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The New York Times: Footsteps: From Ferrante's Naples to Hammett's San Francisco, Literary Pilgrimages Around the World
A curated collection of the New York Times' travel column, "Footsteps," exploring iconic authors' relationships to landmarks and cities around the world
Before Nick Carraway was drawn into Daisy and Gatsby s sparkling, champagne-fueled world in The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald vacationed in the French Riviera, where a small green lighthouse winked at ships on the horizon. Before the nameless lovers began their illicit affair in The Lover, Marguerite Duras embarked upon her own scandalous relationship amidst the urban streets of Saigon. And before readers were terrified by a tentacled dragon-man called Cthulhu, H.P. Lovecraft was enthralled by the Industrial Trust tower-- the 26-story skyscraper that makes up the skyline of Providence, Rhode Island.
Based on the popular New York Times travel column, Footsteps is an anthology of literary pilgrimages, exploring the geographic muses behind some of history's greatest writers. From the "dangerous, dirty and seductive" streets of Naples, the setting for Elena Ferrante's famous Neapolitan novels, to the "stone arches, creaky oaken doors, and riverside paths" of Oxford, the backdrop for Alice's adventures in Wonderland, Footsteps takes a fresh approach to literary tourism, appealing to readers and travel enthusiasts alike."
Before Nick Carraway was drawn into Daisy and Gatsby s sparkling, champagne-fueled world in The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald vacationed in the French Riviera, where a small green lighthouse winked at ships on the horizon. Before the nameless lovers began their illicit affair in The Lover, Marguerite Duras embarked upon her own scandalous relationship amidst the urban streets of Saigon. And before readers were terrified by a tentacled dragon-man called Cthulhu, H.P. Lovecraft was enthralled by the Industrial Trust tower-- the 26-story skyscraper that makes up the skyline of Providence, Rhode Island.
Based on the popular New York Times travel column, Footsteps is an anthology of literary pilgrimages, exploring the geographic muses behind some of history's greatest writers. From the "dangerous, dirty and seductive" streets of Naples, the setting for Elena Ferrante's famous Neapolitan novels, to the "stone arches, creaky oaken doors, and riverside paths" of Oxford, the backdrop for Alice's adventures in Wonderland, Footsteps takes a fresh approach to literary tourism, appealing to readers and travel enthusiasts alike."
292 pages, Paperback
Published May 9, 2017
117 people are currently reading
1276 people want to read
About the author
The New York Times
1,822 books322 followersThe New York Times is a daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed internationally. Founded in 1851, the newspaper has won 112 Pulitzer Prizes, more than any other news organization. Its website receives 30 million unique visitors per month.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 90 reviews
March 22, 2018
This has been my bedtime reading for several weeks now, and it sent me off to sleep with visions of the haunts and landscapes of authors, some of my favorites, and some of whom I've never read. As finances and circumstances prevent me from getting to most of these places, it was an excellent way to travel.
May 23, 2017
My favorite column in the New York Times Travel section has its very own book, and I'm super excited and honored to have three pieces collected within. Footsteps is the best travel inspiration, whether you're headed somewhere exotic, or journeying from your armchair.
May 30, 2017
A wonderful literary tour book that can guide not only your imagination but perhaps inspire some literary travels as well. Essays cover hometown cities, travel destinations, and inspirations from poets, playwrights, and novelists in the past two centuries. At least a third (if not more) of the literary pilgrimages are in the US, but these are all taken directly from The New York Times so it's not a huge shock. Quite a few of the authors I had never heard of but became entranced with after reading what environments inspired them. I really enjoyed the Pablo Neruda and Dracula essays. Honestly there wasn't a bad one in the bunch and I feel like there was a bit of everything. Children's authors, poets, playwrights, Nobel prize winners, expats, and more are included. A great book to travel with, even if you get no further than your porch.
January 1, 2018
This collection of NYT essays links writers to place in often entertaining and interesting ways, from O’Connor’s small town Georgia to Jamaica Kincaid’s Antigua. Most are very brief and involve the essayist visiting the sites and linking their readings of the original literature with the places they find themselves as modern tourists. It’s a good next to the bed collection. But I have to say I found some unsatisfying, even superficial. In any case, pick and choose and enjoy as you will.
December 31, 2019
Christmas gift last year that I have been enjoying all year and just finished up. Great armchair travel book with a literary bent!
July 29, 2017
Whenever I go on vacation, my family knows that wherever we go, I will check before we leave to see what literary stops we can make. In the past, we have gone to the rugged shores of Rachel Carson’s Maine, the boardinghouse that Thomas Wolfe grew up in and wrote about, Carl Sandburg’s Connemara in Flat Rock (one of my favorite places because it looks exactly as it did when the poet laureate lived here and makes one think that he just stepped out for a minute), Edgar Allen Poe’s dorm room at the University of Virginia, Mikhail Bulgakov’s childhood home in Kyiv, and Thomas Merton’s apartment in Greenwich Village are just a few of them. On my list of places to go on literary pilgrimage is: Emily Dickinson’s home in Amherst, Flannery O’Connor’s Andalusia, the Brontë’s parsonage in Haworth, Henry David Thoreau’s Walden Pond, both William Faulkner’s Rowan Oak and Eudora Welty’s Mississippi home, Wordsworth’s Dove Cottage in the Lake District and John Steinbeck’s home in Salinas.
In her memoir M Train, Patti Smith writes an elegy to her late husband, Fred Sonic Smith, as well as her extensive love of books and pilgrimages to the places that the writers she loves inhabited. It is a glorious rumination on memory, and how one’s interior and exterior life are connected by dreams, art, literature, and place. “We seek to stay present,” she writes, “even as the ghosts attempt to draw us away.” Those ghosts are not only her late husband, but writers like Jean Genet, Marcel Proust, Virginia Woolf, Paul Bowles, and Roberto Bolaño. Her literary pilgrimages are no less sacred than the religious one so many take to places like Camino de Santiago. Smith’s poetic and vagabond heart drew me in with her beautiful prose and only furthered my desire to visit the places of authors who have meant so much to me (like Fyodor Dostoevsky’s St. Petersburg or Lewis Carroll’s Oxford). And the book is filled with Smith’s lovely black and white photographs of items like Woolf’s writing desk.
