Manuel V. Alonso, a diplomat, writer, and painter born in Madrid in 1954, introduced his newest book in Madrid this Monday: Speed-up travel and other tales. This updated edition, first released last March, considers the author’s travels to diverse cities and cultures through a reflective lens that blends observation with memory.
Across these tales, which Alonso describes as a disjointed impression of what he sees on his globe-trotting path, readers are invited to accompany him on the journeys born from his diplomatic duties. Beginning in Algiers and winding to Lisbon, the narratives explore the rhythms, people, and daily life that define each place, offering a compact travelogue of experience, mood, and place.
During the book’s launch at the Matador club in Madrid, Alonso explained that his diplomatic career facilitated his access to local information and insights. He also noted the balance between his roles as diplomat, writer, and visual artist. At this event, he chose to sign his work using his second surname, Alonso, which is his maternal name, underscoring a personal facet of his publishing identity.
Manuel V. Alonso was joined at the launch by friends and peers from literary and media circles, including poets and editors, as well as leaders from cultural foundations. Notable attendees included José Luis Gallerola, journalist Mireia Sentis, and José Rodríguez-Spireti, president of the Pablo Palazuelo foundation, who contributed to the evening’s conversations about travel, culture, and storytelling.
Speed-up travel and other tales sits alongside Alonso’s earlier volumes, Accelerated Journeys and Other Chinese Tales and Accelerated Travel Diary, as well as Big Island. The collection assembles stories from travels spanning 1997 to 2019, arranged in three sections that guide the reader through a mosaic of ethnicities, religions, and city experiences. Each chapter closes with subtle clues and an open-ended note, inviting readers to continue the journey in their imagination long after the page is turned.
Early on, the author described how travel began as a personal indulgence for his family, then evolved into a necessary pursuit for his writing. The motivation grew from a sense of obligation to document impressions for himself and his children, ultimately shaping the book’s personal and cultural resonance.
Speed-up travel and other tales
Manuel V. Alonso
Almuzara Editorial
216 pages
21 euros