Description

Michael Shapiro’s illuminating conversations with the world’s great travel writers reveal deeply-held views about the craft of writing, the world, and home. Go with him and ride over dusty Montana roads to Tim Cahill’s writing cabin, step into the Dickensian clutter of Redmond O'Hanlon’s house in Oxford, visit Frances Mayes in her Tuscan villa, gaze at Peter Matthiessen’s rustic zendo on Long Island, and empty a bottle of wine with Jonathan Raban in a Seattle study that seems like a ship’s cabin.

In this book you will meet:

Isabel Allende in San Rafael, California
Bill Bryson in Hanover, New Hampshire
Tim Cahill in Livingston, Montana
Arthur Frommer in New York City
Jeff Greenwald in Oakland, California
Pico Iyer in Santa Barbara, California
Peter Matthiessen in Sagaponack, New York
Frances Mayes in Cortona, Italy
Tom Miller in Tucson, Arizona
Jan Morris in Llanystumdwy, Wales
Eric Newby in Guildford, England
Brad Newsham in Oakland, California
Redmond O’Hanlon in Oxford, England
Jonathan Raban in Seattle, Washington
Rick Steves in Edmonds, Washington
Paul Theroux in Oahu, Hawaii
Sara Wheeler in London, England
Simon Winchester in Great Barrington, Massachusetts

Praise for A Sense of Place

"I enjoyed A Sense of Place down to the last drop. This is a wonderful book, full of literary and experiential allusions—a fascinating read."
—Keith Bellows, editor, National Geographic Traveler

"Hooray for Michael Shapiro, for bringing us these sweet, insightful visits with the great creators of contemporary travel literature. These are the writers who gave so many of us our longing for the road, our passion for place, who informed our own wanderings. I always wondered about their lives, and it took Shapiro to track them down, get them talking, and share their perspectives on our world. They've been everywhere on this blue-green earth, and they've chosen the best places to make their homes."
—Lynn Ferrin, former editor of Via magazine

"'Travel writer' is much too claustrophobic a label to hang on some of the finest nonfiction writers of our generation, and Michael Shapiro coaxes out fascinating insights into their journeys, their craft, and the beloved homes they leave behind."
—John Flinn, executive travel editor, San Francisco Chronicle

"Whether it's getting up at 4 A.M. to photograph the sunrise over Jerusalem, or prowling Waikiki Beach's Halloween madness, Michael Shapiro goes beyond the ordinary in his travels—and his writing. He brings a passion to his topics, digging beyond the surface to find deeper meanings and connections. But always with a sense of fun. And in the end, he and his readers are wiser for the effort."
—Larry Bleiberg, travel editor, The Dallas Morning News

Extended Copyright Information

Copyright 2004 Michael Shapiro. All rights reserved.

Previously published by Travelers' Tales.

Cover photograps by Bullety-Lomeo/The Image Bank.

About the Author

Michael Shapiro is a writer who has bicycled through Cuba for the Washington Post, celebrated Holy Week in Guatemala for the Dallas Morning News, and floated down the Mekong River on a Laotian cargo barge for an online magazine. He is the author of three books about using the Internet for travel, including Internet Travel Planner, and maintains NetTravel.com, a list of top travel sites alongside some of his travel stories.

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Opening Lines (Experimental)

For my father, Larry Shapiro, who exhorted me onward even as his own world was turning in.
It was on American Airlines Flight 44 that I first pitched the idea for this book to Travelers’ Tales Executive Editor Larry Habegger. We were flying from San Francisco to New York, en route to a travel ...

Copyright

Copyright 2004 by Michael Shapiro.

All Rights Reserved.