Travel writing Books

Book SynopsisIts perhaps the most famous highway in the world California State Highway 1, a narrow strip of roadway between the cliffs and the ocean on the very edge of the continent. Blessed with spectacular natural landscapes, inspiring ocean views and the echoes of California history, Highway 1 is a scenic drive like no other. The sequel to the authors acclaimed book An Artist and a Writer Travel Highway 1 North, An Artist and a Writer Travel Highway 1 Central takes the reader on a unique literary and artistic journey through the natural and man-made beauty of Californias central coast. Lavishly illustrated with over 100 original full-color Pat Hunter watercolors depicting gorgeous landscapes and architectural treasures, this is a thinking persons travel guide that reveals hidden treasures and unexpected delights. Written as a memoir of the authors tour along the highway, the book takes an appealingly idiosyncratic perspective, as the authors record their explorations off the beaten path, their serendipitous discoveries, and their personal reactions to the places and people they encounter. A satisfying and contemplative mixture of captivating artistry and personal essay, An Artist and a Writer Travel Highway 1 Central reinvents the travel guide as a literary form.

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Book SynopsisLandscapes and Landmarks of the Great Central Valley is a gorgeously illustrated tour of Californias heartland, lovingly depicted in over 150 original watercolor paintings by acclaimed California artist Pat Hunter. From Tejon Pass in the south to Mount Shasta in the north stretches one of Californias hidden gems, the heartland of the Great Central Valley. The most productive agricultural region anywhere in the world, the Central Valley is an entirely different California most tourists never see a rural land of farms and industry, stunning natural beauty, the greatest cultural and ethnic diversity of anywhere in the United States, and historic cities populated by friendly, hard-working people. Landscapes and Landmarks of the Great Central Valley is a loving tribute to the Valley created by two native daughters, the Fresno-based team of award-winning artist Pat Hunter and noted writer Janice Stevens. Hunter and Stevens take the reader on a personal tour of their home region, showcasing the charms of the Valleys agricultural heritage, natural scenery, history and architecture. Hunters magnificent watercolors, reproduced in full color in a beautifully designed coffee table edition, depict the natural and human-made beauty of the Valleys great landmarks: the General Grant tree, the Reedley Opera House, the Fresno Water Tower, Yosemites Half Dome, the American River, Sutters Fort and more. Landscapes and Landmarks of the Great Central Valley also affectionately portrays the rural and farm life that powers the Great Central Valley with a charm and freshness reminiscent of the French countryside. A joyous journey through some of the most picturesque landscapes and small towns anywhere in the world, Landscapes and Landmarks of the Great Central Valley is an exquisite art book for all lovers of Californias heartland.

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Book SynopsisFollow Azzedine Downes as he drifts between cultures, places, and time to build a life of service and adventure, first as a young educator in Morocco and later as a father making a home for his family in the United States. As the son of an Irish father and a Muslim mother, blue-eyed Azzedine feels the power— and the burden— of being a cultural shape-shifter. His presence alone evokes curiosity and arguments, sometimes risking great danger to himself and his family. He makes his way as a teacher, an organizer, and later a leader in the U.S. Peace Corps. In this wry traveler’ s memoir, his tales elicit at turn laughter, compassion, and heartache as Azzedine confronts the human compulsion to make sense of those around us, even when we’ re wrong.“ I never found life to be linear and so returning to a point in time never surprised me,” Azzedine writes. “ What surprised me was the reaction of those that struggled to tether me to one place.” Featuring a foreword by Jane Goodall, who shares his vision for hope and resilience in a troubled world, The Couscous Chronicles unravels the tapestry of a vibrant journey where one is never a stranger, but also never at home.Table of ContentsFEZ, MOROCCO: THE MEDINA The Labyrinth Language, Cleanliness, and the Yellow Babouche Bread and Other Smells of Life Feet Smell and So Do Yellow Babouche Sniffing Glue and Lessons Learned Nassarani An Endless String of Apologies Donkeys, Virility, and Birth Control The Buddhist Monk and Talking in My Sleep Couscous, the Foundation of All Life Baraka and the Sheep Shopping, Bargaining, and Accents Aziz, Merchant of Carpets and Bagger of Tourists The Simple-Minded Mathematician FEZ, MOROCCO: LA VILLE NOUVELLELa Ville Nouvelle and My Love Affair with French The Grey-Haired CIA Agent and the Spurned Lover Breaking the Rules and the Donnybrook at the Cinema Teenage Frenzy and the Cardboard Keyboard Arabic Lessons Undoing the Spell via a Good Tip The Curse of Fatouma Peep Show at the Café Alone in My Food Poisoning Pain The Intoxicating Dessert The Rif Mountains and The Hirsute Body The Hamman and the Circumcised Foreigner Salade Niç oise and My Wayward Wife CASABLANCA, MARRAKECH, ZAGORA, AND SALEA Casablanca Unlike the Movie Human Teeth on a Blanket Just Tell Me Where It Is Where There is No Doctor Adapting to Male Chauvinism— My Own Marrakech Express and the Draft The Real Morocco No Room at the Inn How To Break the Cigarette Habit Immediately The Donkey and the Bottle of Cologne Marriage, Spies, and the Muslim Brotherhood CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSSETS The Somewhat Worthless Diploma Where There Is Still No Doctor Street Urchin Arabic and a Wise Mentor The Butcher of Harvard Marry Me, Blue Eyes FEZ, KENITRA, AND SUPPOSEDLY IMILCHIL Said the Mendacious The Girl from Tangiers What Happens in the Men’ s Locker Room Stays… The Endless Photo Album Viewing The Marriage Festival at Imilchil MAURITANIA Sand and Tea for Two More Couscous and Marrying Fatima Teatime and Slavery Lingering Thoughts of Death and Slavery Political Faux Pas The Breakdancing Consultant The Camel Bar Sweet Sixteen and Alone Father of the English Language in Mauritania To Eat or Not to Eat a Camel Michael Jackson in Mauritania Unintended Consequences and Vapid Conversations The Club in NYC RETURN TO MOROCCO AND ITS MOUNTAINS Now is Not What You Think It Is Blue Eyes, Mick, and Keith Trance Dancing and Demonic Possession Dancing For Grandma at the White House BOSTON, PHILADELPHIA, AND WASHINGTON, DC Marriage, the Dowry and Zulu Dawn The Sad Story on the Train Coming to America The Blunder and the Book The Letter The Conversion A Letter Arrived There Was Couscous at the Wedding Consummation Anticipation Nadia’ s First Cooked Meal in America Household Effects and Clueless Men The Unknown Birthday Return to the Household Effects There Must Be a Conspiracy to Uncover Standing Naked on the Phone YEMEN: THE ANCIENT CITY OF SANA’ A Is Time Travel Real? Tell Me Your Real Name Who Is Actually in Charge? Discovering Abdullah and Qat The Undocumented Maid The Glaring Truth Delving into the Dowry The Mystery of the White Cloth The House and the Letter The Sheik It’ s Wednesday, Permit Required Was I a Drug Addict? Guns and Marital Honesty Traffic is a Nightmare The Crying Struggling to Be Polite Death and the Taxi Ramadan MOROCCO FOR THE “ REAL” WEDDING Crying, Chipped Teeth, Boiling Kettles, and Pregnancy Kim and Moroccan Jews When Irish Eyes are Smiling . . . and Drinking Everyone Is Born a Muslim Yoko’ s Revenge Life Within the Palace Walls

