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London: A History
by A. N. WilsonIn its two thousand years of history, London has ruled a rainy island and a globe-spanning empire, it has endured plague and fire and bombing, it has nurtured and destroyed poets and kings, revolutionaries and financiers, geniuses and visionaries of every stripe. To distill the magic and the majesty of this infinitely enthralling city into a single brief volume would seem an impossible task--yet acclaimed biographer and novelist A. N. Wilson brilliantly accomplishes it in London: A History. Founded by the Romans, London was a flourishing provincial capital before falling into ruin with the rest of the Roman Empire. Centuries passed before the city rose to prominence once again when William the Conqueror chose to be crowned king in Westminster Abbey. In Chaucer's day, London Bridge opened the way for expansion over the Thames. By the time Shakespeare's plays were being mounted at the Globe, London was a dense, seething, and explosively growing metropolis-a city of brothels and taverns and delicate new palaces and pleasure gardens. With deftly sketched vignettes and memorable portraits in miniature, Wilson conjures up the essence of London through the ages--high finance and gambling during the Georgian age, John Nash's stunning urban makeover at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, the waves of building and immigration that transformed London beyond recognition during the reign of Queen Victoria, the devastation of the two world wars, the painful and corrupt postwar rebuilding effort, and finally the glamorous, polyglot, expensive, and sometimes ridiculous London of today. Every age had its heroes and villains, from church builder Christopher Wren to jail breaker Jack Sheppard, from urbane wit Samuel Johnson to wartime prime minister Winston Churchill, and Wilson places each one in the drama of London's history. Exuberant, opinionated, surprising, often funny, A. N. Wilson's London is the perfect match of author and subject. In a one short irresistible volume, Wilson gives us the essence of the people, the architecture, the intrigue, the art and literature and history that make London one of the most fascinating cities in the world.
Into the West: The Story of Its People
by Walter NugentPaleo-Indians, Spanish conquistadors and settlers, gold rushers, and aspiring movie stars and computer moguls are among the people Nugent (history, U. of Notre Dame) profiles in his historic sweep of the US west. He explains such matters as how California became the most urban, most populous, and most ethnically diverse state in the country; why African Americans in the early 1900s thought Oakland and Denver more tolerant than San Francisco or Los Angeles; and what happened to the second generation of Mormons after the big migrations of the 1840s. Annotation c. Book News, Inc. , Portland, OR (booknews. com)
Exploring Lewis and Clark: Reflections on Men and Wilderness
by Thomas P. SlaughterMost Americans know that Meriwether Lewis and William Clark led our nation's first trans-continental exploratory expedition, which was sent west by President Thomas Jefferson in 1803. Their journey is one of the most celebrated events in American history and one of the most written about. But most of us do not know any more than what the explorers told us, or what they wanted readers of their voluminous journals to know, or anything other than what they understood about themselves and their wilderness experiences. Exploring Lewis and Clark probes beneath the traditional narrative of the journey, looking beyond the perspectives of the explorers themselves to those of the woman and the men who accompanied them, as well as of the Indians who met them along the way. It reexamines the journals and what they suggest about Lewis's and Clark's misinterpretations of the worlds they passed through and the people in them. Thomas Slaughter portrays Lewis and Clark not as heroes but as men--brave, bound by cultural prejudices and blindly hell-bent on achieving their goal. He searches for the woman Sacajawea rather than the icon that she has become. He seeks the historical rather than the legendary York, Clark's slave. He discovers what the various tribes made of the expedition, including the notion that this multiracial, multiethnic group was embarked on a search for spiritual meaning. Thomas Slaughter shines an entirely new light on an event basic to our understanding of ourselves. He has given us an important work of investigative history.