Footsteps is a collection of essays based on The New York Times‘ travel column of the same name. As a traveling bibliophile, I was thrilled to step into the pages of this book in the hopes of being filled with a longing to to spend time not only either reading or rereading the works of the authors mentioned, but to visit the places I have either dreamed of or will now begin to dream of going to. For example, I can only imagine the thrill I will get when I finally sit down at the stone table where C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien talked about their writing (of no less than the ones that took place in Narnia and Middle Earth).
Place can so often be conjured up by simply mentioning an author: Charles Dickens’ London, L.M. Montgomery’s Prince Edward Island, Dashell Hammett’s San Francisco, or Marcel Proust’s Illiers-Combray. Reading the essays contained in this wonderful collection made me imagine wish to see the sun rise over Black Bird Pond in Provincetown because it’s the place so inhabited by the poetry of Mary Oliver. It doesn’t take much to cause a stirring in me to hop a flight to Ireland, but I get goosebumps at the thought of visiting James Joyce’s Dublin or W.B. Yeats’ Innisfree. Having visited Germany years ago, I can now add the Brothers Grimm’s homes between Frankfurt and Bremen, Alice Munro’s Vancouver, Pablo Neruda’s Chile and Elena Ferrante’s Naples.
That is what’s so wonderful about this book: it stirs and rekindles a desire for wanderlust to travel to places that are often only familiar to me in my imagination from having read these great writers’ works. And it makes me rethink somewhere like Hawaii in terms of Mark Twain’s time there (How many of us think of him attempting to surf?).
It is because a writer has somehow reached through their words and moved us and touched us so deeply, so intimately and connected to the reader in a way that no other medium can, that makes someone like myself to eagerly yearn to see where the places they inhabited and inhabited them to such a degree that their literary works breathe and smell and have the sounds and sights of that place. It makes us want to visit those places so that we can somehow touch something connected to them, even if it’s paying one’s respect at an author’s grave (as I have done so many times before). It is paying tribute to those who have affected us and changed us.
If you are also one of those people, then I highly recommend Footsteps so that you, too, can begin to plan your next trip.
In her memoir M Train, Patti Smith writes an elegy to her late husband, Fred Sonic Smith, as well as her extensive love of books and pilgrimages to the places that the writers she loves inhabited. It is a glorious rumination on memory, and how one’s interior and exterior life are connected by dreams, art, literature, and place. “We seek to stay present,” she writes, “even as the ghosts attempt to draw us away.” Those ghosts are not only her late husband, but writers like Jean Genet, Marcel Proust, Virginia Woolf, Paul Bowles, and Roberto Bolaño. Her literary pilgrimages are no less sacred than the religious one so many take to places like Camino de Santiago. Smith’s poetic and vagabond heart drew me in with her beautiful prose and only furthered my desire to visit the places of authors who have meant so much to me (like Fyodor Dostoevsky’s St. Petersburg or Lewis Carroll’s Oxford). And the book is filled with Smith’s lovely black and white photographs of items like Woolf’s writing desk.
Footsteps is a collection of essays based on The New York Times‘ travel column of the same name. As a traveling bibliophile, I was thrilled to step into the pages of this book in the hopes of being filled with a longing to to spend time not only either reading or rereading the works of the authors mentioned, but to visit the places I have either dreamed of or will now begin to dream of going to. For example, I can only imagine the thrill I will get when I finally sit down at the stone table where C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien talked about their writing (of no less than the ones that took place in Narnia and Middle Earth).
Place can so often be conjured up by simply mentioning an author: Charles Dickens’ London, L.M. Montgomery’s Prince Edward Island, Dashell Hammett’s San Francisco, or Marcel Proust’s Illiers-Combray. Reading the essays contained in this wonderful collection made me imagine wish to see the sun rise over Black Bird Pond in Provincetown because it’s the place so inhabited by the poetry of Mary Oliver. It doesn’t take much to cause a stirring in me to hop a flight to Ireland, but I get goosebumps at the thought of visiting James Joyce’s Dublin or W.B. Yeats’ Innisfree. Having visited Germany years ago, I can now add the Brothers Grimm’s homes between Frankfurt and Bremen, Alice Munro’s Vancouver, Pablo Neruda’s Chile and Elena Ferrante’s Naples.
That is what’s so wonderful about this book: it stirs and rekindles a desire for wanderlust to travel to places that are often only familiar to me in my imagination from having read these great writers’ works. And it makes me rethink somewhere like Hawaii in terms of Mark Twain’s time there (How many of us think of him attempting to surf?).
It is because a writer has somehow reached through their words and moved us and touched us so deeply, so intimately and connected to the reader in a way that no other medium can, that makes someone like myself to eagerly yearn to see where the places they inhabited and inhabited them to such a degree that their literary works breathe and smell and have the sounds and sights of that place. It makes us want to visit those places so that we can somehow touch something connected to them, even if it’s paying one’s respect at an author’s grave (as I have done so many times before). It is paying tribute to those who have affected us and changed us.
If you are also one of those people, then I highly recommend Footsteps so that you, too, can begin to plan your next trip.
June 5, 2017
The New York Times travel section has published a book called Footsteps, from Ferrante’s Naples to Hammett’s San Francisco: Literary Pilgrimages Around the World. People seek out the places where authors lived, where they were inspired, where they wrote, and write about those connections. There were some issues with a couple of the essays, but I enjoyed the book for the most part—most of the essays were well-written and fascinating.
