"I jump into a sand pit for a living"
WALKING HOME, My Family and Other Rambles
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Clare Balding, Viking (Penguin Books) ISBN: 978-0-670-92147-8
The book is structured in 15 chapters loosely about particular walks that Clare has undertaken for her BBC radio programme or just for the fun of it. By “loosely” I mean that most of the book consists of what might be called parentheses as Claire goes off on a tangent about people on the walk or memories which the walk jogs. That is absolutely fine as these sections are probably the most interesting. By the way, she is passionate about walking and its benefits!
This is Clare’s second book. While her partner, Alice, got a brief mention in the first, she is a major character in Walking Home. There are some amusing insights into domestic life and how Alice has to make all “the tricky phone calls when we need to complain about a leaky boiler or question a bill. She’s better at it. I would end up making friends with them and asking them round for dinner; Alice will negotiate a free service or a refund”.
Clare drops our own guard a number of times, confessing, for example, to a certain insecurity in her professional life: “I am probably the worst kind of person to be freelance. I’m always terrified that if I say no to the job I’m offered today, I won’t be offered one tomorrow”.
She is also more open about sexuality as in her reflection on whether or not she should have boycotted the 2014 Winter Olympic Games. “I believe in the freedom to pursue your career without fear of prejudice on the basis of race, religion, gender or sexuality. It seemed to me hypocritical and counter-productive not to accept the role as the lead presenter in Sochi because I am gay – that would be playing into the hands of the homophobes who want to judge gay people as lesser human beings. I felt the whole point was to show Russia that being gay or straight is no more relevant than being left- or right-handed, blonde or brunette”.
The book is an easy and interesting read - very funny in places.