Driving Over Lemons: An Optimist in Spain
by Chris StewartDriving Over Lemonsis that rare thing: a funny, insightful book that charms you from the first page to the last. . . and one that makes running a peasant farm in Spain seem like a distinctly good move. Chris transports us to Las Alpujarras, an oddball region south of Granada, and into a series of misadventures with an engaging mix of peasant farmers and shepherds, New Age travellers and ex-pats. The hero of the piece, however, is the farm that he and Ana bought, El Valero - a patch of mountain studded with olive, almond and lemon groves, sited on the wrong side of a river, with no access road, water supply or electricity. Could life offer much better than that? 'An idyllic life in a remote, sunny part of Europe is a fantasy normally punctured by harsh realities, and abandoned. Chris is made of sterner stuff. Driving Over Lemonsis a wonderful account of his Andalucian adventure. ' Peter Gabriel, former Genesisbandmate
Driving Over Lemons
by Chris StewartNo sooner had Chris Stewart set eyes on El Valero than he handed over a check. Now all he had to do was explain to Ana, his wife that they were the proud owners of an isolated sheep farm in the Alpujarra Mountains in Southern Spain. That was the easy part.Lush with olive, lemon, and almond groves, the farm lacks a few essentials--running water, electricity, an access road. And then there's the problem of rapacious Pedro Romero, the previous owner who refuses to leave. A perpetual optimist, whose skill as a sheepshearer provides an ideal entrée into his new community, Stewart also possesses an unflappable spirit that, we soon learn, nothing can diminish. Wholly enchanted by the rugged terrain of the hillside and the people they meet along the way--among them farmers, including the ever-resourceful Domingo, other expatriates and artists--Chris and Ana Stewart build an enviable life, complete with a child and dogs, in a country far from home.From the Trade Paperback edition.
Chasing the Sea
by Tom BissellIn 1996, Tom Bissell went to Uzbekistan as a na*ve Peace Corps volunteer. Though he lasted only a few months before illness and personal crisis forced him home, Bissell found himself entranced by this remote land. Five years later he returned to explore the shrinking Aral Sea, destroyed by Soviet irrigation policies. Joining up with an exuberant translator named Rustam, Bissell slips more than once through the clutches of the Uzbek police as he makes his often wild way to the devastated sea.In Chasing the Sea, Bissell combines the story of his travels with a beguiling chronicle of Uzbekistan's striking culture and long history of violent subjugation by despots from Jenghiz Khan to Joseph Stalin. Alternately amusing and sobering, this is a gripping portrait of a fascinating place, and the debut of a singularly gifted young writer.
Bayou Farewell: The Rich Life and Tragic Death of Louisiana's Cajun Coast (Vintage Departures)
by Mike TidwellMike Tidwell knew nothing of the disappearing bayou country when he first visited the Cajun coast of Louisiana, but the evidence was all around him: the skeletons of oak trees killed by the salinity of the groundwater, whole cemeteries sinking into swampland and out of sight, telephone poles in deep, standing water. Thanks to human hands, the storied Louisiana coast was eroding, subsiding, and joining the Gulf of Mexico---making it the fastest disappearing landmass on Earth. Yet no one seemed to know how to talk about the problem. Tidwell, a celebrated travel and environmental writer, decided to begin the much-needed conversation, and this vivid, elegiac book is the result. Tidwell introduces us to the surprisingly varied population of the area: the Cajun men and women who work the seasonal shrimp harvest, the Vietnamese fishermen, the Houma Indians driven to the farthest ends of the bayou by the first European settlers. He describes the food, the music, the culture, and the life of all those who live along the bayous. And under his keenly observant eye, the bayou itself becomes a compelling character---reminding us of how much we stand to lose if we fail to address the problems facing this most vibrant of places. Part travelogue, part environmental exposé, Bayou Farewell is the richly evocative chronicle of the author's travels through a place and a way of life that are vanishing virtually before our eyes.
