The British author, who lived in the US, blended memoir and travelogue in books that were often inspired by the sea
; and across the Atlantic in a container ship in Hunting Mister Heartbreak . Raban then unpicked the history of south-eastern Montana in Bad Land: An American Romance .began as a tale of navigating Alaska’s Inside Passage, until his trip was interrupted by the death of his father and the end of his marriage, transforming the book into an exploration of mortality and fatherhood.
“It’s the great consolation of the writer, I think. You’re given these catastrophes – and they’re gifts,”. “I mean, your father dies and your wife leaves you, all in a couple of months. There was a bit of me that was thinking, ‘God, this is going to be good for the book.’” His blending of personal crises, sharp observations of people he met and beautiful passages about countries and seas earned Raban acclaim and prizes over his career. The New York Times once called him “a sort of English Capote: vivid, funny, accurate, full of hyperbolic wit and outrageous metaphor; no reticence at all. But at least as important is the author’s ability to make an instant connection with virtually any human being whomsoever.
Some took issue with his vivid and often harsh descriptions of the people he encountered, befriended and sometimes romanced on his trips. “How are you going to report life if you report it as a series of wonderful people?” Raban once wrote to the Washington Post, in reply to a particularly offended critic. “Some people are repulsive. Some are lovable.”
His journeys also often walked in time with turmoil in the world he was exploring: Old Glory, about his journey on the Mississippi, took place in the lead up to Ronald Reagan’s victory in the 1980 US presidential election, while Coasting followed aRaban also wrote three novels: Foreign Land , Waxwings , which was nominated for the Booker prize, and Surveillance .
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