Recommendations from the September 9, 2008 meeting, compiled by Nancy Bent, La Grange Public Library

Travel literature is travel writing considered to have value as literature.  In direct contrast to the objectively-written travel guidebooks (in which the main focus is to inform the reader about hotels, restaurants, and points of interest in a given locale), travel literature has a coherent narrative and is often written subjectively, as though the author were writing fiction.  The author’s skill at describing unfamiliar or exotic locales, compelling “fish out of water” experiences, and character detail (both of the author and of the colorful locals that s/he interacts with) are part of the narrative appeal of this genre.

Bryson, Bill. In a Sunburned Country, 2000.

Humorist Bryson travels around Australia, finding that it’s an odd place, rather underestimated, sparsely populated by very friendly people. Everything’s far apart, but there’s some gorgeous scenery, interesting history, and lots of deadly wildlife. Also, it can get rather hot.
Audience:  adult and YA

Brenda O’Brien, Woodridge Public Library

Bryson, Bill.  Notes from a Small Island.  1995
Though born in Iowa, Bill Bryson had spent the past twenty years living in England.  Before returning to America in order to give his children the experience of living in the U. S., he traveled around Great Britain to get a last look at the country that had been his home for so long.  In a snarky but fond narrative, Bryson makes fun of overly-hyped tourist attractions such as “light shows” consisting of Christmas bulbs, but also shares pleasant discoveries like well-run inns and charming village cathedrals.  Whether relating his amusement over British place names or lamenting the decline of resort communities such as Brighton and Blackpool, he is amusing and informative and leaves readers with a desire to visit England themselves.
Audience:  adult 

Debbie Darwine, La Grange Public Library

Darlington, Terry. Narrow Dog to Carcassonne, 2008.

To enjoy their retirement, Terry & Monica Darlington and their whippet Jim take their narrow boat to Carcassonne in southwest France. They travel Wales through England, across the English Channel and through Belgium and France. Terry describes the journey frankly; the couple argues at tense times, gets scared on rough water, the dog gets all of the attention, and the rivers, canals and scenery vary greatly, as does the wine. Monica was a French teacher and communicates with the lock keepers, while Terry mostly steers the boat, and is attempts boat maintenance. Very entertaining.
Audience:  adult

Brenda O’Brien, Woodridge Public Library

Eames, Andrew.  The 8:55 to Baghdad, 2005.

After hearing a comment about Agatha Christie having been in Aleppo, Syria, the author researches Christie and uncovers her other life as partner to her archaeologist husband on the his Middle Eastern digs.  Eames retraces Christie's first journey to the Middle East on the Orient and Taurus Expresses.  The book is full of Christie lore, history of the regions the author transverses, interesting characters, and the complications of modern day train travel.

Debbie Wordinger, Indian Prairie Public Library

Evans, Polly.  It’s Not About the Tapas: A Spanish Adventure on Two Wheels, 2006.

This travel adventure is a bicycle tour of Spain. The woman making this solo trip is Polly Evans and she “had a vision of mountains and orange groves, matadors and promenades – and of a glorious and hassle-free journey across Spain by bicycle.” Her reality is quite different and she mixes her experiences riding the hills and mountains of Spain, with the history of the places she visits and the insights she achieves while completing a thousand miles. Why she started and the trials she faced until she realized her strength and confidence (a la Lance Armstrong and Miguel Indurain – Tour de France champions) made for engaging reading.

Diane Colletti, Metropolitan Library System

Fletcher, Colin.  The Winds of Mara, 1972.

Fletcher, the author of The Complete Walker, set out to rediscover the Kenya he had known in his youth, 15 years before.  In a rental Renault he drove the Mara, an expanse of savanna in the southeast of the country, trying to discover both the wildlife and the future of Africa.  He succeeds admirably at both, writing of the ecology of the ecosystem and its animals, of the politics of the emerging Kenyan government and its effects on the people, and of people’s effects on the Mara ecosystem.  Beautifully illustrated with line drawings, this book still resonates today.
Audience:  adult and YA

Nancy Bent, La Grange Public Library

Goldberg, Myla.  Time's Magpie:  A Walk in Prague, 2004.

In a short book, one of a series of travel guides about world cities by established authors, Goldberg introduces us to Prague.  EAch chapter address a separate topic.  Some were poignant like a visit to the Jewish cemetary or the eerily familiar visit to a recently badly flooded suburb (shades of New Orleans).  Goldberg relates only limited contact with residents, none of them good.  I didn't get a cohesive feel for the city and id didn't lead me to want to visit.

