Travel writing Books

Book SynopsisIn the new Russia, even dictatorship is a reality show. Professional killers with the souls of artists, would-be theater directors turned Kremlin puppet-masters, suicidal supermodels, Hell's Angels who hallucinate themselves as holy warriors, and oligarch revolutionaries: welcome to the glittering, surreal heart of twenty-first-century Russia. It is a world erupting with new money and new power, changing so fast it breaks all sense of reality, home to a form of dictatorship--far subtler than twentieth-century strains--that is rapidly rising to challenge the West. When British producer Peter Pomerantsev plunges into the booming Russian TV industry, he gains access to every nook and corrupt cranny of the country. He is brought to smoky rooms for meetings with propaganda gurus running the nerve-center of the Russian media machine, and visits Siberian mafia-towns and the salons of the international super-rich in London and the US. As the Putin regime becomes more aggressive, Pomerantsev finds himself drawn further into the system. Dazzling yet piercingly insightful, Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible is an unforgettable voyage into a country spinning from decadence into madness.Trade ReviewShortlisted for the 2015 Guardian First Book Award Longlisted for the 2015 Samuel Johnson Prize An Amazon.com Best Book of the Month, November 2014 "Captivating...keen observations."--New York Times Book Review "Sparkling collection of essays."--Wall Street Journal "Enthralling... his exquisite rendering of mind-control techniques is chilling."--Times Literary Supplement "This is a gripping and unsettling account of life in grim post-Soviet Russia."--Washington Post "Brilliant collection of sketches...powerful, moving and sometimes hilarious."--Washington Times "Hauntingly perceptive and beautifully written."--New Statesman [UK] "A patchwork tapestry that leaves you shaking your head in disbelief."--The Guardian "[A] tale of descending into and eventually emerging from Moscow's hallucinogenic reality."--Foreign Affairs "[A] riveting, urgent book ... Pomerantsev is one of the most perceptive, imaginative and entertaining commentators writing on Russia today and, much like the country itself, his first book is seductive and terrifying in equal measure." --The Times (UK) "A scintillating take on a twisted reality."--Prospect Magazine "Everything you know about Russia is wrong, according to this eye-opening, mind-bending memoir of a TV producer caught between two cultures... the stylish rendering of the Russian culture, which both attracts and appalls the author, will keep the reader captivated."--Kirkus, STARRED "Sometimes horrifying but always compelling, this book exposes the bizarre reality hiding beneath the facade of a 'youthful, bouncy, glossy country.'"--Publishers Weekly "It is hard to think of another work that better describes today's Russia; Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible may very well be the defining book about the Putin era. This might seem like excessive praise for a relatively short, non-academic memoir by a reality-TV producer now living in London, but it is justified by the author's gimlet eye and reportorial skill."--Commentary Magazine "A brilliant, entertaining, and ultimately tragic book about not only Russia, but the West."--Tablet Magazine, "This is the strangest book of note I have ever read... a dark and grotesque comedy of manners... His reporter's straightforward and unlimited curiosity, his willingness to plow and harrow the widest fields for facts, and his exacting descriptive details give him credibility. Plus, what he tells us is so incredible." --World Affairs Journal "A riveting portrait of the new Russia with all its corruption, willful power and spasms of unforgettable, poetic glamor. I couldn't put it down."--Tina Brown "Peter Pomeranzev, one of the most brilliant observers of Putin's Russia, describes a country obsessed with illusion and glamor, but with a dangerous, amoral core beneath the surface. Nothing is True and Everything is Possible is an electrifying, terrifying book."--Anne Applebaum, author of Gulag and Iron Curtain, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Nonfiction

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Book SynopsisThis collection of eloquent essays that examine the relationship between the American landscape and the national character serves to remind us that despite our differences we all belong to the same land (Publishers Weekly).“How was it possible, I wondered, that all of this American land--in every direction--could be fastened together into a whole?”What does it mean when a nation accustomed to moving begins to settle down, when political discord threatens unity, and when technology disrupts traditional ways of building communities? Is a shared soil enough to reinvigorate a national spirit?From the embaattled newsrooms of small town newspapers to the pornography film sets of the Los Angeles basin, from the check-out lanes of Dollar General to the holy sites of Mormonism, from the nation’s highest peaks to the razed remains of a cherished home, like a latter-day Woody Guthrie, Tom Zoellner takes to the highways and byways of a vast land in search of the soul of its people.By turns nostalgic and probing, incisive and enraged, Zoellner’s reflections reveal a nation divided by faith, politics, and shifting economies, but--more importantly--one united by a shared sense of ownership in the common land.

