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My Great, Wide, Beautiful World
A travel memoir by an African-American woman who lived in or visited 22 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Polynesia in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Her uncorrected prose reveals delight and wonder in every new experience, and an insatiable thirst for adventure and freedom. No index. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.
- GenresTravelNonfiction
318 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1996
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 3, 2017
What a delightful book! What a fascinating trip! You too can travel the world with Juanita Harrison, a plucky, spirited, and fearless African-American woman who, in the 1920s and 1930s, boldly dared to spend many years "on the road", working when she needed the money and otherwise enjoying -- really enjoying! -- every culture, every day. From Europe to Egypt and India, across Russia to the Far East, and finally to Hawaii, the author preferred to live simply and frugally with the locals everywhere she went. She was a savvy traveller who faced every situation with a positive attitude and savoured the local flavours of every culture - clothing, cuisine, and customs. Reading this travel diary is like being there with the author, laughing, smiling, dancing, praying her way around the world. Take a vacation -- read this great book!
January 3, 2022
No me cabe en la cabeza que este libro no sea más conocido y celebrado. Tengo que agradecerle al podcast «The bookstore» (específicamente a Becca y a Corinne, sus creadoras) el habérmelo descubierto, porque de otro modo no sé si habría llegado hasta él.
¿Qué tiene de especial esta obra? Sobre todo la personalidad de su autora. Ya el título, My Great, Wide, Beautiful World, aunque esté sacado de un poema de W. B. Rands, nos dice mucho acerca de cómo era Juanita Harrison, una mujer afroamericana (y seguramente con antepasados nativos americanos) nacida en Mississippi a finales del siglo XIX. Teniendo en cuenta el lugar y la época, las perspectivas que le aguardaban a Harrison no parecían muy halagüeñas, pero ella tenía una idea muy clara de cómo deseaba vivir su vida. Sobre todo tenía tal wanderlust metido en el cuerpo que ya a los dieciséis años comenzó a moverse por los Estados Unidos ganándose la vida como empleada doméstica, y tanto se movió que llegó incluso a Canadá y a Cuba, donde aprendió español. Luego tuvo un golpe de suerte: uno de sus empleadores le dijo que, si ella quería, podía meter su salario en unas inversiones que a él le habían ido muy bien. El empleador resultó ser honesto y la inversión rindió. Eso le proporcionó a Juanita Harrison el colchoncito necesario para cumplir su sueño, que no era otro que viajar por todo el mundo, trabajando en los países que visitara cuando su dinero no fuera suficiente.
My Great, Wide, Beautiful World es el resultado de esos viajes, un diario, aparentemente, que daba testimonio de lo que iba viviendo en cada etapa de su ruta. En realidad, Harrison se sirvió de su memoria y de las cartas que fue escribiendo mientras viajaba (y que pidió a sus destinatarios) para componer lo que primero aparecería serializado en «The Atlantic Monthly» antes de ser un libro. En el fondo da lo mismo la forma que adoptara el relato de sus viajes o cómo lo escribiera, porque lo fundamental es el contenido y, sobre todo, como ya dije, lo que nos revela sobre Juanita Harrison.
Habiendo leído hace poco ¡Menuda América! de Bill Bryson, que parece la retahíla de quejas de un señoro soseras y gruñón, no ha podido resultarme más simpático este otro travelogue. De manera radicalmente opuesta a cómo sucede con Bryson, cuando Juanita (permitidme que la mencione por su nombre de pila, le he cogido tantísimo cariño) llega a un sitio, ese es el lugar mejor y más interesante que ha conocido hasta ahora, su gente es la más maja y su comida la más sabrosa. Esa actitud no nace para nada de un carácter acomodaticio y panfilón, deseoso de agradar a todo el mundo, sino de una enorme capacidad para adaptarse y extraer de cada situación lo más disfrutable. Juanita llega a los sitios y al poco ya se ha hecho unos cuantos amigos y se ha enterado de cómo están las cosas por allí. Es maestra en comprar barato e incluso no pagar a veces, se mimetiza con los locales, que piensan que es una de ellos o imaginan que puede venir de cinco países distintos. Se mete por todas partes, se fija mucho en si los hombres son guapos y le encanta flirtear, pero es una maestra del despiste si la cosa se pone demasiado seria. Está siempre dispuesta a defender su independencia, aunque sea, literalmente, a hostias. Sus empleadores le ruegan que se quede con ellos, pero ella es demasiado culo de mal asiento para atarse a nadie. Además, si no es absolutamente imprescindible, ¿para qué perder el tiempo trabajando, cuando hay tantas cosas interesantes que ver y hacer por el mundo? Esta precursora mochilera tiene siempre comentarios para el dinero, poco, gracias a su buen criterio, que gasta, y sobre todo para la comida, de la que tanto disfruta. En Malines, Bélgica, nos dice, por ejemplo:
«The Cathedral chimes and the beautiful old town hall and Palace all fit in well but what toped it off was the clean kitchen on wheels that sold hot fried potatoes [...]»
