My six favorite travel books
My thumbnail “reviews” of these can be found at: http://theweek.com/article/index/247764/philip-caputos-6-favorite-travel-books
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PHIL’S BOOKS
- Overview Page of All Books
- Memory and Desire
- Hunter’s Moon
- Some Rise by Sin
- The Longest Road
- Crossers
- Acts of Faith
- 10,000 Days of Thunder
- 13 Seconds
- In the Shadows of the Morning
- Ghosts of Tsavo
- The Voyage
- Exiles
- Equation for Evil
- Means of Escape
- Indian Country
- Delcorso’s Gallery
- Horn of Africa
- A Rumor of War
Have you ever thought about publishing an ebook or guest authoring on other
blogs? I have a blog based upon on the same topics you discuss and would love to have you share some stories/information. I know my audience would appreciate your work.
If you are even remotely interested, feel free to shoot me an e mail.
Just finished reading your travel book. Found it really interesting. Specially the variety of answers to your question about what’s holding your country together. Appreciated your description of The Farm in Tennessee, the arrival of the canoes in Fidalgo Bay, the tensions between the diverse communities in Grand Island, NB, and so many others.
Found your book even more interesting as I had completed reading another travel book, by a young Frenchman. This young man arrived from France in the winter of 2005, landed in Chicago, and travelled by various means (car, bus, hitchhiking…) slowly trough the MidWest to Missoula, Montana, where he met his old uncle in late fall.
We crossed paths, without knowing it, in Pine Ridge, and a few days later, in Belle Fourche, as we were travelling from the province of Québec through the Western Plains to Seattle, and back, from early June to early August 2011, in a 20-ft Class B RV (Roadtrek). My wife, who is an anthropologist, and I had some really interesting conversations with many Americans along the way. We were not surprised, a few months after our return, when the Occupy Wall Street Movement started spreading across both your country and, to a lesser degree, ours.
Reading your book, and that of others, reveals that what travellers really learn through their experiences is who they are as a person. They find themselves through their experiences with the people they meet.
You might interested in the following anecdedote : a few days after Belle Fourche, we were in Cody, Wyoming. We went to the rodeo while we were there. During the evening, the emcee asked if there were any people from the area, other states, other countries, in the crowd that night. Then he asked if any were from California, adding, a few seconds later: “Welcome to the USofA!”. It pleased the locals.
Philip … I’ve just recently “discovered” you as a travel writer. (Sorry, I’m pretty slow sometimes … ) I’m reading “The Longest Road” and just beginning chapter 30. Like your writing style … I’ll probably read all your non-fiction. I “toured” Vietnam 1966-1967 Central Highlands … a camp called Camp Radcliff … in support of the First Cavalry. Quartermaster Corps … baked 15,000 pounds of fresh bread at a “Field Bakery” every 24 hours for three divisions, 1st Cav, 101 Screaming Eagles, and (???) I believe. I was very fortunate to have enjoyed a pretty peaceful tour other than night guard duty along the outer perimeter.
I do most of my travelling with my wife, Dixie, on a 2002 Honda Goldwing motorcycle. We have been through the Appalachian Mountains from Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, to West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky. We’ve also toured Indiana (home), Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois. In June 2011 I made a “guy’s” trip to Yellowstone Park … we saw Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, and South Dakota. Nothing beats motorcycling for seeing (and smelling and tasting and feeling) America.
Just wanted to say hello, thank you for your writing, and welcome home. Hope you had a nice Veteran’s Day this year.
Keep up the great writing … I’ll be following you. Tom
The term travel books, as such, doesn’t turn me on. The only reason for perusing these is for the benefit of great nieces/nephews who think of taking in the realities of the earth. I waited to write this until I finished yours even though I’ve already purchased enough for them. Now it can go on my list of “favorites” along with a few my favored type of travel books:
THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC magazine ranks up there.
ACTS OF FAITH by Philip Caputo
CROSSERS by Philip Caputo
All of Alan Furst’s WWII novels
– and many more novels & some non-fiction, historical and otherwise, for which context is prime and contributes to plot and characters.