To begin with the bad. First, unsurprisingly the book is biased towards the West. The book is divided into thirds: United States, America, and Beyond. Second, some approaches or details in some of the essays raised some concerns. The essay about Nabokov and the American West often conflated Humbert Humbert’s words with those of Nabokov, which is a dangerous game as part of Nabokov’s Lolita is revealing to the reader HH’s warped sense of what is beautiful, and because HH is meant to be kitsch and so it’s a sort of joke that HH believes other things are kitsch, because HH includes many normal human things and emotions in his version. The essay about Lewis Carroll and Oxford mentioned that in 1863, the relationship between Carroll and the Liddell’s “cooled—a change that has led to speculation and debate among scholars and novelists alike.” The author avoids telling the reader that many scholars believe Carroll had HH-like intentions towards Alice Liddell—in fact, this was a major inspiration for Nabokov’s Lolita. That omission is upsetting, especially combined with his repeated use of the creepy phrase “child-friend.”
That said, it’s to be expected, that some essays would be better than others in such a collection, and most essays were a treat. “Blood, Sand, and Sherry: Hemingway’s Madrid” evoked the heat of Spain while easily blending quotes from Hemingway’s novels into an essay about Madrid today. The essay about Borges’s Buenos Aires vaguely spins around the trouble of aligning Borges’s twisted point of view with one place, and grapples with the difficult relationship Borges had with his city. The writer of “On the Trail of Hansel and Gretel in Germany” had fun twisting apart the tourist traps and the dark forests that actually did inspire the brothers Grimm, and “A Remote Colombian City That Really Does Exist” taught me a lot about Marquez’s inspirations that I genuinely didn’t know. Orhan Pamuk personally guided the writer of his essay around Istanbul. While I haven’t read these authors so can’t speak on the same level of detail as the others, the essays on Baldwin in Paris, Ferrante in Naples, and Kundera in Prague shone—one writer described the adoration of Pushkin in St. Petersburg and another the incredible, maximalist homes of Pablo Neruda. I was given a copy in exchange for an honest review. While the collection has a couple of duds, for the most part it’s packed with life and truly fascinating glimpses into the works and lives and cities of authors.
To begin with the bad. First, unsurprisingly the book is biased towards the West. The book is divided into thirds: United States, America, and Beyond. Second, some approaches or details in some of the essays raised some concerns. The essay about Nabokov and the American West often conflated Humbert Humbert’s words with those of Nabokov, which is a dangerous game as part of Nabokov’s Lolita is revealing to the reader HH’s warped sense of what is beautiful, and because HH is meant to be kitsch and so it’s a sort of joke that HH believes other things are kitsch, because HH includes many normal human things and emotions in his version. The essay about Lewis Carroll and Oxford mentioned that in 1863, the relationship between Carroll and the Liddell’s “cooled—a change that has led to speculation and debate among scholars and novelists alike.” The author avoids telling the reader that many scholars believe Carroll had HH-like intentions towards Alice Liddell—in fact, this was a major inspiration for Nabokov’s Lolita. That omission is upsetting, especially combined with his repeated use of the creepy phrase “child-friend.”
That said, it’s to be expected, that some essays would be better than others in such a collection, and most essays were a treat. “Blood, Sand, and Sherry: Hemingway’s Madrid” evoked the heat of Spain while easily blending quotes from Hemingway’s novels into an essay about Madrid today. The essay about Borges’s Buenos Aires vaguely spins around the trouble of aligning Borges’s twisted point of view with one place, and grapples with the difficult relationship Borges had with his city. The writer of “On the Trail of Hansel and Gretel in Germany” had fun twisting apart the tourist traps and the dark forests that actually did inspire the brothers Grimm, and “A Remote Colombian City That Really Does Exist” taught me a lot about Marquez’s inspirations that I genuinely didn’t know. Orhan Pamuk personally guided the writer of his essay around Istanbul. While I haven’t read these authors so can’t speak on the same level of detail as the others, the essays on Baldwin in Paris, Ferrante in Naples, and Kundera in Prague shone—one writer described the adoration of Pushkin in St. Petersburg and another the incredible, maximalist homes of Pablo Neruda. I was given a copy in exchange for an honest review. While the collection has a couple of duds, for the most part it’s packed with life and truly fascinating glimpses into the works and lives and cities of authors.
December 12, 2021
A cohesive compilation of relatively short literary travel pieces. Each author visits a place that was important to the writer whose footsteps they were following, from Orhan Pamuk's Istanbul to Mary Oliver's Maine island.
The relative brevity of each essay meant there was always something to look forward to, even if a specific essay didn't capture your fancy.
The relative brevity of each essay meant there was always something to look forward to, even if a specific essay didn't capture your fancy.
August 15, 2017
I don't go on vacations. It's just not something I do. The idea of a beach or a crowded foreign city bring out my anxiety, with my mind running in circles, thinking of all the things I should be doing instead.
That being said, books have always been my escape, or my mind's vacation. I read and I escape to Manderley or to Thornfield. Footsteps is a vacation. From San Francisco to Scotland to Vancouver, each essay is a journey to another place. Based on the popular New York Times travel column, Footsteps is an anthology of literary pilgrimages, exploring the geographic muses behind some of history's greatest writers.
Key essays for me: Vancouver (for my queen Alice Munro), Naples and Vietnam. All are journeys to others journeys, to a time and a place that inspired some of the greats.
Thanks to Blogging for Books for a copy of this book in exchange for this review
That being said, books have always been my escape, or my mind's vacation. I read and I escape to Manderley or to Thornfield. Footsteps is a vacation. From San Francisco to Scotland to Vancouver, each essay is a journey to another place. Based on the popular New York Times travel column, Footsteps is an anthology of literary pilgrimages, exploring the geographic muses behind some of history's greatest writers.
Key essays for me: Vancouver (for my queen Alice Munro), Naples and Vietnam. All are journeys to others journeys, to a time and a place that inspired some of the greats.