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Book SynopsisSince leaving home for Europe alone at age seventeen, Karen Gershowitz has traveled to more than ninety countries.In pursuit of her passion for travel, she lost and gained friends and lovers and made a radical career change. She learned courage and risk taking and succeeded at things she didn’t think she could do: She climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro. She visited remote areas of Indonesia on her own and became a translator, though only fluent in English. She conquered her fear of falling while on an elephant trek in Thailand. And she made friends across the globe, including a Japanese family who taught her to make sushi and a West Berliner who gave her an insider’s look at the city shortly after the wall came down.An example that will inspire armchair travelers to become explorers and embolden everyone to be more courageous, Travel Mania is a vivid story of how one woman found her strength, power, and passion.Travel is Karen’s addiction—and she doesn’t want treatment.Trade Review“The book reflects the author’s love of globe-trotting adventure and describes how she built her whole life around it by getting a job in which she effectively got paid to travel. Her recollections take readers to many places around the world, from Southeast Asia to the Galápagos Islands to the American West, as she trekked for business and pleasure. These stories are also, in some ways, about the passage of time, reflecting on how travel has changed, for better and worse, over the decades.” —Kirkus Reviews “Travel Mania is a godsend. It’s the perfect way to imagine I’m a seasoned traveler, without having to leave the comfort of my living room couch. Gershowitz who responds to the suggestion ‘let's go’ by packing her bags, hasn’t quite turned me into a travel junkie, but she has hooked me on reading about a woman who just can't sit still.” —Charles Salzberg, two-time Shamus Award nominee and author of Second Story Man “I loved the vignettes of Gershowitz’s life in far-flung places: Cairo, Singapore, a rodeo in Wyoming, climbing Kilimanjaro, on an elephant in Thailand. I was there with her, as she struggled with misadventures, found unexpected friends, or tested herself in places so utterly foreign that she needed to find something new within her to survive and thrive. That’s what I valued most of all about this book: Gershowitz is a wonderful companion and excellent storyteller. Travel Mania will help you appreciate how traveling the world is one of the best ways to find out who you really are.” —Sergio Troncoso, author of A Peculiar Kind of Immigrant’s Son and Nobody’s Pilgrims “Prepare to be swept around the world in the capable and enthusiastic company of KG. You will climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, ‘poli-poli’, eat the famous-for-its-revolting-smell durian in Malaysia, trek through a scirocco in the Sahara, watch bribes being passed on Moscow sidewalks, ride a felucca on the Nile, and spend New Year’s Eve in Saigon. Wherever she goes, Karen is an astute observer and willing experimenter. You are in for a treat.” —Christine Lehner, author of What to Wear to See the Pope and Absent a Miracle “No ‘guided’ tour here. The only fitting description is: page-turner. Karen gives us wondrous—whether white-knuckled or resplendent—nuggets. Her own growth as a global citizen winds through the decades and essays and leaves me wishing I might have trailed along at least a few times. I’m already looking forward to dipping in repeatedly, and without booking a single flight.” —Carolyn Lieberg, author of West with Hopeless and Calling the Midwest Home “Karen Gershowitz suffers from the only traveler’s disease that’s fun to have and be around: the compulsion toward travel itself. This book is full of terrific stories, revealing with richness and particularity not just places and people, but the traveler herself—complicated and often conflicted, comforted by certain traveling companions and people met on the road, driven to distraction by others, but never daunted, never able to resist the pull of another journey. This book was a delight to me during these times of shutdown and is an inspiration for the times to come.” —Lon Otto, author of A Nest of Hooks, Cover Me, and A Man in Trouble “Alone or in the company of others, Gershowitz navigates the world with an open heart and a sense of adventure. This collection covers impressive ground, and whether she’s rocking out with Moroccans to the Blind Boys of Alabama, struggling up the slopes of Kilimanjaro, or doing business in Asia, her sharp eye brings the wonders of the world in focus.” —Marilyn Johnson, author of Lives in Ruins and This Book Is Overdue! “A witty, insightful romp through a lifetime of travel that reads like a sit-down with a friend. You’ll want to curl up and greedily gulp down Travel Mania in a single sitting—then read it again and feel like you are catching up with a dear old friend. If you like your wisdom laced with humor, look no further than this collection of tales from a traveler who has visited over ninety countries.” —Amanda Burgess, Editor, JourneyWoman Magazine “As a travel-industry professional, I’ve watched the world shrink as access has grown. Gershowitz’s lovely travel memoir is a look back at a time when faraway places really were far away, distant cultures were very different, single women travelling alone were an unusual sight, and travelers with open hearts had extraordinary experiences. Travel Mania made me appreciate current travel opportunities even more.” —Sue Shapiro, former President of NY Skal, former President and CEO of GIANTS consortium “Buckle up! Travel Mania is pure adventure and passion, circling and crisscrossing our exotic globe, ever eager for the next horizon. From those pre safety-belt days in the back seat of a DeSoto to the uncertain risks of traveling during our present-day pandemic, each leg of Karen Gershowitz’ life-long voyage is fueled with insights and intimacy, humor and poignancy. This is no mere itinerary or travelogue, but an inside passage.” —Marc Nieson, author of Schoolhouse: Lessons on Love & Landscape “The author's depictions of exotic, international locations and experiences are spot-on! Reading Travel Mania really made me feel like I was right back in these destinations that I too have visited. It's a very fun read with a great message. Anyone reading will certainly get in touch with their adventurous side and be inspired to see the world for themselves!” —Dr. Evan Antin, author of World Wild Vetand host of Animal Planet’s “Evan Goes Wild” “Karen Gershowitz is to be applauded for her sheer verve, which is on delightful display in this rollicking travelogue: Travel Mania. From the beginning one senses that Gershowitz is experiencing a kind of undeniable, enthralling need—the near-manic need to go somewhere else then somewhere else again. We—as safer, armchair travelers—get the unexpected benefits of that addiction, learning so much more than if we had just stayed home.” —Tim Bascom, author of Chameleon Days and Running to the Fire

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