Americana: Dispatches from the New Frontier
by Hampton SidesHarley-Davidson bikers . . . Grand Canyon river rats. . .Mormon archaeologists. . . Spelling bee prodigies...For more than fifteen years, best-selling author and historian Hampton Sides has traveled widely across the continent exploring the America that lurks just behind the scrim of our mainstream culture. Reporting for Outside, The New Yorker, and NPR, among other national media, the award-winning journalist has established a reputation not only as a wry observer of the contemporary American scene but also as one of our more inventive and versatile practitioners of narrative non-fiction.In these two dozen pieces, collected here for the first time, Sides gives us a fresh, alluring, and at times startling America brimming with fascinating subcultures and bizarre characters who could live nowhere else. Following Sides, we crash the redwood retreat of an apparent cabal of fabulously powerful military-industrialists, drop in on the Indy 500 of bass fishing, and join a giant techno-rave at the lip of the Grand Canyon. We meet a diverse gallery of American visionaries-- from the impossibly perky founder of Tupperware to Indian radical Russell Means to skateboarding legend Tony Hawk. We retrace the route of the historic Bataan Death March with veterans from Sides' acclaimed WWII epic, Ghost Soldiers. Sides also examines the nation that has emerged from the ashes of September 11, recounting the harrowing journeys of three World Trade Center survivors and deciding at the last possible minute not to "embed" on the Iraqi front-lines with the U.S. Marines. Americana gives us a sparkling mosaic of our country today, in all its wild and poignant charm.ist; mushes the Iditarod Trail with Alaska legend Joe Redington. AMERICAN EDENS. . . runs the rapids during a man-made flood in the Grand Canyon; crashes the redwood retreat of California's elite Bohemian Club; debriefs the "bio-nauts" as they emerge from captivity in the Biosphere; dives into America's greatest swimming hole; gets ecstatic with the Zippies at their secret all-night techno-rave. AMERICAN RIDES. . . ponders silver bubbles at the annual Airstream RV convention; revs it up at the Harley-Davidson rally in Sturgis, South Dakota; sails the Chesapeake with snooty owners of a rare antique sailboat known as the log canoe; roams the streets with D.C.'s hard-core band of bike couriers. AMERICAN BY BIRTH, SOUTHERN BY THE GRACE OF . . .. . . speaks in tongues with black Pentecostalists of the Memphis-based Church of God in Christ; fishes for lunkers at the Bassmasters Classic; goes underground with the world's greatest cave rescuer; unravels the mystery of a notorious teen murder in rural Mississippi. AMERICANS ABROAD. . . crosses the Sahara Desert with American endurance runners at the infernal Marathon des Sables; bushwhacks through MesoAmerica with Mormon archaeologists in search of lost tribes of Israel; visits a high school friend who's become an Uzi-toting Zionist pioneer in the West Bank; walks the route of the Bataan Death March with characters from Ghost Soldiers. AMERICAN OBSESSIONS. . . cranks it up with high-end stereophiles at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas; gets bowled over by 5,000 squealing salesladies at the annual Tupperware convention; plumbs the mysteries of the "schwa" at the National Spelling Bee; scrapes at the stucco of the neurotic architectural tradition known as Santa Fe Style. AMERICA, POST 9/11. . . traces the harrowing stories of three World Trade Center survivors; goes off-roading in the Imperial Sand Dunes; almost embeds on the Iraqi frontlines with the U.S. Marines; remembers Shane Childers, the decorated Marine who became the first American combat death in Iraq.From the Trade Paperback edition.
A Meal Observed
by Andrew TodhunterAwarded three stars by Michelin, Taillevent is one of the finest restaurants in the world. Todhunter spent several months working in its kitchen in preparation for the divine experience of eating a five-hour meal in the nineteenth-century dining room. From the amuse-bouche (a warm cheese puff to "amuse the mouth") to the crowning glory of the fantasie, he perfectly captures the sensual pleasure of the meticulously served dinner. Along the way he expertly discusses everything from the state of French haute cuisine and the complexity of running a renowned restaurant to the chemistry of chocolate and the history of salt. A Meal Observed is a rare treat, a paean to the French and French cuisine that is as enchanting and richly satisfying as the meal it describes. From the Trade Paperback edition.
It's Not About the Tapas: A Spanish Adventure on Two Wheels
by Polly EvansAfter working for four years at a leading London book publisher, Polly Evans moved to Hong Kong where she spent many happy hours as a senior editor on the city's biggest entertainment weekly. But fighting deadlines from a twizzly office chair and free use of the coffee machine seemed just too easy. So Polly exchanged the shiny red cabs of Hong Kong for a more demanding form of transport -- a bicycle -- and set off on a voyage of discovery around Spain. From the thigh-burning ascents of the Pyrenees to the relentless olive groves of Andalusia, Polly found more adventures that she had bargained for. She survived a nail-biting encounter with a sprightly pig, escaped over-zealous suitors, had her morality questioned by the locals, encountered some dubious aficionados on the road, and indulged her love of regional cooking. While she pedalled, Polly pondered some of the more lurid details of Spanish history -- the king who collected pickled heads, the queen who toured the country with her husband's mouldering corpse...