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Book SynopsisInner Ranges brings together an enlightening and entertaining selection of mountain writing by one of Canada's most respected adventure journalists and thinkers.This collection of original and previously published pieces includes provocative editorial and opinion work about the state of adventure, personal tales from a life of exploration and risk-taking, some touches of humour, and award-winning profiles of some of Canada's mountaineering greats. Stories include conversations with and profiles of alpine personalities such as Barry Blanchard, Sonnie Trotter, Lena Rowat, Raphael Slawinski, David Jones and many more.Bringing these essays together for the first time has given Geoff the unique opportunity to reflect back on the stories behind the stories, the consequences of their publication, and the sometimes complex processes of writing about adventure and adventurous lives.

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Book SynopsisA spirited 1950s travelogue that takes the reader around the world during a time when two independent young women travelling alone was considered almost revolutionary.Renate Belczyk was born in Dresden, Germany, in 1932. When she was three years old her family moved to Berlin, where they settled into a small apartment building on the outskirts of the city. It was in this building that she met another adventurous girl, Sigrid, with whom she would travel around the world as young women after the Second World War.Having spent most of their childhood and teenage years climbing trees, swimming, cycling, hiking, and adventuring around Germany the two young women attended a talk by the German writer Heinrich Böll. During his presentation the renowned author suggested to the crowd that they all travel to different countries and make friends with the locals whenever they could, as this would help prevent another war. Renate and Sigrid took this advice to heart, and from that point their adventures together took flight.Starting in 1955 and travelling for three years to England, France, Spain, Portugal, Mexico, Canada, Japan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Egypt, Turkey, Macedonia, and Greece, their adventures together culminated with their joint return to Germany in 1958. In 1959 Renate returned to the Canadian Rockies to work in the backcountry, and in 1960 she married mountaineer Felix Belczyk and settled in Castlegar, BC, where they raised three children.Our Trip Around the World is an endearing snapshot of the postwar era when adventure travel mountaineering, hiking, hitchhiking, and cycling was enticing those with adventurous spirits to experience the world like never before.

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Book SynopsisBill Arnott guides readers on an epic literary odyssey following history's most feared and misunderstood voyageurs: the Vikings!To go Viking is to embark on an epic journey. For more than eight years, Bill Arnott journeyed throughout the northern hemisphere, discovering sites Scandinavian explorers raided, traded, and settled finding Viking history in a wider swath of the planet than most anthropologists and historians ever imagined.With a small pack and weatherproof journal, Bill explores and writes with a journalist's eye, songwriter's prose, poet's perspective, and a comedian's take on everything else. Prepare yourself for an armchair adventure like no other!From Europe to Asia, the Mediterranean to the British Isles, through Scandinavia to Iceland, Greenland, and the New World, with further excursions around Thor Heyerdahl's Pacific, Roald Amundsen's Arctic, and Olaf Crowbone's stormy North Atlantic, Bill takes readers on a mythic personal adventure in real time a present-day Viking quest.

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Book Synopsis"An intriguing tale that entwines exploration and education."Kirkus ReviewsA deeply personal travel memoir that combines alpine adventure, family connections, and spiritual encounters in two very different worlds: a Himalayan village and Vancouver, Canada.In 2012, Michael Schauch and his wife, Chantal, undertook an expedition deep in the Himalaya of northern Nepal, into a remote valley that had been closed off to outsiders for decades. They led a team of artists (a photographer, a musician, and a painter), with the objective of capturing a moment in time through their unique lenses. As a mountaineering fanatic, Michael had a second (and less conspicuous) goal to climb an unknown mountain he had only identified through a photograph. What unfolded in the mountains forced him to question his values and his own identity, and eventually resulted in meeting a little girl, which was the most profound encounter of his life. Little did either know that from that moment they would completely change the trajectory of each other's life.A Story of Karma recounts this journey, and the years that follow as Karma (the little girl), and Michael and Chantal grow their lives together amidst the confusing dichotomies and backdrop of Karma's 17th-century Himalayan village; the impoverished and polluted Kathmandu; and the modern world of Vancouver, Canada.

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Book Synopsis“Windburned, eyes closed, this: beneath the keening of bergs, a deeper thresh of glaciers calving, creaking with sun. Sound of earth, her bones, wide russet bowl of hips splaying open. From these sere flanks, her desiccating body, what a sea change is born.” From the endangered Canadian boreal forest to the environmentally threatened Svalbard archipelago off the coast of Norway, Jenna Butler takes us on a sea voyage that connects continents and traces the impacts of climate change on northern lands. With a conservationist, female gaze, she questions explorer narratives and the mythic draw of the polar North. As a woman who cannot have children, she writes out the internal friction of travelling in Svalbard during the fertile height of the Arctic summer. Blending travelogue and poetic meditation on place, Jenna Butler draws readers to the beauty and power of threatened landscapes, asking why some stories in recorded history are privileged while others speak only from beneath the surface.Trade Review# 7 on Edmonton Non-Fiction Bestsellers list, August 16, 2018"Magnetic North is a beautiful little book, full of moments of intense vision, but it’s also another ecological warning, couched in a poet’s deep understanding of what she has seen & recorded in our now changing north. Wholly engaging both emotionally & intellectually, it’s one of those books that truly adds to our understanding of the world we live in & continue to wound." [Full review at https://eclecticruckus.wordpress.com/2018/09/28/jenna-butlers-visionary-voyage-into-the-arctic/] -- Douglas Barbour * Eclectic Ruckus *"The remote island of Spitsbergen, on Norway’s northern Svalbard archipelago, provides the setting for Butler’s evocative ruminations on the harsh beauty at the edge of the world.... Butler’s book is not a standard travel narrative; rather, she wields poetic prose to describe a place that most humans will never visit. The result is highly recommended for lovers of poetry and nature writing." * Publishers Weekly, starred review *# 3 on Edmonton Non-Fiction Bestsellers list, December 01, 2018# 1 on Edmonton Non-Fiction Bestsellers list, January 13, 2019 * Edmonton Non-Fiction Bestsellers *"[Jenna Butler is an] acute observer and a precise and cogent writer... [Hers] is a journey motivated by curiosity about the north, and a longing for sights to be seen before they disappear forever. Her descriptions of settlements scattered between mainland Norway and the Arctic Circle are evocative: her prose is poetic, and her poems (interspersed in the text) are visual and concrete." [Full review at http://canlit.ca/article/voyages-of-desire/] -- Hilary Turner * Canadian Literature *“…an alternate view of the grandeur of Arctic nature, the paradox of Russian mining settlements in an area under Norwegian sovereignty, the critically endangered nature of the islands, how people respond to the extreme environment and living conditions in the Arctic, and a deep personal reflection on traveling to this part of the globe…” Ingo Heidbrink, The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord, Vol. XXVIII, No. 4 [Full review at https://www.cnrs-scrn.org/northern_mariner/vol28/tnm_28_br_385-438.pdf] -- Ingo Heidbrink"Magnetic North is a delight, perfect for amateur botanists, naturalists or simply admirers of Butler's astonishing gifts as a poet." -- Shirley RoburnThis is a beautiful series of portraits of place and time and captures ecological shifts, women who work in the places they're anchored and her own body’s experience of being on boat, dinghy and icy land. -- Yvonne Blomer, 49th Shelf, March 28, 2022Table of Contentsxi The Journey 1 Lines Toward Ice 7 Pyramiden 13 Ornithomancy 19 Night 23 Bone 29 The Men at the Edge of the World 35 She Becomes the Ocean 41 Arctic by Air 47 Afloat 53 Barentsburg 59 Cusp 65 Postcard from Svalbard 71 At the Face 77 Threads 83 Leaving Days 89 Song to the Boreal

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Book SynopsisSetting off on foot from Winchester, Ken Haigh hikes across southern England, retracing one of the traditional routes that medieval pilgrims followed to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. Walking in honour of his father, a staunch Anglican who passed away before they could begin their trip together, Haigh wonders: Is there a place in the modern secular world for pilgrimage? On his journey, he sorts through his own spiritual aimlessness while crossing paths with writers like Anthony Trollope, John Keats, Jane Austen, Jonathan Swift, Charles Dickens, and, of course, Geoffrey Chaucer. Part travelogue, part memoir, and part literary history, On Foot to Canterbury is engaging and delightful. “My father didn’t need this walk, not the way I do. For him it would have been a fun way to spend some time with his son. He had, I begin to realize, a talent for living in the moment… Perhaps a pilgrimage would help me find happiness. Perhaps I could walk my way into a better frame of mind, and somehow along the road to Canterbury I would find a new purpose for my life. It was worth a shot.” Audio edition from PRH available from Audible, Kobo, Google, and Apple Books.Trade Review"On Foot to Canterbury is a beautifully written and eloquent story that skillfully weaves historical anecdotes into a journey through rural England, leaving the reader with practical, sage advice on how to deal with loss and depression, but most of all, on how to live. Haigh’s eye to detail is a delight to read, as are his frequent musings on landscape and history. This subtle, moving story stays with you long after the book is finished." -- Jury members, 2021 Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction“We discover [Haigh’s] life long battle with depression, growing middle age angst, his tenuous relationship with his father and his drifting away from the Anglican Church of his youth…. A worthwhile read…[and] a brave book…” -- Robert Burcher"It bristles with historical asides and stories of encounters along the way, and is full of warmth and wit." -- Sebastian Milbank, The Tablet, November 10, 2021"Those who have walked the Pilgrims' Way from Winchester will find this book an enjoyable account." -- Leigh Hatts, Walking The Pilgrims' Way, November 6, 2021"The narrative is immediately engaging; it’s both entertaining and thought-provoking... Haigh’s journey took him beyond his physical destination, to a Pilgrims’ Way of the mind and soul. On Foot to Canterbury did the same thing for me." -- A.M. Potter, North Noir, November 10, 2021“Haigh takes readers on an elegant historical tour of England as he walks for two weeks from Winchester to Canterbury. With the patient eye of a historian, he explores churches and describes the landscape…. Having misplaced his own faith, Haigh explores his relationship with God, coming to appreciate British author Julian Barnes’ statement, 'I don’t believe in God, but I miss him.’” Nicola Ross, December 6, 2021 [Full post at https://nicolaross.ca/everyone-should-go-on-a-pilgrimage]“Walking Pilgrim’s Way takes you through a literary landscape in England where you keep being reminded of books you’ve read and enjoyed,” said Haigh. “Part of the pilgrimage for me was visiting these places that meant so much to me as a reader.” Erika Engel, September 29, 2021 [Full interview at https://www.collingwoodtoday.ca/local-news/former-collingwood-library-ceos-book-details-the-progress-of-his-pilgrimage-4470123]"On Foot to Canterbury is deeply felt and spiritual, funny and mournful. It deserves a wide readership. These long pandemic months lend themselves well to armchair travel and Haigh is a welcome companion. As he writes, 'After all, walking a pilgrimage is really just walking in the footsteps of those who have gone before, and there is some comfort in knowing that.' It may even inspire a pilgrimage of your own." Bryn Evans, Alberta Views Magazine, April 2022…On Foot to Canterbury…describes a circular journey, with a narrator who is a restless wanderer and aspires to ‘walk my way into a better frame of mind’.… As Haigh notes, travelling plays an enormous role in his life, and the linear pilgrimage from Winchester to Canterbury—a road rich with historical and literary significance—is inspired by a tentative plan made with his father. Initially, he is reluctant to carry out this plan after his father’s death, but ‘itchy feet’ and a constant awareness ‘of the existential clock ticking’ lead him to revise it into his own journey through a process of relentless self-doubt and grieving…. The linear path to the shrine of Thomas Becket at Canterbury—with multiple allusions to Bunyan, Chaucer, Raleigh, Walton, and Keats—becomes Haigh’s journey, and it ends with his hope that ‘it inspires you to take journeys of your own’.” Dorothy F. Lane, Canadian Literature, September 28, 2022 [Full review: https://canlit.ca/article/vicious-and-virtuous-circles]Table of ContentsPrelude xi 1 | Winchester 1 2 | Winchester to New Alresford 23 3 | New Alresford to Alton 41 4 | Alton to Farnham 57 5 | Farnham to Newlands Corner 67 6 | Newlands Corner to Dorking 89 7 | Dorking to Reigate 107 8 | Reigate to Godstone 119 9 | Godstone to Otford 131 10 | Otford to Addington 145 11 | Addington to Rochester 163 12 | Rochester to Thurnham 183 13 | Thurnham to Lenham 199 14 | Lenham to Wye 213 15 | Wye to Canterbury 227 16 | Canterbury 245 Acknowledgements 253 Notes 255 Suggested Reading 263

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Book SynopsisHow to Clean a Fish describes an extended family stay in Portugal, full of food, adventure, and the search for home. Offered the opportunity to live in Costa da Caparica for an extended period, Esmeralda Cabral jumped at the chance to return to the country of her birth. Together with her Canadian-born husband, children, and Portuguese Water Dog, Maggie, Cabral makes new and nostalgic discoveries—a labyrinth of cobblestone alleys and beautiful painted tiles, a delicious bica and pastel de nata, a classic fado concert, the gentle ribbing of local fishmongers, a damaging high tide—translating words and emotions for her family along the way. Packed with local cuisine and customs, tales of language barriers and bureaucracy, and threaded with that irresistible need to connect with the culture of our birth, How to Clean a Fish is for readers curious about life in Portugal and for anyone who has moved from one place to another and is seeking their own version of home.Trade Review"These pages are as delicious as the Portuguese food the author so enthusiastically writes about. Any English speaker interested in Portugal will gladly savor Esmeralda Cabral's genuine narratives as a tasty introduction to Portuguese culture's joys, appeals, intricacies, and mysteries. She is well-versed with food, fado, the language, and even soccer, but she has to negotiate how to feel somewhat at home in the complex web of subtle Portuguese ways.” Onésimo Teotónio Almeida, Brown University"With the keen eye of a traveller, Esmeralda Cabral serves up close depictions of daily life in Costa da Caparica, including market days, pastéis de nata, and Portuguese hospitality. Told with warmth and layered with Cabral’s nuanced reflections on home, belonging, and family, How to Clean a Fish is an enticing memoir that will connect with readers." Meaghan Hackinen, author of South Away: The Pacific Coast on Two Wheels“Our easy-going and approachable narrator gives us a charming and entertaining book that is part travelogue, part memoir. Readers will find themselves cheering Esmeralda—and her family—on.” Scott Edward Anderson, author of Falling Up and Azorean Suite“Esmeralda enthusiastically embraces the opportunity to live with her family in a beautiful fishing village near Lisbon. Sharing genuine conversation with folks she meets, exploring her love of fish, and constantly translating and interpreting for her husband and children, Esmeralda’s journey is rooted in an awareness of history and culture, and in the dilemma of belonging.” Maria Manuela Vaz Marujo, Professor Emerita, University of Toronto"At times heartbreaking with loss and longing for loved ones, at other times hilarious with mishaps along the way, How to Clean a Fish is a great read." Emanuel Melo, June 5, 2023 (Full post at https://thetorzorean.com/2023/06/05/how-to-clean-a-fish-and-other-adventures-in-portugal/)"This book offers a leisurely investigation into how to be relaxed and enjoy an extended stay in Portugal.... Cabral has the knack of inviting us along on her jaunts. We are right by her shoulder as she learns, explains, remembers." Ron Robinson, Winnipeg Free Press, July 8, 2023 [Full review at https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/entertainment/books/2023/07/08/portuguese-travel-memoir-full-of-flavour]"How To Clean a Fish is an engaging and beautifully written account of an extended visit to Costa da Caparica, a municipality across the Tagus estuary from Lisbon, on Portugal’s west coast, during which the author navigates the pleasures and difficulties of living temporarily in the country of her birth. The narrative moves skilfully back and forth in time, its layers of far past, recent past, present, and possible future building momentum, summoning the evocative quality of saudade as Esmeralda Cabral remembers her family’s complicated history in Portugal and weaves the lives of her husband and children into that history. Even the family dog, Maggie, a Portuguese water dog, has a place in this history as she adjusts to the rhythms of a sojourn in an unfamiliar place. Areas of Excellence: The writing is very crisp, the details telling and precise, and the sense of place so admirably delineated that the reader is walking to the beach, recognizing the neighbourhood dogs, carrying warm bread home from the bakery, eating fresh pastel de nata with a tiny cup of coffee, riding the ferry from Costa da Caparica to Lisbon for an afternoon of shopping or a night of dinner and fado, realizing, as the book is closed, that something unexpected has happened. We’ve accompanied Cabral, the best of guides on a trip to Portugal, complete with meals of Carne de Porco à Alentejana and glasses of summery vinho verde; and we never even left home. Cabral is a warm narrator, generous in her observations, self-deprecating. I was lucky to spend some weeks in Portugal a few years ago and as I read this book, I recalled, with my own sweet moments of saudade, hearing fado in a tiny bar in Alfama, buying strawberries, runny cheese, and ham from the black pigs of the Alentejo to make a simple supper, and waking in a room in a little flat above a cobbled plaza where a few chickens pecked and a woman hung her sheets on lines strung between buildings over a narrow lane. Sometimes the best books make you remember or yearn; How to Clean a Fish did both. How To Clean a Fish is a very attractive book, demonstrating the skill of a professional designer in its cover and page design, its organization of front and back matter, and judicious choice of fonts for titles and text. It’s a book that draws the reader in, with its inviting cover, reminiscent of Portuguese tiles and mosaics, and provides a simple map to give us a sense of where Costa da Caparica is in relation to Lisbon, mainland Portugal, and the author’s birthplace on the Azores. Brief chapters set within larger sections named for the seasons of the extended visit help to orient us to the shifts in weather and so on. Production Value: The cover is bright and cheerful with a folk art feel to it. Extremely pleasant to the eye." Jury Comments, SCWES Book Awards for BC Authors"It’s a great read. Informative. Interesting. Insightful." Nicola Ross, Blog post, July 11, 2023"...there’s fado and saudade, the sad songs and the Portuguese nostalgia, the yearning for home and not knowing where that is, the sacredness of the fish you cook and eat, the tension of being the hyphen in Portuguese-Canadian." Sheldon Goldfarb, British Columbia Review of Books, August 1, 2023"On closing the book, I felt privileged to spend this time with Cabral and her family.... In How to Clean A Fish, Cabral gives us a travelogue, a taste of adventure, and a good dose of self-discovery, along with the occasional bit of chaos. She shows us that sometimes it’s best to lean into the opportunity of the unexpected, because that’s often where our best life is lived, and where we can find ourselves." Trish Talks Books, July 17, 2023 [Full post at https://www.trishtalksbooks.com/2023/07/review-how-to-clean-fish-by-esmeralda.html]“How to Clean a Fish is [...] a narrative about returning to one’s birth country and culture, and ultimately, about exploring one’s identity and grappling with a sense of belonging.” Jennifer Verma, ukings.ca, June 12, 2023 [Full article at https://ukings.ca/news/author-esmeralda-cabral-persisted-buoyed-by-her-mfa-mentors-belief/ ]“...a ‘family’ travel book…” Millicent Borges Accardi, Portuguese American Journal, May 23, 2023 [Full interview at https://portuguese-american-journal.com/author-esmeralda-cabral-on-how-to-call-two-countries-home-interview/]“Canadian-born husband, children and Portuguese water dog, Maggie…connect with the culture, seeking to make their own version of home.” CBC, May 8, 2023 [Full review at https://www.cbc.ca/books/70-works-of-canadian-nonfiction-to-check-out-in-spring-2023-1.6703900]"This charming book...reads like a series of handwritten postcards, which are always more poignant than self-indulgent Instagram posts." Literary Review of Canada, October 2023“…many new Canadians feel a disconnect between who they are, where they once lived and life in this new land. This back-and-forth between place, identity and the feeling of saudade—a Portuguese term encapsulating sentiments of longing and nostalgia—forms the heart of Esmeralda Cabral’s memoir How to Clean a Fish.” Elizabeth Chorney-Booth, Alberta Views, December 2023#3 on Calgary Non-fiction Bestsellers list for November 23, 2023Table of ContentsA Word about Saudade Map INVERNO (WINTER) A Harrowing Ride How Did We Get Here? Passport Woes and Flight Plans Around Town The First Big Storm Portuguese Hospitality A Rainy Day in Lisbon Planning to Run Winter Market Days Ashes to Ashes Belonging A Phone Call from Canada PRIMAVERA (SPRING) The Lisbon Mini-Marathon Tracking The Passport Lost in Alfama Fado Concert 25th of April Reflections on Duality Our Guests Matt’s Arrival A Weekend in Aldeia Haircut World Cup Friendly Border Services 1 Spring Market Days VERÃO (SUMMER) A Dog’s Life Border Services 2 Summer Market Days An Inheritance of Loss Fado Bar Sardine Season Adeus Costa da Caparica A Vacation in the North Good-bye Lisbon Back in Vancouver Recipes Further Reading Acknowledgements

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Book SynopsisThis book is the essential companion for anyone exploring the new Fife Pilgrim Way, whether on foot, by car or bicycle or simply as an armchair traveller. Packed with history, vivid anecdote and nearly 100 colour illustrations, it brings to life the fascinating communities and the characters along the route in whose footsteps modern pilgrims are treading. Setting off with Celtic saints and St Margaret from Culross and North Queensferry, marching with miners through the West Fife coalfields, carrying on with Covenanters and Communists, and ending among the martyrs, relics and ghosts of the haunted city of St Andrews, this gripping narrative presents a journey through Scottish history, ancient and modern, with spiritual reflections along the way. Trade Review'Not a walking guide but an ideal illustrated companion to the rich historical background of the area, ancient and modern. An excellent introduction to a wide landscape of Scottish Christian and social history' * Church Times *'An excellent guide to the Fife Pilgrim way, captures the fascinating history…in a light and almost chatty tone which makes it enjoyable to read and understand. We thoroughly recommend it to anyone thinking of walking the route' * WalkFife *'In this essential companion, Ian Bradley brings to life, in great detail, the rich history of the religious buildings and communities encountered along the way. Well-researched, the book is not a walking guide, but an in-depth insight into the lives of the pilgrims in whose steps walkers follow. For those attempting the entire 64-mile route or merely dipping into a section at a time, this read will be an enlightening precursor to a trip or perfect for post excursion reading' * Scottish Field *

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Book SynopsisA New Statesman Book of the Year, 2021 ‘Follow Iain Sinclair into the cloud jungles of Peru and emerge questioning all that seemed so solid and immutable.’ Barry Miles From the award-winning author of The Last London and Lights Out for the Territory, a journey in the footsteps of our ancestors. Iain Sinclair and his daughter travel through Peru, guided by – and in reaction to – an ill-fated colonial expedition led by his great-grandfather. The family history of a displaced Scottish highlander fades into the brutal reality of a major land grab. The historic thirst for gold and the establishment of sprawling coffee plantations leave terrible wounds on virgin territory. In Sinclair’s haunting prose, no place escapes its past, and nor can we. ‘The Gold Machine is a trip, a psychoactive expedition in compelling company.’ TLSTrade Review‘Follow Iain Sinclair into the cloud jungles of Peru and emerge questioning all that seemed so solid and immutable. The Gold Machine made me angry, sad, envious of Sinclair’s beautiful, evocative prose and grateful that I did not have to endure a soroche headache to gain a new understanding of colonial attitudes and the damage we have done.’ -- Barry Miles‘A glorious achievement, by turns drily humorous and darkly atmospheric.’ -- Ian Thomson, FT‘The Gold Machine is an intense negotiation with [Sinclair’s] ancestor… the driest of wit… Sinclair is incapable of writing a dull sentence, and his style in many ways reflects the hallucinatory nature of the tropics. I cannot think of many authors who can combine “sordid pilgrimage”, “manufactured myths” and “Jungian misdirection” in a single paragraph… The classic tropes of Sinclair’s work are all here, although transposed onto the Peruvian backdrop… The Gold Machine is a form of alchemy, and Sinclair is a wry sorcerer throughout.’ -- The Spectator‘The journey is richly imaginative, Sinclair’s mind sparkling with connections… The Gold Machine is a trip, a psychoactive expedition in compelling company. We finish it reeling slightly, and feeling grateful to have undertaken this journey without having to leave home.’ -- Miranda France, TLS‘Impeccably researched’ -- The New Yorker‘Other than Peter Ackroyd, nobody knows London better than Sinclair. Here, five decades into a distinguished writing career, he ventures farther afield, traveling to Peru on the trail of a Scottish ancestor who sought his fortune in coffee… Fans of travel literature will prize this shimmering account of a journey into the past.’ -- Kirkus, starred review‘In this magnificent book, Iain Sinclair and his daughter follow their culpable, intrepid ancestor into Peru, towards a coffee-black heart of colonial darkness. Of course the old man is looking for gold, and finding it, on every page, in every line. A sultry masterpiece.’ -- Alan Moore‘Marshalling his exceptional skills of social observation and narrative, Britain’s finest modern essayist Iain Sinclair strikes south in The Gold Machine… he conducts an elegiac dialogue between generations and sinks into the deep past.’ -- New Statesman, Books of the Year, 2021‘Sinclair’s discursive, intensely literate prose knits together time and place.’ -- Washington Post, Best travel books of 2021‘Swapping London for Lima, Hackney for Huancayo, in an unexpected departure from more familiar territory, The Gold Machine tracks a feverish descent into the darkness of Peru’s colonial past, as Sinclair follows in the footsteps of his nineteenth-century forbear. Written with his customary linguistic flair, this is a vivid and revealing addition to a unique body of work.’ -- Merlin Coverley, author of Psychogeography‘Excavator, outlier, alchemist. Sinclair’s formidable gaze turns backwards, forwards and touchingly inwards. A father–daughter pilgrimage to the rapids and along the bloodline: panning for salt, coffee, gold, misdeeds, consequences, presence, absence, family…and self. Disarmingly tender, generous and brimming. A book of wonder (noun and verb), from first word to last I was agog.’ -- Keggie Carew, author of Dadland‘Like Fitzcarraldo carrying a boat over mountains to fabulous worlds, Sinclair backpacks all the known legends, skeletons and lies, to tightrope a lurching dazzling bridge between generations. His, ours and those to come. Splendid in corruption. Wealthy in shock. This is the invaders' New Testament. Jamming gold coins in our eyes for lenses, leaving nothing to pay the boatman, because after this reads you, there is no place to go. A masterpiece.’ -- B. Catling, author of The Vorrh Trilogy‘Sinclair is the laureate of the peripatetic and The Gold Machine is his Heart of Darkness. It is the brilliantly written narrative of a long, dark journey into his own familial past. The magic begins on page 1 and continues to its end.’ -- Duncan Wu, Raymond A. Wagner Professor of Literature, Georgetown University‘Iain Sinclair remains the reigning ambassador from the kingdom of books, a fifty-year argument for the practice and legitimacy of writing. The Gold Machine extends the argument. Sinclair and his daughter travel to Peru and re-create the colonial expedition of his great-grandfather, pathways laid out in the forgotten ancestor’s published works. This is what the template has always been, will always be. Find an old book, absorb its secret message, go outside and destroy yourself in its service. Brilliant.’ -- Jarett Kobek, author of I Hate the Internet‘This is some of the best prose Sinclair has ever written – its poetic playfulness always in energetic tandem with razor-sharp observation. The book also transcends the genres you throw at it. It is a post-colonial essay haunted, if not deeply disturbed, by what the complex literary spirits of Conrad, Poe, Burroughs, Ginsberg and Ed Dorn bring to the party, a peripatetic séance in Amazonia often rudely interrupted by reality. This is an enthralling read.’ -- Paul Tickell, film-maker and journalist‘Ceylon, Australia and Peru, as well as Dundee, Maesteg and, of course, Hackney too. The Gold Machine thrusts a sharp and revealing probe into the not always leafy heartlands of Britain’s imperial past. Perfect reading for anyone keen to understand how this history continues to weigh on the present, and a prophetic last word for those Brexit-crazed champions of “unwoke” England who refuse to accept that it is over.’ -- Patrick Wright, Professor (emeritus) of Literature, History and Politics, King’s College London‘This book is further proof that, when he leaves London, Iain Sinclair’s gifts of observation expand to suit his subject. In The Gold Machine he follows the psychic and physical resonances of a visionary ancestor through the personal origin myth he has explored in poetry and prose all his life. Marshalling his exceptional skills of social observation and narrative, Britain’s finest modern essayist strides South. Travelling with his daughter Farne he conducts an elegiac dialogue between generations and sinks into the deep past, making profound associations, travelling back and forth in time through a rapidly changing Peru on the trail of the mysterious Arthur Sinclair.’ -- Michael Moorcock‘The physical journey begins in Lima; the intellectual voyage, as Sinclair devotees might guess, is serpentine… Prospective readers may wonder how this avowed Londoner gets on outside the M25. The answer is that he fares well… Sinclair fulfils his “unspoken obligation” to go to the Amazon with honesty and nerve… he has drawn attention to a predatory past that Britain has long forgotten.’ -- Literary Review‘Sinclair uses his passion for psychogeography to tell the story of what has happened in the years since the Peruvian Corporation left the Ashaninka people, how monetization exploited generational farming practices and left them in ruins… a thrilling ride.’ * Booklist *‘Sinclair’s observations are sharp and vital… [The Gold Machine] stands in the long line of travel books where it is the journey, rather than its inspiration, that proves to be compelling.’ * Geographical Magazine *‘This book follows the eye-opening journey of the author and his daughter through Peru. It deftly contrasts the country’s eco-tourism industry of today with the colonial incursions of his great-grandfather – a displaced Highlander – and his thirst for gold.’ -- Scots Magazine‘Sinclair walks every inch of his wonderful psychogeographies, pacing out huge word-courses like an architect laying out a city on an empty plain.’ -- J.G. Ballard‘Sentence for sentence, there is no more interesting writer at work in English.’ -- John Lanchester

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Book SynopsisWhat does it mean to be an explorer in the twenty-first century? Explorer is the story of what first led Benedict Allen to head for the farthest reaches of our planet - at a time when there were still valleys and ranges known only to the remote communities who inhabited them. It is also the story of why, thirty years later, he is still exploring. It's the story of a journey back to a clouded mountain in New Guinea to find a man called Korsai who had once been a friend, and to fulfil a promise made as young men. It is also a story of what it is to be 'lost' and 'found'. Honest, sensitive and packed with insight, in Explorer Allen considers the lessons he has learnt from his numerous expeditions - most importantly, from the communities he has encountered and that he has spent so much of his life immersed in. 'To me personally, exploration isn't about planting flags, conquering Nature, or going somewhere in order to make a mark - it's about the opposite. It's about opening yourself up, allowing yourself to be vulnerable, and letting the place and people make their mark on you.'Trade ReviewA nuanced and sensitive long conversation with the people of Papua New Guinea. . . [Allen] is a sensitive observer . . . [he] has an ear for dialogue and the inconsequential, and a gift for bringing alive the characters he meets * * The Times * *A remarkable journey unfolds . . . [Allen] writes clean, honest prose, creating startling images of all he sees . . . an extraordinary story, painfully assembled and beautifully told * * Spectator * *A love song to the Yaifo and all peoples struggling to maintain dignity and culture in a world gone wrong * * Daily Telegraph * *Honest, sensitive and gives a brilliant look at a world most of us just dream about * * Our Man On The Ground Travel * *Brilliant. Reads like a thriller -- MARCUS du SAUTOY

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Book SynopsisAfter nearly a decade of dutifully climbing the corporate ladder to become a partner in a headhunting firm, Lucy Leonelli was feeling restless in a life that was seemingly mapped out for her, and she could not shake the sense that she was missing out on something… something out there.Realising that the answer was right in front of her – in a country so full of clandestine communities and colourful, eccentric characters – Lucy made the daring decision to hit the pause button on her career and hang up her suit in favour of a year exploring twenty-six wildly different subcultures.Over the next twelve months, she lived with battle re-enactors, circus performers, hill baggers, Morris dancers, naturists, trainspotters, yogis, zeitgeist political activists and more, experiencing first-hand their social rituals and customs in the hope that, somewhere along the way, she might just uncover the most authentic version of herself. A Year in the Life charts Lucy’s adventure as she sang naked karaoke with naturists, jumped from one very high place to another with parkour daredevils, partied in tight latex with self-proclaimed vampires and fought the undead in an epic LARP battle. It tells of the importance of community in an increasingly isolating society; of the unquenchable human thirst for a sense of belonging; of how misguided our own prejudices can be; and of how when we open the door to others, we might just learn something about ourselves.

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Book SynopsisField Notes is the record of a territory in full colour: a book of words and artworks that capture a year spent on foot in the Lincolnshire landscape.It is about topography and time. Chalk and flint and marsh. The coming and going of the sea, Neolithic farmers and the razzle-dazzle of weary coastal towns. It is as much about the ghost of a mammoth as it is the scream of a jet fighter, heading east. Each image is a still from a film – a film that is under constant production inside Maxim Peter Griffin’s skull.Griffin’s art is about taking somewhere and looking at it over and over so that with each looking it becomes strange and new. As well as being a testament to the isolated beauty of Lincolnshire itself, Field Notes is an extraordinary account of what it is like to be present in, to fully inhabit, a place.

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Book SynopsisOn the first morning of Rome's Covid-19 lockdown Matthew Kneale felt an urge to connect with friends and acquaintances and began writing an email, describing where he was, what was happening and what it felt like, and sent it to everyone he could think of. He was soon composing daily reports as he tried to comprehend a period of time, when everyone's lives suddenly changed and Italy struggled against an epidemic, that was so strange, so troubling and so fascinating that he found it impossible to think about anything else. Having lived in Rome for eighteen years, Matthew has grown to know the capital and its citizens well and this collection of brilliant diary pieces connects what he has learned about the city with this extraordinary, anxious moment, revealing the Romans through the intense prism of the coronavirus crisis.Trade ReviewThe novelist Matthew Kneale has lived in Rome for 18 years and his response to the news of Italy's first Covid lockdown was to unburden himself by writing a long email to family, friends and even people he'd lost touch with years ago... Collected here, his wry and questioning meanderings lace an ordeal with charm. * New Statesman *Fascinating... It's a book to delight anyone with an interest in European culture. * NB Magazine *Joie de vivre radiates from every page. * Strong Words Magazine *

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Book SynopsisNewly retired baby zoomers Irene Butler and her husband Rck immerse themselves in the cultures across four continents for the same cost as being couch potatoes.

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Book SynopsisFrom skilled weekend warriors to internationally recognized stars of the professional adventure game, Lynn Martel has interviewed dozens of the most dynamic, creative and accomplished self-propelled adventurers of our time. In Expedition to the Edge: Stories of Worldwide Adventure, Martel has assembled 59 compelling and entertaining stories that uniquely capture the exploits, the hardships, the fears and the personal insights of a virtual who''s who of contemporary adventurers as they explore remote mountain landscapes from the Rockies to Pakistan to Antarctica. Through candid and revealing conversations, Martel captures the joys, the motivations and the revelations of top climbers Sonnie Trotter, Sean Isaac, Raphael Slawinski and Steph Davis; Himalayan alpinists Carlos Buhler, Marko Prezelj and Barry Blanchard; record-setting paraglider Will Gadd; Everest skier Kit Deslauriers; the conservationist duo Karsten Heuer and Leanne Allison as they follow a caribou herd for five months on foot across the Yukon; and Colin Angus on his two-year quest to become the first person to circumnavigate the world by human power.

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Book SynopsisSoon after completing the first continuous round of the Munros and publishing th ephenomenally successful Hamish's Mountain Walk, Hamish Brown took to the outdoors and writing full time. With his famous Shetland Collie, Storm, he walked from John O'Groats to Lands End over the summer of 1979. A historical snapshot the resulting book is also an in depth look at these islands. Hamish took his time to meet people and to search out the soul of Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland. The result is the classic Hamish's Groats End Walk.

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Book SynopsisThere's never been a better time to live on this planet London - the Jolly Pilgrim sets off on a bicycle ride to Istanbul, planning a rendezvous with the girl he wants to marry. Eighteen months later and halfway around the world, following hospitalisations, financial meltdown, torment and heartbreak, he goes to live as a hermit in South America, to explore a bunch of ideas about humanity's place in the universe. He swims the Bosporus and works in a drag club, hitchhikes across Australia and dances salsa in an Ecuadorian prison, experiences rapture and revelation amidst talismanic historical and religious sites, endures love, voyeurism, bees, ants, sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll and in response, conceives a message of hope for civilisation. Part adventure story, part reflection on the state of our species, this profoundly uplifting, real-life odyssey ends with a call-to-arms for the human race to be more honest about itself. It's time to think bigger Welcome to enlightenment 2.0Trade Review'Funny and exciting, giving a real feel of how scary it was at times. A mixture of your being so small in the grandness of things and yet the unlimited potential of each individual human being. I love it!' -- Jane Isles, Occupational Therapist, Suffolk'Thank you so much for sending this, I have shed a few tears and am quite moved. I sat out on my veranda with a pint of beer and read it all the way through - I am impressed; highly engaging, thoughtful, philosophical, funny and incredibly true to form.' -- Kerry Swift, Publicist, MelbourneTable of ContentsA Primer Part 1 The Bicycle Ride Part 2 Metropolis Part 3 Asian Fluctuations Part 4 Down Under Part 5 Hindustan Part 6 The Boiling Pot Part 7 Magical Mystery Tour Part 8 On Bread Loaf Mountain Part 9 Global Deconstruction Part 10 Pilgrim Unplugged Afterword Appendices Bibliography Acknowledgements About the author

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Book SynopsisFinalist for the Book Design Award at the 2018 Alberta Book Publishing Awards!Robert Pepper-Smith''s trilogy of novels chronicling the lives of those with deep roots in the orchard lands of British Columbia comes full circle with this volume, collecting newly revised editions of The Wheel Keeper and House of Spells with Sanctuary.The Wheel Keeper introduced readers to Michael Guzzo, raised in one of the many immigrant families who flocked to the vineyards and orchards of the Kootenays. When the government plans to flood his village for a hydroelectric project, young Michael seeks escape with his rebellious cousin Maren, who is experiencing her own story of displacement.In House of Spells, Rose and Lacey are two teenagers from the region who share a vital connection to Michael. When Rose becomes pregnant, the wealthy Mr Giacomo offers to raise the child, but can this mysterious benefactor be trusted? Or is there something sinister going on behind the local entrepreneur''s offer?Finally, in the never-before-published Sanctuary, the stories of Michael, Rose and Lacey merge after Lacey goes in search of Michael in Central America. These two seekers, estranged from their homeland, must face down the forces of industry and politics that threaten their life-sustaining connections to land, identity and memory.

