Comments about William W. Starr’s “Whisky, Kilts, and the Loch Ness Monster: Traveling Through Scotland with Boswell and Johnson”:
“A delightful book … fascinating reading … His accounts of where he stopped are all worth reading, and on occasion the quality of his prose approaches – if this is not heretical to say – that of the two masters of the English language whose journey he is replicating.”
– John Greenya, The Washington Times
“One of the best travel/essay books I’ve ever read … Bill’s book is brilliantly written, imaginatively conceived, and a pure delight from beginning to end … Hemingway famously said he didn’t want readers just to get a picture of a place – he wanted them to feel as if they were really there when they read his books. Bill’s book does that and more – it’s that good.”
– Philip Lee Williams, Michael Shaara-award winning author of “A Distant Flame” and “The Heart of a Distant Forest”
“His boundless enthusiasm for all things Scottish – the castles, the single malts, even the famously soggy weather – is infectious, and his erudition is leavened quite nicely with self-deprecating wit.”
– Teresa Weaver, Atlanta magazine
“This book is Bill Bryson funny. It’s Sedaris funny. I don’t want to judge poor Bill Starr, but at times it’s as if Ziggy went on a road trip … Readers will love Bill Starr’s masterpiece.”
George Singleton. prize-winning author of “The Half Mammals of Dixie” and “Why Dogs Chase Cars.”
“This is a one-of-a-kind travel book … a fine narrative … Starr is a distinctly offbeat character, if not quite a weirdo, and a born entertainer … His beguiling light touch inhabits every page.”
– Larry Swindell, The Atlanta Journal Constitution
“Starr writes a … delightful and informative … travelogue that includes history, exquisite and often witty observations, and comparisons of his own journey with that of Boswell and Johnson.”
– Penny Hastings, ForeWord Reviews
“This book is a delight – historically sweeping, informative, and crisply written … From an informed American perspective, he blends hilarious and droll reflections on Scotland’s history and culture with an affectionate and insightful tracking of the footstep of Boswell and Johnson.”
– Peter Martin, prize-winning biographer of Boswell and Johnson
“This is an often hilarious travel-autobiography by a erudite, gregarious traveler with a large fund of humor, who loves to tell a good story about the things he sees, hears, and tastes, and about the people he meets. Think of the chapters as potato chips; you can’t read only one.”
– O.M. Brack, editor, The Yale Edition of the Works of Samuel Johnson
“Delightful … As with any good travelogue, engrossing anecdotes abound, and the author’s writing style is direct, comfortable, effortless.”
– Brad Hooper, Booklist Reviews
“What (Starr) shows us is wondrously satisfying: castles and history, single malt Scotch, breakfasts, and days sweet and sour with appealing meanderings.”