Love and Romance: True Stories of Passion on the Road (Travelers' Tales Guides) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 188521118X ISBN 13: 9781885211187

Publisher: Travelers' Tales, 2000

Synopsis

Travelers' Tales Love & Romance is a collection of literary essays -- all true stories -- of love, lust, and romance encountered while traveling. They range from a tender story of how travel kept the spark in a 50-year marriage, to one woman's story of becoming engaged to a Figi Island tribesman, to the tale of an erotic romp with an unsuspected opium smuggler. Some stories are touching, others are frightening; all involve love in its many guises waiting to surprise and delight the unsuspecting traveler.

About this title

Review:

Readers who buy this book for the provocative cover--a photograph of two attractive people sprawled on a romantically dingy stone staircase, locked in a passionate embrace--won't be disappointed by the stories inside. Beth Ann Fennelly heroically denies herself a sensuous Italian named Massimo who "smelled of lemons"; Robert Strauss and his wife enjoy a stay at a not-quite-respectable Japanese hotel; and Chelsea George's personal ad in the Hindustan Times yields unexpected results. The fresh air of adventure and seductive possibilities blows strong through these stories. It's a perfect gift for travel lovers--in every sense.

Review:

Whether leaving home for a solo adventure, planning a lovers' getaway with a willing partner, or taking to the road with friends, these enchanting stories provide the raw material for romance. The title of this book however, belies the full range of travel adventures assembled within its pages. There is intimacy here, and the delicious revelation of the private thoughts and feelings of the authors, though most of these concentrate on the sensual, not the sexual. These true stories invite the reader to be more of a confidant than a peeping Tom. Ultimately, it is the very act of travel, of relinquishing routine, that becomes each narrator's partner in romance. The compiler and editor, Judith Babcock Wylie, says it best in her Introduction: "Whether to seek another, seek a new understanding with a partner, or to seek ourselves, travel itself can be the ultimate romance." The Travelers' Tales Guides are a testament to the power of story; no other form of narrative brings a reader so close to a foreign culture while leaving hype and judgement behind. This latest installment in the series is no different. There are death-defying tales ("The Firing Squad" by Michael Lang), hilarous bodice-ripping tales ("Desperately Seeking Protection" by Arthur Dawson), ultimate road trip tales ("Wind in the West" by Claire Tristam) and blind-date-hell stories ("Hindustani Personals" by Carole Chelsea George). This guide is truly an all-purpose travelogue, transporting the armchair traveler without ado, providing inspiration to even frequent flyers, and proving that romance, be it with foreign geography or a familiar partner, is in the little moments of the journey. -- From Independent Publisher

About this edition

• Publisher: Travelers' Tales
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 188521118X
• ISBN 13: 9781885211187
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 328
• Editor: Wylie Judith Babcock