Thanks to Blogging for Books for a copy of this book in exchange for this review
May 18, 2017
One of the greatest things about reading books is being able to see places through another persons eyes. This book takes it one step further and actually travel to some of the places that were muses for authors to see what made them passionate about them to write about it. It is a compilation of the articles from the New York Time's travel column and I'm glad they combined them into a book since I wouldn't have see them otherwise. This is a great concept for writing and makes you look at the way people write about the world around them and makes you appreciate places after seeing the beauty of them through another perspective. I was given a copy of this book from Blogging for Books for an honest review.
Read
August 19, 2017A wonderful book if you like travelogues and discovering new authors.
December 26, 2019
The blurb at the back of this book has the following summary:
"True literature itself is a flight of fancy, and appreciators of it are all too familiar with the discombobulating feeling of finishing a novel and being slightly surprised to be at home in a recliner rather than hundreds of miles - and hundreds of years - away."
I can say that I experienced that discombobulating feeling after reading certain chapters in this book. Don't we sometimes become so engrossed in a story that we wonder about the author/poet behind the story, what influenced them so that they are able to create such masterpieces of work? To me, this book offers that insight, as certain literary figures are fleshed out in terms of the places they have visited/been to/stayed at. It is refreshing to read about their adventures and struggles, their joy and pain, and serves as a reminder that these literary giants are all human in the end.
"True literature itself is a flight of fancy, and appreciators of it are all too familiar with the discombobulating feeling of finishing a novel and being slightly surprised to be at home in a recliner rather than hundreds of miles - and hundreds of years - away."
I can say that I experienced that discombobulating feeling after reading certain chapters in this book. Don't we sometimes become so engrossed in a story that we wonder about the author/poet behind the story, what influenced them so that they are able to create such masterpieces of work? To me, this book offers that insight, as certain literary figures are fleshed out in terms of the places they have visited/been to/stayed at. It is refreshing to read about their adventures and struggles, their joy and pain, and serves as a reminder that these literary giants are all human in the end.
January 29, 2024
over 3 years and I finally finished! so let me begin. I would never have gotten this book for myself, cam got it for me our first year dating because I love to read and like the New York Times aka he knew I was liberal lol. this is a book for literature lovers - like real, historical literature - and for them, it is amazing. it is a collection of essays by New York Times authors and editors. there were essays I thoroughly enjoyed but the majority had no meaning to me as they were about authors of books I have not read (and probably should!). my father (who worked in publishing when I was younger) told me he’d buy me any book as long as I read it. so never in my life have I not finished a book and this is proof that I’m not stopping now!!!! luckily, being essays, there was no downfall in picking up and putting down this book over the years. my sister - who is an author herself and DOES love and has definitely read many of these authors - would have loved this book. me????? and for people who read like me??? I’d maybe pass. xoxo that’s my thoughts!
April 24, 2019
For lovers of books and travel, these are literary pilgrimages writers made that inspired their writing. From Mark Twain's visit to Hawaii before it was a state, Nabokov 's pilgrimage with his wife Vera along the back roads of America to chronicle his novel Lolita, and my favorite writer F.Scott Fitzgerald spending time in France you can travel for free in the wonderful pages of these articles!
December 1, 2020
Very enjoyable, very inspiring for future reading, and the next best thing to wish fulfillment traveling in this day and age. Some are better than others but as always, I wish these journalists would include more columns about Asian/African authors in Asian/African countries rather than the white authors who happened to visit or glorify them.
November 18, 2018
Someday, one state at a time, one country at a time. New places to consider checking out in our next trip!
October 24, 2024
Travel to places some famous writers called home. This anthology made me want to read more books by writers who accompanied me to destinations I'll probably never visit. That said, I would have enjoyed these journeys even more had they been presented to me like an Accidentally Wes Anderson book.
July 23, 2019
Short stories about places made famous in novels and literature. Very engaging, and if one didn't suit your fancy the next one might!
December 18, 2017
If you read the NYT travel section, you've likely read these reprinted stories. Not coincidentally, the ones I didn't remember were probably the ones I didn't prefer in their original incarnation.
December 1, 2017
Footsteps:
From Ferrantre’s Naples to Hammet’s San Francisco
Literary Pilgrimages Around the World
Author: Various
Publisher: New York Times / Three Rivers Press
Date: 2017
Pgs: 292
Dewey: 808.8302 F687
Disposition: Irving Public Library - South Campus - Irving, TX
_________________________________________________
REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Summary:
Footsteps is an anthology column of literary pilgrimages, exploring the geography of history’s writers. Twain in Hawaii. Lovecraft’s Providence. Yeats. Nabokov’s America. Dracula at the seashore. Literary tourism, let’s take a walk.
_________________________________________________
Genre:
Nonfiction
Travel
Europe
North America
Asia
Reference
Words
Language
Grammar
Rhetoric
Literature
Essays
Correspondence
Why this book:
Literary cartography.
_________________________________________________
Favorite Character:
Hawaii. Providence, Whitby. Lake Geneva. Germany.
The Feel:
Lead off strong with Mark Twain and struggled to get back to that same level. Of course, American authors have been struggling to live up to Mark Twain for over a century, so, on some levels that makes sense.
Favorite Scene / Quote:
Love the essay on the Hawaii that Twain visited. Great guide on how to find the parts of the Hawaii that he visited that are still there, some of them hidden amidst the touristinalia.
The Flannery O’Connor essay is short and poignant.
Chasing Lovecraft through Providence, part still there, part paved over, like R’lyeh sleeping.
Loved the atmospheric visit to Whitby following in the footsteps of Mina, Lucy, and Count Dracula.
The story of Byron and the Shelleys, and their fellow travellers on Lake Geneva during the Year Without a Summer has always fascinated me. Byron, a horndog, and Mary Shelley giving birth to the Modern Day Prometheus; all, as the locals look down on the debauchery of these British bohemians.