(Yo os pregunto, ¿cómo no enamorarse de esta estómago agradecido que encuentra que, sí, la catedral muy bien, pero lo que lo peta son las patatas calentitas?)
Al principio cuesta un poco meterse en la particular ortografía y puntuación de Juanita Harrison, pero al poco te resulta tan natural que hasta te alegras de que no fuera corregida cuando el libro se publicó en 1936, ya que forma parte de la personalísima manera que ella tiene de contar las cosas. Y, por si alguien lo duda, como libro de viajes también ofrece una perspectiva muy interesante y honesta sobre los países que visita.
La misma satisfacción que Juanita siente cuando compra comida para unos cuantos días por unos pocos centavos, esa es la que he sentido yo al toparme con este libro, que como es de dominio público se puede leer completamente gratis. En archive.org, por ejemplo. Cómo me alegro de haber acabado el año con Juanita Harrison y su My Great, Wide, Beautiful World.
¿Qué tiene de especial esta obra? Sobre todo la personalidad de su autora. Ya el título, My Great, Wide, Beautiful World, aunque esté sacado de un poema de W. B. Rands, nos dice mucho acerca de cómo era Juanita Harrison, una mujer afroamericana (y seguramente con antepasados nativos americanos) nacida en Mississippi a finales del siglo XIX. Teniendo en cuenta el lugar y la época, las perspectivas que le aguardaban a Harrison no parecían muy halagüeñas, pero ella tenía una idea muy clara de cómo deseaba vivir su vida. Sobre todo tenía tal wanderlust metido en el cuerpo que ya a los dieciséis años comenzó a moverse por los Estados Unidos ganándose la vida como empleada doméstica, y tanto se movió que llegó incluso a Canadá y a Cuba, donde aprendió español. Luego tuvo un golpe de suerte: uno de sus empleadores le dijo que, si ella quería, podía meter su salario en unas inversiones que a él le habían ido muy bien. El empleador resultó ser honesto y la inversión rindió. Eso le proporcionó a Juanita Harrison el colchoncito necesario para cumplir su sueño, que no era otro que viajar por todo el mundo, trabajando en los países que visitara cuando su dinero no fuera suficiente.
My Great, Wide, Beautiful World es el resultado de esos viajes, un diario, aparentemente, que daba testimonio de lo que iba viviendo en cada etapa de su ruta. En realidad, Harrison se sirvió de su memoria y de las cartas que fue escribiendo mientras viajaba (y que pidió a sus destinatarios) para componer lo que primero aparecería serializado en «The Atlantic Monthly» antes de ser un libro. En el fondo da lo mismo la forma que adoptara el relato de sus viajes o cómo lo escribiera, porque lo fundamental es el contenido y, sobre todo, como ya dije, lo que nos revela sobre Juanita Harrison.
