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Summary: SHORTLISTED FOR THE THOMAS COOK TRAVEL BOOK OF THE YEAR!
Review: "Kite Strings of the Southern Cross" is the best travel book I've read in ten years. Some people think just because they've had interesting travels, they can write a book about them, but not only has Gough had incredibly life-changing, fascinating and hilarious travels, she is a superb writer as well. Now I see that her book is shortlisted for the prestigious Thomas Cook Travel Book of the Year in the UK. It deserves to win wholeheartedly. Kite Strings has no pretensions. It's one of those books that jogs you out of place: a self-willed young traveler voluntarily abroad in a sometimes hostile world, but one that still somehow manages to ask you to marry it every other month. The most beautiful girl in the world, she is raped by the very image of peace and shocking beauty she seeks at the very beginning and she doesn't stop: she has to see every last inch of the earth, she has to allow it to prove its magnificence and generosity. God, what a fantastic book.
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Summary: Kite Strings of the Southern Cross: A Woman's Travel Odyssey
Review: "The best travel book I've read in years... it's pretty darned perfect...the kind of book you want every traveler you know to read."-Brad Newsham, author of All the Right Places "Moonlit nights, pounding surf, ill-fated love under a tropical sun-no, this isn't Hollywood sap, it's the real thing, in Laurie Gough's lovely, lyrical Kite Strings of the Southern Cross."-Trips "It is heart strings more than kite strings that one feels tugged on constantly in Kite Strings of the Southern Cross: A Woman's Travel Odyssey, Laurie Gough's passionate and poetic travel narrative about her return to paradise.... [Gough] is...an enchanting guide, moving us rather effortlessly from one exotic site to another on her usually solo rambles.... Gough is present, vulnerable and delightful."-SF Examiner "Laurie Gough whisks you away on a dreamy, spiritual, and at times flighty adventure...[Her] storytelling captures the essence of what lures travelers to the road."-Metrowest Daily News "Gough records everything she sees with a subtle wit, a lyrical turn of phrase and a remarkably open mind. She sweeps the reader into her world. Her writing is vigorous, sensual, and visual."-Globe and Mail "Amid the hype that surrounds new books and writers, it's rare to find one that lives up to the superlatives, as Gough does here. Gough is a talented and sensitive free spirit."-Quill and Quire "These are fascinating stories, ripe with adventure and excitement and colorful personalities from around the world. Armchair travelers will delight in this book."-Winnipeg Free Press
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Summary: Laurie has guts!!
Review: As a fellow independent woman traveler, I thoroughly enjoyed "Kite Strings of the Southern Cross" and would recommend it to anyone interested in South Pacific travel, women's travel, or independent travel in general. Laurie Gough is a talented writer and storyteller who, through this book, captures the "feel" of Fiji for her readers. This book is not about giving us a "to do list" for Fiji...it is about capturing the essence of the islands and their people. Further, it is also a much appreciated addition to the growing list of travel books by and about independent women travelers. So often, women stay at home and wait: wait to meet the right guy to travel with, wait until one of their girlfriends wants to go, wait until "the time is right" or they have enough money. Laurie, through this book, encourages women to just pick up and GO. And this is very important for many of us, because the adventure of discovering the courage and inner strength necessary to travel as a solo woman is one of the most important journeys of all!
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Summary: The very best
Review: Can I enjoy another travel book again? Not as well as this one. I just want to read this one again and again. I want to memorize all of the purely poetic descriptions of scenery and impressions. Just fascinating.
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Summary: Winner--Silver Medal, Best Travel Essay--ForeWord Magazine
Review: ForeWord Magazine chose Laurie Gough's <Kite Strings of the Southern Cross> as the Winner of the Silver Medal for Best Travel Essay
Rating: 
Summary: I beg to differ....
Review: Having travelled to many of the places Gough visited I was very keen to read this book. What a disappointment it was. Gough came across as a selfish spoiled user who had no respect for other cultures and people, and a lot of her "adventures" were self-aggrandisement, for example the Fijian experience. OK, they were cannibals, but that was about a hundred years ago - she would be in zero danger of being eaten nowadays, so why go on about it? The "hallucinogenic" drug kava, is actually just a muddy tasting drink that makes your tongue numb and after quite a lot, sends you to sleep. It is available in tablet/capsule form as a sedative/nerve tonic. Braving the taste is probably the most intrepid part of taking this. Oh yes,unless you want your teeth rearranged, don't call anyone (including the males raised as females) "poofta", as this is an offensive term for a homosexual. Everyone I know who has read this book also laughed over the New Zealand section - 25 years ago it may have been accurate, but to see her view of it nowadays requires a certain amount of tunnel-blindness. For a far superior view of solo female travel,where the author respects the cultures she vists and looks to understand the people she lives with, try Rita Golden-Gelman's book, Tales of a Female Nomad.
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Summary: An incredible writer...a simply wonderful book!
Review: I am swept away by Gough's poetic writing and her journey. I was captivated from the moment I opened the book, and when I finished it I was sad not to be able to spend more time with Gough. I recently traveled throughout Europe and reading her book made me want to plan my next trip to the South Pacific and Asia. Her story captured the essence of what keeps me on the road.
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Summary: An inner and outer journey of discovery
Review: I loved Kite Strings of the Southern Cross because in the author's search for paradise, she discovers some very unexpected things on the way, like the road inward, and the very oldest truth, that life is not what it seems on the surface. She digs deeply into the culture of Fiji to try to learn what's behind their shiny white smiles. After years of living in Asia and teaching in Japan, I can relate to this author's experiences in finding out that all is not always as it seems at first. sometimes you have to take a closer look to see what lies underneath. I was carried away by the author's use of language and found myself rereading certain parts over and over. This book is a keeper.
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Summary: Disappointing...
Review: I loved this book so much it has made me plan a trip to the South Pacific. I've been wanting to go there for years and now that I've read Gough's warm and brilliant account of her life in Fiji, I'm hooked on the idea of her sort of adventure travel where one gets to explore a culture from the inside out. Her inner and outer journey into a strange land is astonishing; her writing is poetic, thoughtful and full of memorable hilarious moments. The reader not only learns about Fiji and its people, but also about the life of a twenty-something nomad exploring the world alone. Whether on the back of a motorcycle roaring across Canada with a Maritime lunatic, or on an unforgetable bus ride through the Sahara, or hiking in the rainforests of New Zealand, we get to discover the world through through the fresh and insightful eyes of an exceptional new writer.
Rating:
Summary: CAPTIVATING AND FUNNY!!
Review: I loved this book so much it has made me plan a trip to the South Pacific. I've been wanting to go there for years and now that I've read Gough's warm and brilliant account of her life in Fiji, I'm hooked on the idea of her sort of adventure travel where one gets to explore a culture from the inside out. Her inner and outer journey into a strange land is astonishing; her writing is poetic, thoughtful and full of memorable hilarious moments. The reader not only learns about Fiji and its people, but also about the life of a twenty-something nomad exploring the world alone. Whether on the back of a motorcycle roaring across Canada with a Maritime lunatic, or on an unforgetable bus ride through the Sahara, or hiking in the rainforests of New Zealand, we get to discover the world through through the fresh and insightful eyes of an exceptional new writer.
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