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Chris Stewart shot to fame with Driving Over Lemons, which became an international bestseller, as did its sequels, A Parrot in the Pepper Tree, The Almond Blossom Appreciation Society and The Last Days of the Bus Club. Chris had prepared for life on his Spanish mountain farm with jobs of doubtful relevance. He was the original drummer in Genesis (he played on the first album), then joined a circus, learnt how to shear sheep, went to China to write the Rough Guide, gained a pilot's license in Los Angeles, and crewed a sailing boat across the Atlantic (a story told in his book, Three Ways to Capsize a Boat). Everyone always wants to know if Chris and Ana are still living on their farm, El Valero. Of course they are! Along with numerous dogs, cats, chickens and sheep.
When an author is as modest and humorous as this, his story cannot be told too often. -- Elizabeth Buchan * The Times * Exquisite. In Driving Over Lemons the anecdote flourishes once more. -- Penelope Lively * Daily Telegraph * It is easy to enthuse about the simple pleasures of life, but hard to write about them well. Stewart's gift is to do so with the carefree manner of someone you've just met in a bar, and who is buying the drinks. -- Hugh Thomson * Independent *
