ridden with crime and government corruption yet still slowly moving forward.

Critics had very different responses to the book. Some found he would easily detour anyone wanting to visit the country, while others found that his account acquainted them with a South Africa they were not likely to see on their own. Neil Pendock of the Sunday Times stated, "As a travel writer, Bell is not the best," and found that Bell's admission that he did not get to know the South Africans "disqualifies this book from having any deeper relevance than the postcards sent home by a casual tourist on a bad trip." Cheryl Cohen of Globe and Mail enjoyed the book, but observed, "The vast number of places and people visited ultimately make for a superficial tour of the country." However, she also stated that "even though the book is written in a largely bright and breezy style, Bell leaves the reader in a serious frame of mind." Deborah L. Manzolillo of the Times Literary Supplement was dissatisfied with the conclusion of the book, stating, "Bell's quest ends blandly, with the conclusion that for now the Rainbow Nation is an illusion, but that things will work out in the end." In contrast, Faith Leslie of the Charlotte Austin Review found the book "an interesting and well-researched book which should appeal to anyone with an interest in South Africa." A contributor for Kirkus Reviews wrote, "With an eye to the significant as well as the picturesque, this breezy and informative account captures the best and worst of the new South Africa." Melinda Stivers Leach of Library Journal stated that "Bell's descriptions of the land and its wildlife are luscious, and his tales of meeting the people are heartwarming, but the reader also gets tremendous insights into the problems of this country in transition."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Globe and Mail (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), March 18, 2000, Cheryl Cohen, "South Africa on Forty-eight Murders a Day," p. D11.

Kirkus Reviews, February 1, 2001, review of Somewhere over the Rainbow: Travels in South Africa, p. 156.

Library Journal, March 1, 2001, Melinda Stivers Leach, review of Somewhere over the Rainbow, p. 116.

Times Literary Supplement, January 13, 1995, Jonathan Ford, "Let the Train Take the Strain," p. 32; July 28, 2000, Deborah L. Manzolillo, "One Dorp Closes …, " p. 6.