What do you think?
Rate this book
Literary Trips: Following in the Footsteps of Fame
"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 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
362 pages, softcover
First published January 1, 2000
3 people are currently reading
81 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
September 15, 2024
We spend far too much time in shuttered rooms.
- Bruce Chatwin
Here is the idea of the book: Take famous writers, focus on the cities and countries they loved best, and then write about those places while also providing in-depth essays on each author. Use a little pegasus symbol that changes with the continent (Asia, for example, gets a winged elephant) and moves across the globe by literary work. I can go for that, yes can do.
Paul Bowles gets it all going, which is perfect as he was the one who felt that certain areas of the earth contained more magic than others. So we learn about Tangier and the ceramic-tiled roofs whose color and shape mimic the waves and hue of the sea. Lovely.
Rohinton Mistry = Mumbai, of course. The Parsi culture and the Thieves' Market and kaleidoscopic streets of contrasts. There's even a recipe for Dhansak and a glossary of Mumbai terms.
Malcolm Lowry = Vancouver. Not Mexico, as I would have thought. Lowry loved the quiet of the Eden he had found in Canada, although Vancouver is quite different now. For him, the early morning mist was the property of Titans, hanging out to dry between the hills. The man who ended his life as a "death by misadventure" could be rather eloquent.
There is so much to love in the book's selections. Hemingway gets Cuba, Jamiaca gets Ian Fleming and Coward, San Francisco the Beat writers...you can take this book, buy one of those round-the-world tickets and just go from there. Very tempting.
Every writer/location also gets a chapter-ending selection of actual travel suggestions, from accommodations to eateries to books. There are writers I must now read (Hamsun) and others I must re-visit. Overall, the book was extremely informative and I luxuriated in my armchair travelling. My only quibble was including Jane Urquhart with the Bronte sisters. Um, no.
In London they say if two people stand on a corner, a queue forms. In New Orleans's French Quarter, a parade starts.
Recommended for all travellers, armchair-bound or not.
Book Season = Year Round (footprints of our ancestors)
- Bruce Chatwin
Here is the idea of the book: Take famous writers, focus on the cities and countries they loved best, and then write about those places while also providing in-depth essays on each author. Use a little pegasus symbol that changes with the continent (Asia, for example, gets a winged elephant) and moves across the globe by literary work. I can go for that, yes can do.
Paul Bowles gets it all going, which is perfect as he was the one who felt that certain areas of the earth contained more magic than others. So we learn about Tangier and the ceramic-tiled roofs whose color and shape mimic the waves and hue of the sea. Lovely.
Rohinton Mistry = Mumbai, of course. The Parsi culture and the Thieves' Market and kaleidoscopic streets of contrasts. There's even a recipe for Dhansak and a glossary of Mumbai terms.
Malcolm Lowry = Vancouver. Not Mexico, as I would have thought. Lowry loved the quiet of the Eden he had found in Canada, although Vancouver is quite different now. For him, the early morning mist was the property of Titans, hanging out to dry between the hills. The man who ended his life as a "death by misadventure" could be rather eloquent.
There is so much to love in the book's selections. Hemingway gets Cuba, Jamiaca gets Ian Fleming and Coward, San Francisco the Beat writers...you can take this book, buy one of those round-the-world tickets and just go from there. Very tempting.
Every writer/location also gets a chapter-ending selection of actual travel suggestions, from accommodations to eateries to books. There are writers I must now read (Hamsun) and others I must re-visit. Overall, the book was extremely informative and I luxuriated in my armchair travelling. My only quibble was including Jane Urquhart with the Bronte sisters. Um, no.
In London they say if two people stand on a corner, a queue forms. In New Orleans's French Quarter, a parade starts.
Recommended for all travellers, armchair-bound or not.
Book Season = Year Round (footprints of our ancestors)
July 2, 2013
I'm a fan of travel writing & this was a great book of literary history. Donating now as I'm clearing bookshelves for a move.
June 18, 2009
I wrote a chapter in this book, the one on Ayn Rand and New York. Even if I didn't write it, I'd tell you how happy I am with the way it turned out!
May 14, 2017
Excellent though a little dated (1999), this book is an interesting read for book and travel lovers. It is divided into six parts, each listing a particular region of the world (such as Africa/Middle East; Yucatan Peninsula, North America East, North America West. England/Ireland, and continental Europe). Each chapter is an essay spotlighting one or two authors who wrote their greatest works in or were inspired by a particular region. At the end of each chapter is practical travel information: where the place is; how to get there; where to sleep, what to see (related to the author being discussed), and selected books to read. Essays include those on Ernest Hemingway and Cuba (Brooks, a Canadian, can freely travel there, unlike those of us from the United States); Agatha Christie, Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, and A.A. Milne (Winnie the Pooh) in England; the Beat writers (Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, et. al., in San Francisco in the 1940s and early 1950s; the "Lost Generation" in 1920s Paris, France; Ayn Rand in New York City; and little-known Knut Hamsun, arguably Norway's greatest writer. Very interesting, but not stupid.
June 16, 2011
I have not actually read the whole book but I did read the parts regarding my favorite authors and the area I plan to travel to this summer. It was better than I expected and I really did enjoy it. It is a great book for anyone who likes to know a little history about authors and the area they are from or influenced by. I enjoyed the photos and fun sketches and the length of the information on each author/area is just about right for someone who likes to know a little about a lot of things. I am heading up to Seattle and Vancouver this summer and I will definitely check out the spots I read about in both areas. I would recommend adding this book to any readers travel collection.
April 4, 2012
There's less I like in the book than there is. I might say there is less to like about the book, but then my tastes do not run the fair gamut that the book really takes (to be fair). However I found myself setting it down for days at a time without going back. When I did, eventually I ended up just cherry-picking the chapters about the writers I DO like in here. I need big dose of fiction so Mr. Eco pulled me away. Sorry, but this book did not & could not win the tug of war.
August 24, 2014
Good concept - have authors write travel essays about the places that famous authors are famous for. It mixes biography and travelogue. As is usually the case when you have a compilation, the quality of the chapters vary considerably. Undoubtedly you will find a few chapters you'll love, as I did, and will also be bored by others. The book did make me want to visit some places that I had never known about, so for that alone, it was worth the read.
January 22, 2009
I've given up on finishing this after such a long time. Some of the essays were really interesting, but many were hard to get through for various reasons -- repititous or not well written or just not very interesting. Just not as good as I'd hoped.
June 7, 2009
Didn't think it would be good, but ended up really enjoying it. A sort of travel guidebook with a literary bent.
March 10, 2010
A fun genre, follow a writer in their old haunt. Have taken advantage of a few of the trips. Trouble with these lists I want to do them all. Wish there was a Steinbeck chapter.
April 6, 2012
This is a book you read a section at a time not one you read cover to cover. It is an intersting way to learn a bit of biography and geographic history at the same time.
April 29, 2013
This is like a travel guide with restaurants and hotels to stay in when trooping around places where authors wrote, drank and dined. It was a fun read.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews