Bruce Chatwin In Patagonia

Bruce Chatwin is now regarded as one of the greatest travel writers of his generation, and in the 1970s, along with Paul Theroux, he revolutionised and revitalised travel writing as a genre. He was a charismatic figure, and I was lucky enough to meet him a few times, and be able to read his first travel book, In Patagonia, in manuscript form, hot off his typewriter.

In 1977 I was working in London for the literary agent, Deborah Rogers. Bruce Chatwin was one of her clients, and she handled the contracts for his first few books, including In Patagonia. It's amazing to think that he was then 37, as he was a slim and boyish figure, but had already packed a lot into his life. He had worked at Sotheby's and become an expert in Impressionist Art, then studied archaeology before joining the Sunday Times Magazine as an advisor on art and architecture, and later as a writer.

Chatwin left the Sunday Times Magazine in memorable and typically Chatwinesque fashion, by sending them a telegram from South America, saying 'Have gone to Patagonia.' It was that journey which he turned into a lyrical travel book, In Patagonia, the manuscript of which he brought into Deborah Rogers' office one day. He needed a second copy, so my tiny claim to fame is that I showed him how to work the photocopier, and chatted to him as I helped him run off another copy of the manuscript.

Everyone in the office loved Bruce, even if his eccentric ways sometimes maddened them. He had such charm you would forgive him anything. We all read the manuscript, and loved that too, and so wanted it to be a success for him. I don't think anyone knew quite how successful this, and his later books, would be.

Chatwin's writing ranged wide, and he deliberately broke down the barriers between fact and fiction. It always amused me that his wonderful novel On the Black Hill won the Whitbread First Novel of the Year award, when it was actually his second work of fiction. His previous book, The Viceroy of Ouidah, was also a work of fiction. So too were chunks of his 'factual' travel books, like In Patagonia and The Songlines. Chatwin claimed that it didn't matter. They were stories, and they either worked or they didn't.

In Patagonia certainly worked. I didn't buy a copy, as I'd read it in manuscript and there were always copies on the office bookshelves. I'd struggle to buy one now. A copy of that first British edition was recently on offer on the internet for $7500. I wonder what that manuscript would be worth today?

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Read blogs about those other great travel writers, Bill Bryson and Eric Newby.

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