Debbie Wordinger, Indian Prairie Public Library

Leonard, Mike.  The Ride of Our Lives.  2006
In this amusing, heartwarming book, Illinois resident Leonard tells of an RV trip he organized for his octogenarian parents.  Leonard, along with three of his grown children and a daughter-in-law, picked up his parents at their home in Arizona for what amounted to a family reunion on wheels.  Knowing that this would likely be the last extended trip for the older Leonards the author drove them across the country, showing them many places they had never seen as well as returning them to locations that had been important in their lives.  Visits to their hometown of Paterson, NJ and to their alma maters were especially poignant.  The trip would culminate in Chicago, where granddaughter Megan was about to give birth to their first great-grandchild.  Descriptions of travel are secondary to Leonard’s tales of his parents’ lives, and to the interactions between several generations of family sharing two vehicles for a month—with spunky, potty-mouthed grandma providing much entertainment.
Audience:  adult and YA

Debbie Darwine, La Grange Public Library

Montgomery, Sy.  Journey of the Pink Dolphins: An Amazon Quest, 2000.

Nature writer Montgomery found a calling when at a conference about dolphins – she would travel to the Amazon and follow the boto, the Amazon River dolphin, a pink cetacean that the local people believe is a shape-shifter that will take you to the Encante, the enchanted underworld at the bottom of the river.  As the author and her traveling companion Dianne travel the braided waterways of the Amazon and its tributaries, she weaves natural history and folklore into a story of watching dolphins from small boats in the rain, as the river rises and floods the flanking forest.  Illustrated with Dianne’s photographs.
Audience:  adult and YA

Nancy Bent, La Grange Public Library

Peterson, Roger Tory and Fisher, James.  Wild America: The Record of a 30,000-Mile Journey Around the Continent by a Distinguished Naturalist and His British Colleague, 1955.
and
Weidensaul, Scott.  Return to Wild America: A Yearlong Search for the Continent’s Natural Soul, 2005.

In 1953 famed bird author Peterson set out to show his ornithologist friend Fisher the natural wonders of North America’s best birding locations.  In a strenuous hundred-day field trip the two followed the edge of the continent, starting in Newfoundland and ending up in Alaska.  Along the way the two alternate their telling of the tale, writing of birds, of scenery, of the fellow birders who helped them along the way, and presenting a wonderful snapshot of the ecological state of the continent in the mid-50s.  Beautifully illustrated with ink drawings by Peterson, this is truly a classic of nature writing.
Audience:  adult and YA

Weidensaul decided to retrace this journey and take the pulse of the continent fifty years later, to gauge the land that Peterson and Fisher saw and chart any changes.  He followed their path at a much more leisurely pace so that he could take a more contemplative look, finding things to be better than they were in the mid-50s in some areas, worse in others.  Ultimately, though, the natural side of North America remains alive and unsullied, making for a hopeful read and faith in the future.
Audience:  adult and YA

Nancy Bent, La Grange Public Library

Thubron, Colin.  Shadow of the Silk Road, 2007.
British writer travels from Xian to Antioch on the old Silk Road.
Very interesting for the first two-thirds of the book, as he travels by car, truck, and bus through parts of Asia most people have never heard of, let alone visited. The book bogs down a bit in Afghanistan and Iran; too much dark ancient and recent history described here.
Audience:  adul.

Brenda O’Brien, Woodridge Public Library

Troost, J. Maarten.  Getting Stoned with Savages.  2006

After spending two years living in the South Pacific, author (and Canadian citizen) Troost felt increasingly out of place in his position as a consultant to the World Bank in Washington D. C.  Recognizing that at heart he’s a “flip-flop man”
Rather than an “Italian-shoe man”, his wife, Sylvia, accepts a job in Fiji with the Foundation for the Peoples of the South Pacific.  However, a government coup in Fiji brings about their relocation to the more primitive islands of Vanuatu, with a live volcano and a history of cannibalism.  Troost describes these hazards, the couple’s battles with cyclones and giant centipedes, and his fondness for the popular narcotic beverage referred to in the book’s title, in hilarious fashion.  In addition, he provides a clear look at daily life in “paradise.”  After they transfer to Fiji, post-coup, Sylvia gives birth to their first child, and they make the decision to return to the U. S. to be closer to their families.  This very funny book was preceded by Troost’s record of their first South Pacific adventure, The Sex Lives of Cannibals.
Audience:  adult

Debbie Darwine, La Grange Public Library

Wallis, Michael and Williamson, Michael S.  The Lincoln Highway:  Coast to Coast from Times Square to the Golden Gate, 2007.

The author and photographer share charming bits of history and culture on the old Lincoln Highway from New York City to San Francisco.  Although the authors themselves are not presences in the book, they introduce us to many colorful and memorable people along the way.  They point out what is lost and what can still be seen.  Makes you want to jump in your car.

Debbie Wordinger, Indian Prairie Public Library