Shelley on laudanum freaking out, while Byron is reading a haunting poem, running from the room as he hallucinates demonic eyes in place of his wife’s nipples. The Frankenstein summer must have really messed these people up.
The Fairy Tale Road in Germany following the Brothers Grimm through inspirational territories, castles, and inspirations. If you want Disney’s versions, go to Anaheim or Orlando. If you want atmospheric, hint of menace, encompassing, a ride through Germany on vacation sounds awesome.
Hmm Moments:
The truth not found of Kerouac on Desolation Peak.
Nabokov’s travels through the West were an awakening to what Mark Twain knew. “America is not a place; it is a road.” Talking about Nabokov and the long road trips that he and his wife took as he wrote Lolita and chased butterflies through the American West, imagine a Russian in that era on a cross country odyssey and if a county sheriff had stopped him and read his 3X5 cards that essentially became Lolita. If he weren’t killed outright, I bet he’d still be under the jail somewhere in Nebraska or the Dakotas. Loved the line Nabokov that during these years and through all those miles he saw more of America than Fitzgerald, Kerouac, or Steinbeck. Most of his travels weren’t literary motivated but in pursuit of his butterfly collection and study.
Philip Roth’s The Plot Against America read like a scab being ripped off the neighborhood. How much was fictitious and how much darkness did young Philip see as he great up Jewish in 30s and 40s New Jersey.
The Yeats poem and finding your center, searching for it in your past. A travelogue not meant to actually go to the place, but rather to search inward self in the now.
Interesting that the wreck of the Demeter was based on a genuine shipwreck near Whitby prior to Bram Stoker’s visit.
The idea that Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Polidori's Vampire share a summer chalet on Lake Geneva, Switzerland during the Year Without a Summer is freaking awesome. Polidori's Vampire went on to inspire Stoker. Together the two monsters shaped horror for a long while and became classics of the genre.
The last survivor of the Frankenstein summer, Claire Clairmont, did not look back kindly on the experience, saying “the practice of “free love”...turned Byron and Shelley, “the finest poets of England” into “monsters of lying, meanness, cruelty, and treachery.” The idyll, the Eden had its own serpent.
_________________________________________________
Last Page Sound:
A connection with the author or the place would probably increase the enjoyment of the essays.
Knee Jerk Reaction:
glad I read it
_________________________________________________
From Ferrantre’s Naples to Hammet’s San Francisco
Literary Pilgrimages Around the World
Author: Various
Publisher: New York Times / Three Rivers Press
Date: 2017
Pgs: 292
Dewey: 808.8302 F687
Disposition: Irving Public Library - South Campus - Irving, TX
_________________________________________________
REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Summary:
Footsteps is an anthology column of literary pilgrimages, exploring the geography of history’s writers. Twain in Hawaii. Lovecraft’s Providence. Yeats. Nabokov’s America. Dracula at the seashore. Literary tourism, let’s take a walk.
_________________________________________________
Genre:
Nonfiction
Travel
Europe
North America
Asia
Reference
Words
Language
Grammar
Rhetoric
Literature
Essays
Correspondence
Why this book:
Literary cartography.
_________________________________________________
Favorite Character:
Hawaii. Providence, Whitby. Lake Geneva. Germany.
The Feel:
Lead off strong with Mark Twain and struggled to get back to that same level. Of course, American authors have been struggling to live up to Mark Twain for over a century, so, on some levels that makes sense.
Favorite Scene / Quote:
Love the essay on the Hawaii that Twain visited. Great guide on how to find the parts of the Hawaii that he visited that are still there, some of them hidden amidst the touristinalia.
The Flannery O’Connor essay is short and poignant.
Chasing Lovecraft through Providence, part still there, part paved over, like R’lyeh sleeping.
Loved the atmospheric visit to Whitby following in the footsteps of Mina, Lucy, and Count Dracula.
The story of Byron and the Shelleys, and their fellow travellers on Lake Geneva during the Year Without a Summer has always fascinated me. Byron, a horndog, and Mary Shelley giving birth to the Modern Day Prometheus; all, as the locals look down on the debauchery of these British bohemians.
Shelley on laudanum freaking out, while Byron is reading a haunting poem, running from the room as he hallucinates demonic eyes in place of his wife’s nipples. The Frankenstein summer must have really messed these people up.
The Fairy Tale Road in Germany following the Brothers Grimm through inspirational territories, castles, and inspirations. If you want Disney’s versions, go to Anaheim or Orlando. If you want atmospheric, hint of menace, encompassing, a ride through Germany on vacation sounds awesome.
Hmm Moments:
The truth not found of Kerouac on Desolation Peak.
Nabokov’s travels through the West were an awakening to what Mark Twain knew. “America is not a place; it is a road.” Talking about Nabokov and the long road trips that he and his wife took as he wrote Lolita and chased butterflies through the American West, imagine a Russian in that era on a cross country odyssey and if a county sheriff had stopped him and read his 3X5 cards that essentially became Lolita. If he weren’t killed outright, I bet he’d still be under the jail somewhere in Nebraska or the Dakotas. Loved the line Nabokov that during these years and through all those miles he saw more of America than Fitzgerald, Kerouac, or Steinbeck. Most of his travels weren’t literary motivated but in pursuit of his butterfly collection and study.
Philip Roth’s The Plot Against America read like a scab being ripped off the neighborhood. How much was fictitious and how much darkness did young Philip see as he great up Jewish in 30s and 40s New Jersey.
The Yeats poem and finding your center, searching for it in your past. A travelogue not meant to actually go to the place, but rather to search inward self in the now.
Interesting that the wreck of the Demeter was based on a genuine shipwreck near Whitby prior to Bram Stoker’s visit.