Ella in Europe: An American Dog's International Adventures
by Michael KonikPart travelogue, part valentine to a beloved pet, "Ella in Europe" chronicles Konik's magical six-week journey through Europe with his dog, Ella.
Washington Schlepped Here: Walking in the Nation's Capital
by Christopher BuckleyThe father of our country slept with Martha, but schlepped in the District. Now in the great man's footsteps comes humorist and twenty-year Washington resident Christopher Buckley with the real story of the city's founding. Well, not really. We're just trying to get you to buy the book. But we can say with justification that there's never been a more enjoyable, funny, and informative tour guide to the city than Buckley. His delight as he points out things of interest is contagious, and his frequent digressions about his own adventures as a White House staffer are often hilarious. In Washington Schlepped Here, Buckley takes us along for several walks around the town and shares with us a bit of his "other" Washington. They include "Dante's Paradiso" (Union Station); the "Zero Milestone of American democracy" (the U.S. Capitol); the "Almost Pink House" (the White House); and many other historical (and often hysterical) journeys. Buckley is the sort of wonderful guide who pries loose the abalone-like clichés that cling to a place as mythic as D.C. Wonderfully insightful and eminently practical, Washington Schlepped Here shows us that even a city whose chief industry is government bureaucracy is a lot funnier and more surprising than its media-ready image might let on.
Time's Magpie: A Walk in Prague (Crown Journeys)
by Myla GoldbergSometimes a city can be like a bird. Just as the magpie is an inveterate collector, hoarding beautiful eclectic bits to line its nest, so Prague retains fragments from bygone regimes and centuries past to create a city of juxtaposition that is alternately exquisite and bizarre. Prague’s personality is expressed as much by its obvious beauty as by its overlooked details. This unforgettable place is brought to life by acclaimed author Myla Goldberg, a former Prague expat, whose first novel, Bee Season, captivated so many with its unique voice and exhilarating prose. Myla Goldberg lived in Prague in 1993, just as the process of Westernization was getting under way, the city straddling a past it wished to shed and a future it was eager to embrace. In 2003, she returned to see what the pursuit of capitalism had wrought and to observe the integral ways in which Prague’s character had endured. In Time’s Magpie, Goldberg explores a city where centuries-old buildings have become receptacles for Western values and a generation defined by the Communist regime coexists with a generation for whom Communism is a rapidly fading memory. Wander through the narrow alleyways and cobblestone streets to places most tourists never see—to a neighborhood eerily transformed by the devastating flood of 2002; to an anachronistic amusement park that is home to a discomfiting array of Technicolor confections; and to the cabinets of curiosity in the Strahov Monastery, where hidden among deceptively modest displays of butterfly specimens and ladies’ fans are creatures that defy the laws of taxidermy. This imaginative, individualistic journey will show you the odd and unique corners of a city often seeking to erase what its very stones will not allow it to forget.
Time and Tide
by Frank ConroyFrank Conroy first visited Nantucket with a gang of college friends in 1955. They came on a whim, and for Conroy it was the beginning of a lifelong love affair with this "small, relaxed oasis in the ocean. " This book, part travel diary, part memoir, is a hauntingly evocative and personal journey through Nantucket: its sweeping dunes, rugged moors, remote beaches, secret fishing spots, and hidden forests and cranberry bogs. Admirers of Conroy's classic and acclaimed memoirStop-Timewill again delight in what James Atlas, writing in the New York Times, called his "genius for close observation. " InTime and Tide, Conroy recounts the island's history from the glory days of the whaling boom to the present, when tourism dominates. He vividly evokes the clash of cultures between the working class and the super-rich, with the fragile ecology of the island always in the balance. But most fascinating of all, he tells his own story--of playing jazz piano in the island's bars; of raising a barn in the early '60s with the help of a bunch of hippie carpenters; of leasing an old, failed bar with two island pals and turning it into the Roadhouse, a club "that was to be ours, the year-rounders, and to hell with the summer people. " There's a marvelous story of his first golf game, played on an ancient nine-hole course with two friends, a part-time sommelier and a builder from the South who invented the one-handed pepper mill. This is a book that revels in friendship, music, history, and the gorgeous landscape of a unique American place, and is a wonderful work by one of our greatest contemporary writers. From the Hardcover edition.
