Literary Trips: Following in the Footsteps of Fame - Softcover

3.6

62 ratings by Goodreads

9780968613702: Literary Trips: Following in the Footsteps of Fame

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0968613705 ISBN 13: 9780968613702

Publisher: Greatest Escapes.Com Pub, 2000

"The excitement of finding something strange consists precisely in noting its strangeness," says Paul Bowles in the foreword. In his final bit of writing before his death last year, Bowles hit on the driving force that impels the best travel writers: the urge to tell someone about their trips. In this book, they find the opportunity, bringing readers along on their journeys to places made unique and fascinating by the works of the best writers in literature. This book enables readers to turn a simple trip into a pilgrimage and an ordinary sightseeing tour into an adventure.

Combining evocative biographies and useful travel tips to point travelers to the haunts and homes of famous writers, Literary Trips is a first in the world of thematic travelers tales. Readers sip martinis with Noel Coward and Ian Fleming on a Jamaican beach; fish for marlin with Ernest Hemingway in Cuba; ride a streetcar through New Orleans's French Quarter with Tennessee Williams; surf Australia's king-size waves with Bruce Chatwin; hang on tight to a camel with Lawrence of Arabia in Jordan; lounge in Parisian cafes with Gertrude Stein and F. Scott Fitzgerald; and much more.

"The feet that are being followed belong to outstanding literary figures. The feet following them are exceptional travel writers."--the Toronto Star

"Along with the literary trivia and the so-and-so-slept-here tips, Brooks and her stable of insiders provide first-rate overviews of accommodations and transportation options for the varied literary pitstops."--the Vancouver Province

"Revealing and inspirational....While there have been other books about the (literal) literary landscape, few...have managed to fold in the how-and-where nuts and bolts...that this one has."--Mark Orwell, managing editor, Travel & Leisure

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From Library Journal:

While many travel books follow in the footsteps of writers, this collection of 23 short essays is a bit different. Focusing on famous writers and the locales for which they were well knownDsuch as Ernest Hemingway in Cuba, Bruce Chatwin in Australia, and Margaret Mitchell in AtlantaDthe book provides in each case brief historical and biographical information, along with a description of what the place was like at the time. Some of the authors of the essays also included their own personal narratives and added practical and up-to-date information about the place. Brooks, a travel writer for magazines and editor-in-chief of the Internet travel webzine www.greatestescapes.com, has not only compiled and edited the collection but also contributed three chapters. While the book's interesting subject and fun-to-read format do provide a new perspective on the already familiar places, the striking briefness of the essays might disappoint some fans of the profiled writers. Recommended only for large travel collections.DKathleen Shanahan, Kensington, MD
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review:

"Combines essays and practical information to guide the reader along literary pathways" -- USA Today, October 6, 2000

"Literary Trips sheds new light on destinations that have charmed such diverse literary figures as A.A. Milne and Mary Shelley" -- Palo Alto Daily News, July 14, 2000

"Practical information that true devotees can devour... a fun read for the literary-minded" -- New York Times Syndicate, August 13, 2000

"The feet that are being followed belong to outstanding literary figures. The feet following them are exceptional travel writers” -- The Toronto Star, April 15, 2000

“This compendium – part travelogue, part homage – is a fascinating (and useful) read... Literary Trips is well written and exhaustively researched." -- Vancouver Province, April 30, 2000

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