The idea that Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Polidori's Vampire share a summer chalet on Lake Geneva, Switzerland during the Year Without a Summer is freaking awesome. Polidori's Vampire went on to inspire Stoker. Together the two monsters shaped horror for a long while and became classics of the genre.
The last survivor of the Frankenstein summer, Claire Clairmont, did not look back kindly on the experience, saying “the practice of “free love”...turned Byron and Shelley, “the finest poets of England” into “monsters of lying, meanness, cruelty, and treachery.” The idyll, the Eden had its own serpent.
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Last Page Sound:
A connection with the author or the place would probably increase the enjoyment of the essays.
Knee Jerk Reaction:
glad I read it
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June 27, 2017
I received this book from the Blogging for Books program in exchange for this review and let me tell you, I was excited to get it! It’s a look at the various locations that have inspired the most incredible writers in the world. Not every destination was inspiring to me, but some of my favorite spots were not what I had anticipated (like Kerouac’s mountain!) I’ve added quite a few spots to my travel wishlist because of these stories and I found some authors to add to my TBR stack as well! A good read if you want to travel from the comforts of home. I think you need to go in knowing you won't like or want to read every article but it's still a fun escape.
https://www.beyondthebookends.com/201...
https://www.beyondthebookends.com/201...
October 12, 2017
Armchair travelers and world travelers will both be delighted with this literary travel guide assembled by the fine writers of the New York Times. Perfect for the commuter or lunchtime reader as the chapters are short stories taking merely brief moments to read. A joy! Couldn’t put it down and read it in its entirety in 3 Days.
June 2, 2017
A writer’s inspiration can come from many things; a person, object, or even a particular location. A special place can sink into your bones, color your thoughts, ooze from your pen (or computer.) Some places are so closely associated with a writer as to be inseparable. Say “Charles Dickens” and you immediately think of Victorian England. How would stories have changed if L. M. Montgomery never lived on Prince Edward Island or if Stephen King settled in Arizona instead of Maine?
Footsteps is a collection of articles from an ongoing series in The New York Times that explores how the physical path a writer takes affects the literary journey. Each one is written by a different person who thoughtfully walks in the footsteps of a favorite author. The result is a collection of delightfully different travel essays. The selected authors are an eclectic mix spread across the globe. Some, such as Mark Twain, are well known, but others such as novelist Orhan Pamuk of Istanbul might be new to the reader. All the essays are charming and written with obvious affection and even a bit of whimsy. In a walking tour to trace fictional Sam Spade’s routes through the real Dashiell Hammett’s San Francisco, the essay’s author came across the following tongue-in-cheek plaque on Burritt Street. “On approximately this spot, Miles Archer, Sam Spade’s partner, was done in by Brigid O’Shaughnessy.” There is no mention of the Maltese Falcon or that Sam, Miles, and Brigid never existed.
Many of the essays hold a surprise or two. Bram Stoker’s inspiration for Dracula’s eerie setting came from the English coastal resort of Whitby and not Transylvania. H. P. Lovecraft was an early king of creepy and he found his doorway to hell in Providence, Rhode Island. Sometimes the negative affect of a place was more profound than the positive. Alice Munro hated Vancouver, British Columbia, but used her time there to craft memorable stories. Some essays have a dash of bittersweet. Not every writer ended up rich and successful. Many weren’t particularly admirable (Shelley and Bryon were two misogynistic dirtbags), but all had been touched by a place that transformed their writing into glorious words.
I highly recommend Footsteps as both a quirky travel guide and a warm-hearted tribute to writers and their inspiration. I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for a review.
Footsteps is a collection of articles from an ongoing series in The New York Times that explores how the physical path a writer takes affects the literary journey. Each one is written by a different person who thoughtfully walks in the footsteps of a favorite author. The result is a collection of delightfully different travel essays. The selected authors are an eclectic mix spread across the globe. Some, such as Mark Twain, are well known, but others such as novelist Orhan Pamuk of Istanbul might be new to the reader. All the essays are charming and written with obvious affection and even a bit of whimsy. In a walking tour to trace fictional Sam Spade’s routes through the real Dashiell Hammett’s San Francisco, the essay’s author came across the following tongue-in-cheek plaque on Burritt Street. “On approximately this spot, Miles Archer, Sam Spade’s partner, was done in by Brigid O’Shaughnessy.” There is no mention of the Maltese Falcon or that Sam, Miles, and Brigid never existed.
Many of the essays hold a surprise or two. Bram Stoker’s inspiration for Dracula’s eerie setting came from the English coastal resort of Whitby and not Transylvania. H. P. Lovecraft was an early king of creepy and he found his doorway to hell in Providence, Rhode Island. Sometimes the negative affect of a place was more profound than the positive. Alice Munro hated Vancouver, British Columbia, but used her time there to craft memorable stories. Some essays have a dash of bittersweet. Not every writer ended up rich and successful. Many weren’t particularly admirable (Shelley and Bryon were two misogynistic dirtbags), but all had been touched by a place that transformed their writing into glorious words.
I highly recommend Footsteps as both a quirky travel guide and a warm-hearted tribute to writers and their inspiration. I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for a review.
November 11, 2024
Great literary adventures!
What I liked most about this book: the very unique stories, of someone, often a journalist, tracing the an aspect of an author’s history: a town, a bridge, a lookout, a cafe… something contained in, or known to have provided the author’s inspiration. Even if I didn’t know the author, I still enjoyed every story.
What I liked least about this book: generic chapter titling and no accompanying list of the contents (not in the book’s description in Audible, and not in a downloadable PDF. The least they could have titled them (eg, Elena Ferrante’s Naples vs Chapter 23). There are 39 chapters in this book… if the NYT wants to inspire listeners to travel or read the books, how do they expect someone to do that? If an author is new to a listener, they aren’t likely to grasp the actually name and spelling hearing it at the start of a chapter. More than likely, any inspiration to seek out the book/author will come at the end of the chapter, but it’s not repeated there (just the writer who wrote the original piece in the NYT). It’s just not realistic to think the listener is going to stop, go back to the start of the chapter to listen again for the needed information… 39 times! It would have been so easy of them to do.
