I had shot the quail and wood ducks earlier.” This compendium of a decade’s worth of food columns written largely for Esquire magazine is also rich fare, stuffed with opinion, adventure, sex, politics, literature, film stars and absurdly expensive food and wine. Harrison rails endlessly against Republicans, burger-chains, vegetarianism and everything else that can deaden our appetite for life. But despite all his digressions, provocative claims, and inveterate name-dropping, Harrison’s prose remains lean, and a treat to digest. (As he’s not afraid to reminds us, he’s also a prolific poet, novelist and screenwriter, perhaps best known for Legends of the Fall.) He evinces a virile, live-off-the-land kind of rugged American idealism, but it’s intriguingly at odds with his flamboyant manner. Indeed, he’s so insistently masculine it almost becomes camp.

As much as he clearly wishes he were Ernest Hemingway, there’s a bit of Monty from Withnail and I in him, and he’s all the more entertaining for that.To buy any of these books from Independent Books Direct call 0870 800 1122. Where is it?

Where is it?
About two thirds of the way up central Barcelona’s gaudy thoroughfare, La Rambla.Describe the settingThis four-star Art Deco hotel was completely refurbished in the early 1990s; the result is retro-gracious, pocket grand and successfully retains its heritage.Does it have a USP?The reception area is taken up by the lively Blue Moon piano bar, but it is probably best not to have a room directly above, as the partying can go on until the wee hours.Comfort factor The woman at reception did not want to us to get our hopes up about the hotel’s fitness centre. “The machines are all old and the Jacuzzi takes four hours to warm up.”However, the rooms were smart and stylish, with white, clean, modern lines.What’s in the bathrooms?The bath was huge. And his being Spain, there are ashtrays everywhere – even by the toilet and sink. There is lots of marble and white tiling, and a vast mirror is brightly lit for the most minute facial examination.I’m hungryThe Rambla with all its tourist joints is just outside, but if you just do not feel up to braving society, then the hotel’s Le Brut restaurant is better than it might have been. The dishes are well executed but dully “international”.What are the people like?The staff are friendly and unobtrusive, if perhaps in need of tighter management.

The guests seemed to be a mix of middle- to up-market tourists and business folk.Local interest Shop for clothes, shoes and leather goods, which are about two-thirds the price they are in the UK Shoe shops dominate the side streets along La Rambla. The Rivoli is centrally placed for most of the major sights – taxis hang about outside the front door most of the time.Access for all?No wheelchair access.What’s the damage?About €180 (£127) a night for a double room.. ‘Buon appetito.” Sitting on the low stones of Piper Sike turret on Hadrian’s Wall, eating our salami and cheese, it seemed appropriate to be greeted by a son of Rome. The tongue may have been Italian rather than Latin, but then it is doubtful the language of court was ever heard much on this distant frontier. The wall was generally manned by auxiliaries from Gaul and Germany, or locally recruited Brigantians. However, you do not need to walk the whole of it to get the windswept feel of Rome’s northern boundary.