Gypsy in Me:, The : From Germany to Romania in Search of Youth, Truth, and Dad

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Summary: Praise for The Gypsy in Me from Jonathan Raban and Luc Sante
Review: "Since 1989 there has been an avalanche of books about the New Europe, most of them by journalists who jet from capital to capital, interviewing important people. But Ted Simon's The Gypsy in Me comes as a breath of fresh air -- a book that shows us plain citizens, getting on with their private lives while governments change far above their heads. Simon is an honest pilgrim through the strange new world that has emerged since the collapse of the Soviet empire, a footsore Everyman whose book is funny and wise in equal parts. A fine writer, traveling the hard way with his nose close to the gournd, he brings back the smells and sights of the countries he moves through with a vivid intimacy that no conventional journalist could achieve." -- Jonathan Raban, author of Bad Land

"Ted Simon is the ideal traveling companion -- observant, wry, modest, perseverant, open to everyone and everything, and above all disarmingly honest -- and The Gypsy in Me displays every last one of these qualities, in inviting and harmonious prose. It is a splendidly humane tour of an eastern Europe all too often veiled in rumor and abstraction." -- Luc Sante, author of Low Life

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Summary: A great read for a journey through Eastern Europe
Review: I am an American student living in Vienna for four months and travelling throughout Central Europe. I've read many travel books during my trip and found Simon's to be one of the best. Simon's walk through Central Europe provides the reader with a better understanding of the region and its people while also challenging the individual to find more in his or her daily experiences.

When travelling in Central Europe at the end of the millenium, you are bound to ask yourself questions about the changes that have taken place over the last decade and how those changes are effecting the people who live in these countries. The Gypsy in Me provides some answers and challenges the reader to stray from the big tourist sites and find some locals to just sit and talk.

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Summary: One of the best travel books...
Review: I have read quite a few travel books, and this one is one of the best, by far. When you try to describe to someone a chapter you have just read, you realize that there is not much action to convey, but what he does leave you with is an amazing insight into his and other peoples emotions.

This book reminds me of sitting around and listening to a favorite uncle tell tales of yesteryear. The images are first rate and the storyteller makes it very obvious he was often touched in ways that is almost beyond description. I highly recommend this book.

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Summary: This is the honest and luminous prose of a natural writer.
Review: I love Ted Simon's writing for his honesty, integrity, his luminous descriptions of people and places, his empathy, revealing of his inner thoughts and his philosophy of life. He makes you wish you were half as good. I'd walk to the Arctic Circle with him tomorrow. Eagerly awaiting more.