Habiendo leído hace poco ¡Menuda América! de Bill Bryson, que parece la retahíla de quejas de un señoro soseras y gruñón, no ha podido resultarme más simpático este otro travelogue. De manera radicalmente opuesta a cómo sucede con Bryson, cuando Juanita (permitidme que la mencione por su nombre de pila, le he cogido tantísimo cariño) llega a un sitio, ese es el lugar mejor y más interesante que ha conocido hasta ahora, su gente es la más maja y su comida la más sabrosa. Esa actitud no nace para nada de un carácter acomodaticio y panfilón, deseoso de agradar a todo el mundo, sino de una enorme capacidad para adaptarse y extraer de cada situación lo más disfrutable. Juanita llega a los sitios y al poco ya se ha hecho unos cuantos amigos y se ha enterado de cómo están las cosas por allí. Es maestra en comprar barato e incluso no pagar a veces, se mimetiza con los locales, que piensan que es una de ellos o imaginan que puede venir de cinco países distintos. Se mete por todas partes, se fija mucho en si los hombres son guapos y le encanta flirtear, pero es una maestra del despiste si la cosa se pone demasiado seria. Está siempre dispuesta a defender su independencia, aunque sea, literalmente, a hostias. Sus empleadores le ruegan que se quede con ellos, pero ella es demasiado culo de mal asiento para atarse a nadie. Además, si no es absolutamente imprescindible, ¿para qué perder el tiempo trabajando, cuando hay tantas cosas interesantes que ver y hacer por el mundo? Esta precursora mochilera tiene siempre comentarios para el dinero, poco, gracias a su buen criterio, que gasta, y sobre todo para la comida, de la que tanto disfruta. En Malines, Bélgica, nos dice, por ejemplo:
«The Cathedral chimes and the beautiful old town hall and Palace all fit in well but what toped it off was the clean kitchen on wheels that sold hot fried potatoes [...]»
(Yo os pregunto, ¿cómo no enamorarse de esta estómago agradecido que encuentra que, sí, la catedral muy bien, pero lo que lo peta son las patatas calentitas?)
Al principio cuesta un poco meterse en la particular ortografía y puntuación de Juanita Harrison, pero al poco te resulta tan natural que hasta te alegras de que no fuera corregida cuando el libro se publicó en 1936, ya que forma parte de la personalísima manera que ella tiene de contar las cosas. Y, por si alguien lo duda, como libro de viajes también ofrece una perspectiva muy interesante y honesta sobre los países que visita.
La misma satisfacción que Juanita siente cuando compra comida para unos cuantos días por unos pocos centavos, esa es la que he sentido yo al toparme con este libro, que como es de dominio público se puede leer completamente gratis. En archive.org, por ejemplo. Cómo me alegro de haber acabado el año con Juanita Harrison y su My Great, Wide, Beautiful World.
September 17, 2014
What can I say about this marvelous book? It is so good, that words describing it fail to do it justice. This book needs to be experienced. When you read it you’ll feel like you have travelled with Juanita, seen the sights, and met the warm people of the world. Juanita Harrison was a single African American woman in her 30’s who travelled the world all by herself. Virtually nothing is known about Juanita‘s life, but it’s assumed she grew up in a family typical of the time and place she was born: the early 1900’s in Mississippi. One would guess that she was a child of sharecroppers, and that eventually she wound up working as a domestic or a nanny. But Juanita had a great spirit of adventure, and ended up working in several places other than Mississippi… most notably in New York, California, Canada and Cuba. It was while in California that her employer invested her salary, and soon she had enough interest income to start on her plan to travel the world. For close to 10 years, she roamed the globe, getting jobs when her money was low, and taking off for a new place when the mood struck. The book is written in a diary style, for it is a travel journal. Juanita was mistaken for many different nationalities, depending on the country she was in. She made this observation: “I am willing to be what ever I can get the best treatments at being.” She was definitely a “glass half-full” person. In Tours, France, she said, “a big faire are going on in the city are ever so gay I sure have luck for arriving at the gayest time.” When she reached her room in Tours, she said, “in just a few minutes after arriving in a place I feel that I have been there all my life I feel just like that everywhere.” She found wonder and appreciated the smallest things. She was given a pair of warm tights by one of her employers. When she went from Holland to Denmark on a ship, the sea air was cold. But she spent “the whole day on deck and not another woman (has), and it was all to the tights. What a life this is, sometimes it hangs on a pair of cast-off tights.” She was always looking to be with the people of any country, especially the average person “There are auto bus trips but I don’t care to see the country it’s the people I want to be with.”