The Great Psychedelic Armadillo Picnic
by Kinky FriedmanKinky Friedman, the original Texas Jewboy, takes us on a rollicking, rock-and-rolling tour of his favorite city: Austin. Maybe you want to know which restaurant President Bush rates as his favorite Austin burger joint. Or maybe you want a glimpse of Willie Nelson's home life (hint: Willie plays a lot of golf). Perhaps you want to get the best view of the Mexican free-tail bats as they make their nightly flights to and from the Congress Avenue Bridge. Or maybe you're itching to learn the history of a city that birthed Janis Joplin, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and countless other music legends. It's all here in The Great Psychedelic Armadillo Picnic, the slightly insane, amazingly practical, and totally kick-ass guide to the coolest city in Texas by none other than Kinky Friedman. This ain't no ordinary travel guide, neither. "Like most other busy cities these days, Austin is not very effectively traversed by foot," Kinky explains. "You must understand that 'a walk in Austin' is primarily a spiritual sort of thing. " As might be expected from this politically incorrect country-singer-turned-bestselling-mystery-author, the Kinkster's tour includes a bunch of stuff you won't ?nd in a Frommer's guide, from descriptions of Austin's notable trees and directions to skinny-dipping sites to lists of haunted places and quizzes and puzzles. So put on your cowboy hat and your brontosaurus-foreskin boots and head down south with the only book you need to get to the big heart of this great city. From the Hardcover edition.
Tales of a Female Nomad: Living at Large in the World
by Rita Golden Gelman"I move throughout the world without a plan, guided by instinct, connecting through trust, and constantly watching for serendipitous opportunities." --From the PrefaceTales of a Female Nomad is the story of Rita Golden Gelman, an ordinary woman who is living an extraordinary existence. At the age of forty-eight, on the verge of a divorce, Rita left an elegant life in L.A. to follow her dream of connecting with people in cultures all over the world. In 1986 she sold her possessions and became a nomad, living in a Zapotec village in Mexico, sleeping with sea lions on the Galapagos Islands, and residing everywhere from thatched huts to regal palaces. She has observed orangutans in the rain forest of Borneo, visited trance healers and dens of black magic, and cooked with women on fires all over the world. Rita's example encourages us all to dust off our dreams and rediscover the joy, the exuberance, and the hidden spirit that so many of us bury when we become adults.From the Trade Paperback edition.
Riding Outside the Lines: International Incidents and Other Misadventures with the Metal Cowboy
by Joe KurmaskieLike a modern-day Don Quixote, Joe Kurmaskie--bike adventurer, writer, and twelve-year-old boy trapped in a man's body--wanders the world on two wheels, often with hilarious results, in Riding Outside the Lines. A jaunt through such far-flung locations as Ireland, Australia, Mexico, South America, and beyond, here is a collection of tales woven together with one central theme: the world is a much smaller place when you view it from the seat of a bicycle. Whether he's weekending in the buff after accidentally stumbling into a nudist colony wedding, knocking back red wine in tin cans with a gun-toting ex-bounty hunter, combing the countryside in a quest to find the all-girl bagpipe squad he met in his dreams, or playing a rousing game of ice golf on the frozen tundra, Joe Kurmaskie writes of his gonzo global trek in a spirit infused with insight, good humor, and optimism. Riding Outside the Lines encourages travel buffs and armchair explorers alike to get on your bike and see the beauty of our planet and the colorful souls who populate it.
