A review by kellykferguson
A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World by Tony Horwitz

4.0

Horwitz is one of those authors who I'm pretty much willing to follow around anywhere, in this case retracing the paths of various Norse explorers, Spanish conquistadors, and British colonizers. While the debunking of Columbus and John Smith is familiar territory by now, Horwitz parses out fact from fiction in a fresh and easy to follow perspective while digging up a few new facts and steering clear of self-righteous liberalism. He also highlights a few of the forgotten explorers, who while no less interesting, were not mythologized.

The immersion memoir aspect is less strong (I don't get the sense that Horwitz has real stakes here), but still adds to the narrative. If you've read Annie Proulx's The Shipping News and Juno Diaz's The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao that will greatly add to your enjoyment of the chapters on Newfoundland and Santo Domingo.

Recommended for anyone who enjoys revisionist history and travelogue.