Jonathan Raban was born in 1942, educated at Hull University, and was for a time a lecturer at UCW Aberystwyth and the University of East Anglia before becoming a full-time writer in 1969. His books include 'Soft City' (1973), 'Arabia Through the Looking Glass' (1979), 'Old Glory' (1981, Heinemann Award, RSL Thomas Cook Award), 'Foreign Land' (1985), 'Coasting' (1986), 'For Love and Money' (1987), and 'Hunting Mister Heartbreak' (1990, Thomas Cook Award). He has sailed alone round Britain and has spent much time afloat on the coastal seas of Europe. He is now living in Seattle, where h...