Of her journey on a ship from Cairo to Sri Lanka, she thought she should have gone partly by train because it would be more enjoyable for her to travel 3rd class thru the Sudan and Ethiopia hungry and thirsty, since then she’d have something to remember. Even though she most likely was not formally educated, she does a decent job writing, despite the spelling and syntax errors. And there are more than a few clever turns of the phrase. After swimming in the Dead Sea, Juanita was offered corned beef: “ I was just full of brine and felt just like Lot’s wife so I couldn’t eat any.” Describing the wallpaper in one of her rooms in Bordeau, France: “the wallpaper are blue vases filled with white roses and look so real I feel a fear of knocking them over.” As far as travelling by herself, she expressed several times in the book how happy she was in going it alone. “My visa from Russia to Asia would have cost 20 dollars but at the Hotel they got it free for me, I being a poor lonely woman. Of course that lonely look helps me a great deal but there never were one less lonely than I am.” A quote in the second-to-last paragraph of the book sums up Juanita’s life philosophy, “I always want to be where wealth health youth beauty and gayness are, altho need very little for myself, I just want to be in the midst of it.” That’s simply a fantastic outlook on life. Imagine the world if we all shared that viewpoint.
When I finished this book, I did not want it to be over. I read this over the course of 2 months…with a diary-style you can put it down and then pick it back up right where you left off. I was totally living vicariously through Juanita. I didn’t want to rush it. And when the book ended, it left me wanting more.
Merged review:
What can I say about this marvelous book? It is so good, that words describing it fail to do it justice. This book needs to be experienced. When you read it you’ll feel like you have travelled with Juanita, seen the sights, and met the warm people of the world. Juanita Harrison was a single African American woman in her 30’s who travelled the world all by herself. Virtually nothing is known about Juanita‘s life, but it’s assumed she grew up in a family typical of the time and place she was born: the early 1900’s in Mississippi. One would guess that she was a child of sharecroppers, and that eventually she wound up working as a domestic or a nanny. But Juanita had a great spirit of adventure, and ended up working in several places other than Mississippi… most notably in New York, California, Canada and Cuba. It was while in California that her employer invested her salary, and soon she had enough interest income to start on her plan to travel the world. For close to 10 years, she roamed the globe, getting jobs when her money was low, and taking off for a new place when the mood struck. The book is written in a diary style, for it is a travel journal. Juanita was mistaken for many different nationalities, depending on the country she was in. She made this observation: “I am willing to be what ever I can get the best treatments at being.” She was definitely a “glass half-full” person. In Tours, France, she said, “a big faire are going on in the city are ever so gay I sure have luck for arriving at the gayest time.” When she reached her room in Tours, she said, “in just a few minutes after arriving in a place I feel that I have been there all my life I feel just like that everywhere.” She found wonder and appreciated the smallest things. She was given a pair of warm tights by one of her employers. When she went from Holland to Denmark on a ship, the sea air was cold. But she spent “the whole day on deck and not another woman (has), and it was all to the tights. What a life this is, sometimes it hangs on a pair of cast-off tights.” She was always looking to be with the people of any country, especially the average person “There are auto bus trips but I don’t care to see the country it’s the people I want to be with.”
Of her journey on a ship from Cairo to Sri Lanka, she thought she should have gone partly by train because it would be more enjoyable for her to travel 3rd class thru the Sudan and Ethiopia hungry and thirsty, since then she’d have something to remember. Even though she most likely was not formally educated, she does a decent job writing, despite the spelling and syntax errors. And there are more than a few clever turns of the phrase. After swimming in the Dead Sea, Juanita was offered corned beef: “ I was just full of brine and felt just like Lot’s wife so I couldn’t eat any.” Describing the wallpaper in one of her rooms in Bordeau, France: “the wallpaper are blue vases filled with white roses and look so real I feel a fear of knocking them over.” As far as travelling by herself, she expressed several times in the book how happy she was in going it alone. “My visa from Russia to Asia would have cost 20 dollars but at the Hotel they got it free for me, I being a poor lonely woman. Of course that lonely look helps me a great deal but there never were one less lonely than I am.” A quote in the second-to-last paragraph of the book sums up Juanita’s life philosophy, “I always want to be where wealth health youth beauty and gayness are, altho need very little for myself, I just want to be in the midst of it.” That’s simply a fantastic outlook on life. Imagine the world if we all shared that viewpoint.