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Book SynopsisWalter B. Cheadle''s diary tells his incredible story of travelling with Lord Milton, as they journeyed along the uncharted Yellowhead route in 1862-63. A miraculously successful expedition, the men traversed the continent, making their way from Quebec, through Saskatchewan, Alberta, up the Athabasca River, risking their lives opening the trails through the Canadian Rockies, and eventually arriving in Victoria, British Columbia, in 1863. Cheadle''s candid and gritty but also humorous account tells, in intimate detail, what life and travel was like in the Northwest and BC during the latter days of the fur-trade era. He acknowledges the heavy debt owed by all the early explorers to the Plains Indians, who passed on to the first white men their sophistication in the ways of the wilderness. He also records the gradual demoralization of the Native people under the impact of European culture. A welcome addition to the Classics West series, Cheadle''s Journal is a rare and important document of a remarkable life and time.

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Book SynopsisLike young people today, Dave Quinton yearned to explore the world after finishing his university studies. In 1960, four years before becoming host of CBCs Land & Sea, Dave his friend Bob hatched a plan: steam across the Atlantic, then hike, hitchhike, and cycle across Europe for as long as their money would hold out. Little did Dave know that his travels would take him within the gates of Buckingham Palace, where he would to meet members of Britains royal family.

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Book SynopsisThe region of Bundelkhand in India faces enormous challenges in development. With a population of 18 million people, it has one of the lowest human development indices in India. Groundwater, which the vast majority of people rely on for domestic and agricultural purposes, is being rapidly depleted, while droughts have become more frequent and severe. In Along the Betwa, Shail Joshi and Radhika Singh, in partnership with Veditum Foundation and Out of Eden (National Geographic), embark on river walk through Bundelkhand. By living with families and visiting villages across the region, the authors learn about the complex interplay of factors that have shaped the region to make it what it is today. During their walk, the authors speak with men, women, and children that are employed in a range of sectors - agriculture, herding, fishing, and even sand mining - to understand how the degradation of natural resources has affected their livelihoods. They also learn about the impacts of climate change, which has led to more variable rainfalls and disasters of higher intensities, and how it has exacerbated factors such as debt, inequality and migration. Government interventions in the region are the subject of much controversy, and the authors play close attention to the complexity and range of opinions on health, education, livelihoods, and religion and the role people believe the public sector should play. In Along the Betwa, the authors shed light on the experiences, fears, opinions, and hopes of people living in Bundelkhand. They bring together photography, interviews, and research to weave a narrative that contributes to a better understanding of the region. Throughout the book, the authors are careful to address their own positionality. Rather than presenting an “objective” account of the region, the authors are explicit about their own background, beliefs and feelings. By doing so, Radhika Singh and Shail Joshi present an honest and insightful look into the situation in Bundelkhand and hope that it will help inform the conversation of development in India.

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Book SynopsisTwo best friends leave their comfortable and sheltered life in small-town British Columbia to explore the world together. Short on cash but high on youthful hubris, they make their way through Europe, then to North Africa, then further on to the Middle East, and finally back home through Europe once more on two dollars a day. Meet Me in Cairo offers a rare first-hand account of world historical moments, such as post-independence Algeria, pre-1967 War Jerusalem, and a divided Berlin, by two ragtag hitchhikers on the journey of a lifetime.

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Book SynopsisThe Mediterranean and the Balearic Islands have always enticed the minds of British travellers. In the first years of the twentieth century, the tourist industry made the islands accessible for a wide number of visitors, who depicted them in pictures and words. In the following decades, however, the image of the islands shifted and developed considerably from a quiet and pastoral winter resort to a popular destination for pleasure-seeking tourists and "sea ‘n’ sun" tourism. Taking these last representations as a starting point, this book travels back in time to explain how, by whom and why these images were created/shifted/developed to articulate the ultimate place of leisure and pleasure signified in today’s Majorca and Ibiza. The depiction and the evolution of topics such as ‘travel’, ‘tourism’, ‘authenticity’, ‘landscape’, ‘South’, ‘North’, ‘margin’, ‘centre’, ‘exoticism’, ‘people’, ‘costumes’ and ‘customs’ are examined in order to establish their contribution to the formulation of the ‘Balearic paradise’ in the first third of the twentieth century. This book will help the reader to understand the imagery associated with the islands today.Table of ContentsTravel Writing in the South: On the Production of Other Places – Travellers and Tourists: Lost Tracks, Roads and Beaten Paths – Dreamed Landscapes and Real Playgrounds – People, Customs and Costumes

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Book SynopsisWhat does it mean for Black diasporic writers to travel to Africa? Focusing on the period between the 1990s and 2010s, Isabel Kalous examines autobiographical narratives of travel to Africa by African American and Black British authors. She places the texts within the long tradition of Black diasporic engagement with the continent, scrutinizes the significance of Black mobility, and demonstrates that travel writing serves as a means to negotiate questions of identity, belonging, history, and cultural memory. To provide a framework for the analyses of contemporary narratives, her study outlines the emergence, development, and key characteristics of the multifaceted genre of Black travel writing. Authors discussed include, among others, Saidiya Hartman, Barack Obama, and Caryl Phillips.Table of ContentsIntroduction; Traveling Black: Traveling Back; An Invisible/Kaleidoscopic Genre: Black Travel Writing; Contemporary Black Travel Narratives; Conclusion: Ambiguous Arrivals; Bibliography.

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Book SynopsisText in English & German. The "other Italy", that is the rural Italy, far from the bustle of the cities. It is the Italy of the Apennines, its natural scenery, its remote villages, churches and religious communities, its farmers, charcoal burners, shepherds and fishermen -- even if these old professions are now dwindling away. The author has travelled hundreds of kilometres through this rural Italy on foot, and travelled thousands of kilometres through it by car. Although he was acting in a professional capacity as a geologist, his interests went beyond this wonderful country's geology to embrace everything it had to offer. In the year 1959, he embarked on ten years working in Liguria (north of Genoa) and twenty years in Calabria, on the toe of the Italian "boot", on the flank of the Aspromonte facing the Ionic Sea. Further visits to both areas up to the present day have contributed to his fifty-year relationship with Italy, and a body of Italian experiences which was simply begging to be set down with accompanying pictures. Eight stories tell of the land and the people, of the wild landscape of Calabria and its Mafia, of rural festivals, Christmas customs, Italian food, abandoned farms -- and of "Nonno", a grand-father. A wealth of photographs, mainly in colour, join with the stories in encouraging the reader to forsake bathing holidays and art tourism and take a trip to a near and yet distant land.

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Book SynopsisWilliam Dalrymple, a respected historian and writer, provides a unique view of Indian history and travel literature, debunking Western myths through a mix of personal anecdotes and historical research. His engaging style, combining humor, information, and storytelling, has earned him international acclaim as a top travel writer.

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Book SynopsisOriginally published in 1891. This volume from the Cornell University Library's print collections was scanned on an APT BookScan and converted to JPG 2000 format by Kirtas Technologies. All titles scanned cover to cover and pages may include marks notations and other marginalia present in the original volume.

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