On the Trail of the Last Human Cannonball

From “a great journalist of the older school,” travel essays chronicling the author’s search for incredible stories about extraordinary people (The Guardian).

Byron Rogers’ latest collection of travel pieces follows the winning formula of his previous book, An Audience with an Elephant, as he goes in search of a remarkable array of quirky, whimsical, and singular individuals. But in addition to meeting a pensioner on a holiday who decided to swim across the Amazon, this book sees Rogers meeting a number of undeniably famous people. But as one might expect, Rogers’ encounters with celebrity have their own unexpected outcomes. Burt Lancaster rants to him about transsexuality, Rita Hayworth is most worried about her neighbor’s TV aerial, and a retired star of the silent screen turns out to live in Henley-on-Thames.

“It is with the delicacy and determination of an archaeologist—and the wit of a publican and far-sightedness of a dreamer—that Rogers excavates people and places.” —Daily Telegraph

“A wonderful writer. Droll, poignant and dreamy.” —New Statesman