When I finished this book, I did not want it to be over. I read this over the course of 2 months…with a diary-style you can put it down and then pick it back up right where you left off. I was totally living vicariously through Juanita. I didn’t want to rush it. And when the book ended, it left me wanting more.
Of her journey on a ship from Cairo to Sri Lanka, she thought she should have gone partly by train because it would be more enjoyable for her to travel 3rd class thru the Sudan and Ethiopia hungry and thirsty, since then she’d have something to remember. Even though she most likely was not formally educated, she does a decent job writing, despite the spelling and syntax errors. And there are more than a few clever turns of the phrase. After swimming in the Dead Sea, Juanita was offered corned beef: “ I was just full of brine and felt just like Lot’s wife so I couldn’t eat any.” Describing the wallpaper in one of her rooms in Bordeau, France: “the wallpaper are blue vases filled with white roses and look so real I feel a fear of knocking them over.” As far as travelling by herself, she expressed several times in the book how happy she was in going it alone. “My visa from Russia to Asia would have cost 20 dollars but at the Hotel they got it free for me, I being a poor lonely woman. Of course that lonely look helps me a great deal but there never were one less lonely than I am.” A quote in the second-to-last paragraph of the book sums up Juanita’s life philosophy, “I always want to be where wealth health youth beauty and gayness are, altho need very little for myself, I just want to be in the midst of it.” That’s simply a fantastic outlook on life. Imagine the world if we all shared that viewpoint.
When I finished this book, I did not want it to be over. I read this over the course of 2 months…with a diary-style you can put it down and then pick it back up right where you left off. I was totally living vicariously through Juanita. I didn’t want to rush it. And when the book ended, it left me wanting more.
Merged review:
What can I say about this marvelous book? It is so good, that words describing it fail to do it justice. This book needs to be experienced. When you read it you’ll feel like you have travelled with Juanita, seen the sights, and met the warm people of the world. Juanita Harrison was a single African American woman in her 30’s who travelled the world all by herself. Virtually nothing is known about Juanita‘s life, but it’s assumed she grew up in a family typical of the time and place she was born: the early 1900’s in Mississippi. One would guess that she was a child of sharecroppers, and that eventually she wound up working as a domestic or a nanny. But Juanita had a great spirit of adventure, and ended up working in several places other than Mississippi… most notably in New York, California, Canada and Cuba. It was while in California that her employer invested her salary, and soon she had enough interest income to start on her plan to travel the world. For close to 10 years, she roamed the globe, getting jobs when her money was low, and taking off for a new place when the mood struck. The book is written in a diary style, for it is a travel journal. Juanita was mistaken for many different nationalities, depending on the country she was in. She made this observation: “I am willing to be what ever I can get the best treatments at being.” She was definitely a “glass half-full” person. In Tours, France, she said, “a big faire are going on in the city are ever so gay I sure have luck for arriving at the gayest time.” When she reached her room in Tours, she said, “in just a few minutes after arriving in a place I feel that I have been there all my life I feel just like that everywhere.” She found wonder and appreciated the smallest things. She was given a pair of warm tights by one of her employers. When she went from Holland to Denmark on a ship, the sea air was cold. But she spent “the whole day on deck and not another woman (has), and it was all to the tights. What a life this is, sometimes it hangs on a pair of cast-off tights.” She was always looking to be with the people of any country, especially the average person “There are auto bus trips but I don’t care to see the country it’s the people I want to be with.”