I’m the kind of listener who would turn this into a listening project, checking off which ones I’ve read, and looking (on Audible!) to add to my listening/reading list. And there are ones I’d want to listen to again, but impossible to find them without listening to the start of each chapter. What a huge disappointment (and it’s why I only gave it 4 stars).
The archives for the stories are on the NY Times website, so it’s entirely possible for someone to write this up. I’ve been tempted to do this myself, and add it to my review for others, but that’s not my job as a consumer of the media. And I’m still annoyed.
What I liked most about this book: the very unique stories, of someone, often a journalist, tracing the an aspect of an author’s history: a town, a bridge, a lookout, a cafe… something contained in, or known to have provided the author’s inspiration. Even if I didn’t know the author, I still enjoyed every story.
What I liked least about this book: generic chapter titling and no accompanying list of the contents (not in the book’s description in Audible, and not in a downloadable PDF. The least they could have titled them (eg, Elena Ferrante’s Naples vs Chapter 23). There are 39 chapters in this book… if the NYT wants to inspire listeners to travel or read the books, how do they expect someone to do that? If an author is new to a listener, they aren’t likely to grasp the actually name and spelling hearing it at the start of a chapter. More than likely, any inspiration to seek out the book/author will come at the end of the chapter, but it’s not repeated there (just the writer who wrote the original piece in the NYT). It’s just not realistic to think the listener is going to stop, go back to the start of the chapter to listen again for the needed information… 39 times! It would have been so easy of them to do.
I’m the kind of listener who would turn this into a listening project, checking off which ones I’ve read, and looking (on Audible!) to add to my listening/reading list. And there are ones I’d want to listen to again, but impossible to find them without listening to the start of each chapter. What a huge disappointment (and it’s why I only gave it 4 stars).
The archives for the stories are on the NY Times website, so it’s entirely possible for someone to write this up. I’ve been tempted to do this myself, and add it to my review for others, but that’s not my job as a consumer of the media. And I’m still annoyed.
March 8, 2025
Explore a captivating collection from the New York Times travel column Footsteps, where the profound connections between legendary authors and the breathtaking landmarks that inspired them are revealed.
Imagine F. Scott Fitzgerald, before Nick Carraway was mesmerized by the opulent world of Daisy and Gatsby in The Great Gatsby, finding his muse along the sun-drenched shores of the French Riviera, with a charming green lighthouse guiding passing ships. This anthology is a treasure trove for literature lovers, offering insight into the lives of iconic authors and their travel inspirations, ensuring that everyone will find a beloved writer.
Footsteps is not just a book; it is an invitation to embark on literary pilgrimages that delve into the hearts of history's greatest authors. With standout pieces like "Lake Geneva as Shelley and Byron Knew It" and "When Dracula Was Born, and It's Not Transylvania," readers are transported through time and space, experiencing realms that shaped the imagination of literary giants. This collection is a heartfelt tribute to the power of literature, which continues to whisk readers away to diverse times and places through the eyes of those who penned the words.
Engaging in literary pilgrimages, as celebrated in the New York Times’ Footsteps, offers an extraordinary blend of travel and literary exploration, beckoning readers to walk in the footprints of their favorite authors. This beautiful fusion ignites a passion for both reading and discovery, reminding us that literature is not merely an escape but a powerful bridge to understanding the complexities of life. Don’t miss the chance to journey through this enchanting anthology and reconnect with the world of your favorite writers.
Imagine F. Scott Fitzgerald, before Nick Carraway was mesmerized by the opulent world of Daisy and Gatsby in The Great Gatsby, finding his muse along the sun-drenched shores of the French Riviera, with a charming green lighthouse guiding passing ships. This anthology is a treasure trove for literature lovers, offering insight into the lives of iconic authors and their travel inspirations, ensuring that everyone will find a beloved writer.
Footsteps is not just a book; it is an invitation to embark on literary pilgrimages that delve into the hearts of history's greatest authors. With standout pieces like "Lake Geneva as Shelley and Byron Knew It" and "When Dracula Was Born, and It's Not Transylvania," readers are transported through time and space, experiencing realms that shaped the imagination of literary giants. This collection is a heartfelt tribute to the power of literature, which continues to whisk readers away to diverse times and places through the eyes of those who penned the words.
Engaging in literary pilgrimages, as celebrated in the New York Times’ Footsteps, offers an extraordinary blend of travel and literary exploration, beckoning readers to walk in the footprints of their favorite authors. This beautiful fusion ignites a passion for both reading and discovery, reminding us that literature is not merely an escape but a powerful bridge to understanding the complexities of life. Don’t miss the chance to journey through this enchanting anthology and reconnect with the world of your favorite writers.
April 27, 2021
The New York Times: Footsteps: From Ferrante's Naples to Hammett's San Francisco, Literacy Pilgrimages Around the World, though a mouthful, is a unique and interesting concept that I believe was executed well. Take a handful of locations and view them through the lens of an author, not only an author's life, but through their literature as well. Even though, I wouldn't consider myself into travel or travelogues, this book was absolutely fascinating and it took me on an enjoyable journey throughout the world where I was no longer in my own world, but somewhere else completely. I loved every minute of it. Each article focused on a different location and writer, the collection as a whole was strong, being well-written and highly detailed, but also researched. Each of the authors in this collection's prose feels like poetry and lets us readers visualize the setting perfectly. The writing style was really nice and focused on the senses in order to give the readers a ticket to these destinations. From this collection, I learned about history and culture through geography and the author. The information in this book was so interesting, but the approach that the authors took, really transported the reader and allowed them to travel alongside the author's of the article, having the opportunity to be a part of their journey. This was such a fun and insightful read that I enjoyed and felt like it taught me a lot. If you feel like traveling, but are not able to do so, pick up this book.