Invisible Frontier: Exploring the Tunnels, Ruins, and Rooftops of Hidden New York
by L. B. Deyo David LeibowitzIn the shadows of the city waits an invisible frontier--a wilderness thriving in the deep places, woven through dead storm drains and live subway tunnels, coursing over third rails. This frontier waits in the walls of abandoned tenements, hides on the rooftops, infiltrates the bridges' steel. It's a no-man's-land, fenced off with razor wire, marked by warning signs, persisting in shadow, hidden everywhere as a parallel dimension. Crowds hurry through the bright streets, insulated by pavement, never reflecting that beneath their feet or above their heads lurks a universe. Led by its two founding agents, L. B. Deyo and David "Lefty" Leibowitz, Jinx is a stylish urban adventure out?t known for its daring--if sometimes ridiculous--forays into the hidden wonders that lurk above and beneath America's greatest city, New York. In Invisible Frontier L. B. and Lefty chronicle Jinx's dramatic--if sometimes absurd--exploration of a Dante-esque New York, from the depths of the city's underground Hell (abandoned aqueducts and subway tunnels) to the pinnacles of its Paradise (rooftops and bridges) and everything in between, capturing the genius of the city's engineering, the vibrancy of its found art, and the elegiac beauty of its ruins. Here is a true series of wittily narrated adventures into the hidden world beneath a great civilization.
In Search of Tiger: A Journey Through Golf with Tiger Woods
by Tom CallahanTom Callahan has written the seminal book on golfing great Tiger Woods. Woods, who has gone out of his way to protect his privacy, has never allowed himself to get close enough to a writer to be properly examined on the page. Callahan, commonly regarded as one of the best all-round sports writers in the country, has followed Tiger around the world of golf for more than seven years, enjoying a certain access to the man and his family. He even went so far as to travel to Vietnam to learn the fate of the South Vietnamese soldier who was Earl Wood's best friend during the war - and his son's namesake. Tiger is twenty years old when the book opens and twenty-seven when it closes. During those years, Callahan covered Woods at all the Majors, including the Masters, the U. S. Open, and the British Open, culminating in Tiger's heart-stopping race to make history by clinching the string of Majors affectionately nicknamed the Tiger Slam. Along the way, Tom Callahan hears from everyone who is anyone in the world of Tiger Woods, including Phil Mickelson, Jack Nicklaus, David Duval, Butch Harmon, Ernie Els, and, of course, Tiger's rather ubiquitous mother and father. As much as we learn about Tiger - how he sees himself in relation to the courses he plays on and the players he has learned from and competed with - we also enjoy a bird's-eye view of golf as it is now with Tiger on the scene, and as it was for centuries before.
If You're Thinking of Living In . . .
by Michael LeahyA Practical guidebook for house hunters, migrating apartment dwellers, and anyone curious about life in 115 of New York's most livable neighborhoods and suburbs. For many people in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, the real estate section of the Sunday New York Times is the first part of the newspaper they read each week. This book is drawn from one of the most popular features in that widely read section, "If You're Thinking of Living In . . . " Every week, the column gives a detailed snapshot of a suburban community in the tri-state area or a metropolitan neighborhood in New York City, enabling readers to clearly understand a new area and decide if it might be the right place for them to live. Now, these columns have been updated and edited into a valuable guidebook for anyone planning a move into the tri-state area or already living in the region and considering a move to another community, as well as for browsers who just enjoy this popular and informative feature. Will acquaint you with 115 metropolitan neighborhoods and suburban communities in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Consists of illuminating profiles on each locale, including safety, housing, schools, transportation, cultural and recreational facilities, and quality of life. Includes at-a-glance reference boxes that list such valuable data as median income of a community; median price of a single-family home, co-op, or condo; midrange rental rates; and commuting times and costs Highlights which communities have the strongest school districts. Educates prospective home buyers on assessing the investment opportunities of purchasing real estate. From the Trade Paperback edition.
Fugitives and Refugees: A Walk in Portland, Oregon (Crown Journeys)
by Chuck PalahniukThe author of the best-selling novel reveals his favorite Portland, Oregon landmarks in this autobiographical travel guide that describes the City of Roses as "the home of America's fugitives and refugees." Covering a bit of culture and a bit of history, the guide begins with a Portland vocabulary lesson and then offers descriptive listings of selected restaurants (with key recipes), architecture, museums, swingers' sex clubs (gay and straight), events, transportation, shopping, and photo opportunities, along with wry commentary from the author. The guide does not include maps, photographs, or an index. Annotation (c)2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
City of the Soul
by William Murray“One lifetime is not enough for Rome,” the famous saying goes, and anyone who’s ever been there knows these words to be true. InCity of the Soul, William Murray begins to show us why. Growing up in Rome and spending much of his life in the city, William Murray is an expert guide as he takes us on an intimate walking tour of some of Rome’s most glorious achievements, illuminating the history and the mythology that define the city. Murray leads us through the centro, the city’s historic downtown center. He writes about the Villa Borghese, the Piazza di Spagna, and the Trevi Fountain and describes such singular attractions as the Capuchin Church of Santa Maria della Concezione, whose macabre crypt has impressed visitors from Mark Twain to the Marquis de Sade. As he walks, he reveals stories that only a longtime resident would know, capturing the sights, sounds, and flavors that make Rome a combination of the deep past and the ever-sensual present.