Of her journey on a ship from Cairo to Sri Lanka, she thought she should have gone partly by train because it would be more enjoyable for her to travel 3rd class thru the Sudan and Ethiopia hungry and thirsty, since then she’d have something to remember. Even though she most likely was not formally educated, she does a decent job writing, despite the spelling and syntax errors. And there are more than a few clever turns of the phrase. After swimming in the Dead Sea, Juanita was offered corned beef: “ I was just full of brine and felt just like Lot’s wife so I couldn’t eat any.” Describing the wallpaper in one of her rooms in Bordeau, France: “the wallpaper are blue vases filled with white roses and look so real I feel a fear of knocking them over.” As far as travelling by herself, she expressed several times in the book how happy she was in going it alone. “My visa from Russia to Asia would have cost 20 dollars but at the Hotel they got it free for me, I being a poor lonely woman. Of course that lonely look helps me a great deal but there never were one less lonely than I am.” A quote in the second-to-last paragraph of the book sums up Juanita’s life philosophy, “I always want to be where wealth health youth beauty and gayness are, altho need very little for myself, I just want to be in the midst of it.” That’s simply a fantastic outlook on life. Imagine the world if we all shared that viewpoint.
When I finished this book, I did not want it to be over. I read this over the course of 2 months…with a diary-style you can put it down and then pick it back up right where you left off. I was totally living vicariously through Juanita. I didn’t want to rush it. And when the book ended, it left me wanting more.
March 16, 2018
She had me at the title, really.
I love reading travel journals; the older, the better, and extra great if it was written by a woman. I came across Juanita Harrison's book by accident, but even before I clicked on the free ebook, the title already sold it. There is so much love and joy in that title, there was no question whether I was going to like this book.
And then it got better.
Here is what we know about Juanita Harrison: She was born around 1891 in Mississippi, she was a woman of color, she worked various jobs in the US and Cuba, until in 1927, at the age of 36, she decided to travel around the world, so she packed up a suitcase, got on a ship, and set out on a 7 year adventure.
And then it gets even better.
For details, I wrote a long post on my blog:
http://multicoloreddiary.blogspot.hu/...
I love reading travel journals; the older, the better, and extra great if it was written by a woman. I came across Juanita Harrison's book by accident, but even before I clicked on the free ebook, the title already sold it. There is so much love and joy in that title, there was no question whether I was going to like this book.
And then it got better.
Here is what we know about Juanita Harrison: She was born around 1891 in Mississippi, she was a woman of color, she worked various jobs in the US and Cuba, until in 1927, at the age of 36, she decided to travel around the world, so she packed up a suitcase, got on a ship, and set out on a 7 year adventure.
And then it gets even better.
For details, I wrote a long post on my blog:
http://multicoloreddiary.blogspot.hu/...
May 19, 2021
An amazing free wheeling trip around the world, fair enough. But who tells the story is what makes this book so interesting. Juanita Harrison had so many reasons why she shouldn't have undertaken this trip, but none of them seemed to have occurred to her! Little money, no contacts, nothing but her own ability to work, and a lot of grit. Her change of mindset from poor, little educated domestic to someone who rejects the notion that work was anything but a means to an end is nothing short of revolutionary. I wish there more information about her, for all our sakes, but it is such a delight to think of her travels and joy at finding herself in the farthest reaches of the world, happy with that, has to be enough for us, too.
February 11, 2022
Look, this is not a traditional novel, I think there was little to no editing done on it. It's the journal entries of Juanita Harrison as she travels around the world. It's so rare that you get a travel journal of someone who is not upper class from this time period (1930s) and even more rare that Harrison is a young Black woman. I found Harrison to be funny, charming, insightful, and open-minded. The entries do drag at times, like I said, I don't think it was edited and Harrison loves to write about everything she ate in a day and who she talked to, so it gets repetitive. It's a fascinating look at a life we hardly ever get to read about.
June 29, 2025
To be fair, I only finished reading about half of My Great, Wide, Beautiful World. The premise is something carved out of adventure tales of old. A young African-American woman sets out to travel Europe, Africa, and countless other countries back in the 1920's and 1930's. Despite the hope that this book would be right up my alley, I found it quite uninteresting. Juanita Harrison's prose is often cited as one of the main charms of this story, however, I found it difficult to follow much of her run-on sentences and spelling embellishments. Her adventures are surface-level, which doesn't explore the stories of many of the people that she crosses paths with. And, I imagine for some, the simple pleasures recounted are a great reminder of what's important in life. However, It doesn't make much for the exciting adventure I hoped for.
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December 20, 2013910.4 H319m 1996
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