Shticks of the trade
Following our session about tourism (and because quite a few of you did their assignments about tour guides in Oxford) I wanted to draw your attention to a fascinating book by Jonathan Wynn entitled ‘The Tour Guide’ (2011) which is based on an ethnography with tour guides in New York. I particularly like chapter 4 – Shticks of the trade – in which tour guides explain narrative tricks that they use to entice their customers.
A great documentary to accompany the book is The Cruise (1998) which offers an affectionate portrait of Tim “Speed” Levitch, a tour guide for Manhattan’s Gray Line double-decker buses. He talks fast, is in love with the city, and dispenses historical facts, architectural analysis, and philosophical musings in equal measures.
If you are interested I am happy to share both my copy of the book and the film.
Inge