September 5, 2017
Footsteps provides a fascinating look at the lives of a number of celebrated authors. I can't think of better way to a “behind the scenes” look at what made so many literary figures tick. Whether it was a place or an experience these essays will provide book lovers with hours of entertainment. In fact, I think this would make a great gift idea for the book lovers in your life.
And while we may not be able to travel the path of our favorite authors in a literal sense we definitely get a feel of their surrounding and inspirations in this unique book. My personal favorite was the piece “In search of Flannery O'Connor” by Lawrence Downes in which I was a little sad to learn of the shabby condition of her childhood home. I felt Downes captured the essence of her life and gave me a new perspective with which to view her work. There were many other interesting pieces as well and I thoroughly enjoyed those on Hemingway and Fitzgerald to name a few. The best part about this book though, is the fact that you can pick it up anytime and find some interesting snippet about a variety of authors. This was an enchanting read.
Thanks to Blogging for Books for allowing me to read and review this book.
More reviews at: www.susannesbooklist.blogspot.com
And while we may not be able to travel the path of our favorite authors in a literal sense we definitely get a feel of their surrounding and inspirations in this unique book. My personal favorite was the piece “In search of Flannery O'Connor” by Lawrence Downes in which I was a little sad to learn of the shabby condition of her childhood home. I felt Downes captured the essence of her life and gave me a new perspective with which to view her work. There were many other interesting pieces as well and I thoroughly enjoyed those on Hemingway and Fitzgerald to name a few. The best part about this book though, is the fact that you can pick it up anytime and find some interesting snippet about a variety of authors. This was an enchanting read.
Thanks to Blogging for Books for allowing me to read and review this book.
More reviews at: www.susannesbooklist.blogspot.com
May 20, 2017
It might be seen as an odd way to view the books of our lives; Having writers write about writers, travelling in their footsteps, trying to delve inside their minds and their personas by seeing what they saw. Yet, Footsteps manages to brilliantly pull it off. As someone who doesn’t subscribe to the ‘New York Times,’ this collection of some of their best columns has made it easy for me to delve into that world. I was originally drawn in by Michael Morris and Gracia Lam’s wonderful cover design and illustrations. I didn’t recognize all the essay writers though their way of writing and the sheer affection they felt for their chosen authors, found me smiling throughout the book. Footsteps is a lovely read that you can scramble through in an evening. I would recommend this during a time when you want to travel but can’t. We all have those moments in life when we long to hit the open road or whip out our passports and take to the skies, yet life has a habit of stopping this. In those moments, escape can be found in some of our favorite classic and in Footsteps’ case within its pages.
*This book was provided by BloggingForBooks and Three Rivers Press in exchange for honest feedback*
*This book was provided by BloggingForBooks and Three Rivers Press in exchange for honest feedback*
September 21, 2017
Great collection of pieces from the New York Times that all have the same basic formula: A journey to a city that was significant for a literary figure, a look around, discussion of what is still around that they would know, or the feeling of the place, where they ate and lived, and what the attitude of the place is like today versus then. It's a really cool idea for a regular newspaper piece and I wonder if they are still publishing them.
Many are very powerful and some are very light. It's a great read and you'll just love the small insights that come out of each of your favorite writers. They are pretty rich in detail and many of the pieces made me want to visit the cities and look around myself.
The pieces couldn't be more different, some focus on the feeling or the attitude the place gave to the person writing the essay, some visit the home of the famous writer, others will go into detail about the main drag in the city or the public transport he or she used - it's great. I also think it could make for a good writing assignment for teachers. Great book.
Many are very powerful and some are very light. It's a great read and you'll just love the small insights that come out of each of your favorite writers. They are pretty rich in detail and many of the pieces made me want to visit the cities and look around myself.
The pieces couldn't be more different, some focus on the feeling or the attitude the place gave to the person writing the essay, some visit the home of the famous writer, others will go into detail about the main drag in the city or the public transport he or she used - it's great. I also think it could make for a good writing assignment for teachers. Great book.
October 8, 2017
This book was not at all what I was expecting it to be.
Honestly, F. Scott Fitzgerald caught my eye and I picked it up on impulse.
With that being said, I could have lived without it.
Footsteps is a collections of essays written and published in The New York Times.
Each essay is based on a literary pilgrimage, which let's be real that is an AWESOME concept.
However, many of the authors discussed in this book were what I consider "classic" authors. Think Fitzgerald, Lovecraft, Hemingway, Twain, Kerouac, etc...
But in all honesty, I've never read many of these authors, making it hard for me to grasp the reality behind the pilgrimages. However, I was thoroughly impressed with the Brothers Grimm and Lewis Carol (both of which I have read). I didn't realize how much I didn't know about these authors, but this book has inspired me to go find some of these all time classics and broaden my literary horizon.
Huge shout out to Blogging For Books for providing me a copy for this review!
This review and more can be found at A Reader's Diary!
Honestly, F. Scott Fitzgerald caught my eye and I picked it up on impulse.
With that being said, I could have lived without it.
Footsteps is a collections of essays written and published in The New York Times.
Each essay is based on a literary pilgrimage, which let's be real that is an AWESOME concept.
However, many of the authors discussed in this book were what I consider "classic" authors. Think Fitzgerald, Lovecraft, Hemingway, Twain, Kerouac, etc...
But in all honesty, I've never read many of these authors, making it hard for me to grasp the reality behind the pilgrimages. However, I was thoroughly impressed with the Brothers Grimm and Lewis Carol (both of which I have read). I didn't realize how much I didn't know about these authors, but this book has inspired me to go find some of these all time classics and broaden my literary horizon.
Huge shout out to Blogging For Books for providing me a copy for this review!
This review and more can be found at A Reader's Diary!
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