Walking the City
Review of the Daunt Books paperback edition (May 2022)

I very much enjoyed reading Ana Kinsella's essay Wayfinding about London city walking and observing in the non-fiction literary journal collection of TOLKA Issue 1 (May 2021) and made a note to watch for the full-length book Look Here, which is now also published.

Look Here travels further afield than just London and includes Kinsella's observations of her home city Dublin, life in New York City, life in Palermo, etc. as well. So it also functions as somewhat of a memoir including stories of her earlier career as a fashion and style writer. I particularly enjoyed the passage about the Passeggiata in Palermo, Sicily:

'Passeggiata' is the Italian word for the leisurely, pleasurable stroll taken in the golden light of the evening. It is a social activity. This is not a stroll taken for health or exercise so much as an opportunity to see your friends, and to be seen by all and sundry. Interactions that might usually take place in private homes, or at least in semi-private spaces such as restaurants or bars, are part of the public realm here. If you find yourself on a busy Italian street just before dinnertime, especially on a Sunday evening, you'll notice that people dress up for passeggiata. They make the most of the flattering evening light in the clothes they want to show off. If you are a tourist who ends up in the melee on her way to grab a beer in her shorts and sandals, skin sticky with old sunscreen, well, you're going to feel a little underdressed.

Look Here includes extended essays, 'regular' people interviews, short observational vignettes about observing city life and style throughout. It also has somewhat of a celebratory air for the return to mostly normal city life after the ravages of the pandemic, although it also observes the deserted city streets during the worst of it. Anyway, I'm a bit biased in my 5-star rating for its being somewhat of a journal for that era, for being a memento of what we lost, but also for the knowledge of what and who we still have and love.

Trivia and Links
There is a combined review and interview at A London Walk with Ana Kinsella by Madeleine Feeny, The London Magazine, May 31, 2022.

Ana Kinsella also writes a blog with her occasional views of style and city-spotting at The London Review of Looks (Note: that's LOOKS, not BOOKS). ( )