Avoiding Prison and Other Noble Vacation Goals: Adventures in Love and Danger
by Wendy DaleFrom salsa dancing in a rum-induced haze and struggling to exercise in Colombia ("the guerrillas were using the track again today"), to crossing international borders unconventionally and dodging bombs in Lebanon ("the good news was that they were 'small bombs'"), Wendy somehow manages to find herself in the midst of hysterical, adventurous, and often illegal situations. Case in point--every time she heads to Costa Rica, she is forced to visit another prison. Although a jail may not be everyone's idea of a place to find a date, Wendy soon falls in love with a man, a country, and its people and risks everything she has to clear his name. Avoiding Prison and Other Noble Vacation Goals is a bumpy and hilarious ride in which Wendy discovers that a successful vacation--much like that elusive thing, happiness--can be found in some of the most unlikely places imaginable.
After the Dance
by Edwidge DanticatInAfter the Dance, one of Haiti’s most renowned daughters returns to her homeland, taking readers on a stunning, exquisitely rendered journey beyond the hedonistic surface of Carnival and into its deep heart. Edwidge Danticat had long been scared off from Carnival by a loved one, who spun tales of people dislocating hips from gyrating with too much abandon, losing their voices from singing too loudly, going deaf from the clamor of immense speakers, and being punched, stabbed, pummeled, or fondled by other lustful revelers. Now an adult, she resolves to return and exorcise her Carnival demons. She spends the week before Carnival in the area around Jacmel, exploring the rolling hills and lush forests and meeting the people who live and die in them. During her journeys she traces the heroic and tragic history of the island, from French colonists and Haitian revolutionaries to American invaders and home-grown dictators. Danticat also introduces us to many of the performers, artists, and organizers who re-create the myths and legends that bring the Carnival festivities to life. When Carnival arrives, we watch as she goes from observer to participant and finally loses herself in the overwhelming embrace of the crowd. Part travelogue, part memoir, this is a lyrical narrative of a writer rediscovering her country along with a part of herself. It’s also a wonderful introduction to Haiti’s southern coast and to the true beauty of Carnival.
Island Wise
by Janis Frawley-HollerMany of us long to escape the dreariness of our daily lives for the balmy weather, fresh air, and bright sunshine of the world’s islands—those almost magical places whose distance from the mainland has the power to distance us from our normal cares. Island Wisetransports you to these far-off shores to reveal what makes island life so appealing—and shows you how to invoke the inimitable island sense of tranquility, simplicity andjoie de vivreevery day. From the Bahamas to Prince Edward Island, Canada, author Janis Frawley-Holler explores twenty-five of the world’s most beguiling islands, introducing the natural wonders, ancient traditions, musical rhythms, and everyday practices that make each seaborne locale utterly unique. Her charming vignettes also share each culture’s simple recipes for leading life at a slower pace, focusing on what really matters, charting your heart’s desires, enriching personal relationships, and cultivating a deep sense of purpose and meaning. Whether you’re dreaming of an island getaway or looking to retain your post-vacation glow,Island Wiseproves that “island-wise” living is not about location—it’s simply a state of mind that makes life sweeter wherever you are. Jamaica • Borneo • Prince Edward Island • Nassau • Crete • Anegada • Key West, Florida • Sark • St. Honorat • Oahu, Hawaii • Hong Kong • Santa Catalina Island, California • Likiep Atoll • Isla Santa Magdalena, Baja California • Chincoteague Island, Virginia • Terceira • Cuba • Baranoff Island, Alaska • Taha’a • Jost Van Dyke • The Galapagos Islands • St. Lucia • Sjaelland • Seguin Island, Maine • Bimini From the Trade Paperback edition.