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On Persephone's Island

Page 36

by Mary Taylor Simeti


  “Tim Cahill [has] the what-the-hell adventuresomeness of a T. E. Lawrence and the humor of a P. J. O’Rourke.”

  —Condé Nast Traveler

  Travel/Adventure/0-679-74929-2

  THE ROAD FROM COORAIN

  by Jill Ker Conway

  A remarkable woman’s exquisitely clear-sighted memoir of growing up Australian: from the vastness of a sheep station in the outback to the stifling propriety of postwar Sydney; from untutored childhood to a life in academia; and from the shelter of a protective family to the lessons of independence and tragedy.

  “A small masterpiece of scene, memory … this book [is] the most rewarding journey of all.”

  —John Kenneth Galbraith

  Autobiography/0-679-72436-2

  BAD TRIPS

  Edited and with an Introduction by Keath Fraser

  From Martin Amis in the air to Peter Matthiessen on a mountaintop, some of the best-known writers of our time recount sometimes harrowing and sometimes exhilarating tales of their most memorable misadventures in travel.

  “The only aspect of our travels that is guaranteed to hold an audience is disaster.… Nothing is better for survival.”

  —Martha Gellhorn

  A Vintage Original/Travel/Adventure/0-679-72908-9

  FALLING OFF THE MAP

  SOME LONELY PLACES OF THE WORLD

  by Pico Iyer

  Pico Iyer voyages from the nostalgic elegance of Argentina to the raffish nonchalance of Australia, documents the cruising rites of Icelandic teenagers, gets interrogated by tipsy Cuban police, and attends a screening of Bhutan’s first feature film. Throughout, he remains both uncannily observant and hilarious.

  “[Iyer is the] rightful heir to Jan Morris [and] Paul Theroux.… He writes the kind of lyrical, flowing prose that could make Des Moines sound beguiling.”

  —Los Angeles Times Book Review

  Travel/Adventure/0-679-74612-9

  RIDING THE WHITE HORSE HOME

  A WESTERN FAMILY ALBUM

  by Teresa Jordan

  The daughter and granddaughter of Wyoming ranchers tells the stories of her forebears—men who saw broken bones as professional credentials and women who coped with physical hardship and killing loneliness. She acquaints us with the lore and science of ranching, and does so with a breathtaking immediacy that recalls the best writing of Wallace Stegner and Gretel Ehrlich.

  “A haunting and elegant memoir.”

  —Terry Tempest Williams, author of Refuge

  Memoir/Travel/0-679-75135-1

  BALKAN GHOSTS

  A JOURNEY THROUGH HISTORY

  by Robert D. Kaplan

  As Kaplan travels from the breakaway states of Yugoslavia to Romania, Bulgaria, and Greece, he reconstructs the Balkans’ history as a time warp in which ancient passions and hatreds are continually resurrected.

  “Powerfully argued … the most insightful and timely work on the Balkans to date.”

  —Boston Globe

  History/Current Affairs/Travel/0-679-74981-0

  LOOKING FOR OSMAN

  ONE MAN’S TRAVELS THROUGH THE PARADOX OF MODERN TURKEY

  by Eric Lawlor

  As he traverses Turkey in search of exotic splendor recorded by nineteenth-century romanticists, Eric Lawlor finds instead a modern, professional, sometimes brutal land, with unexpected remnants of the old Turkey to be encountered along the way.

  A Vintage Original/Travel/Adventure/0-679-73822-3

  THE OTHER SIDE

  by Rubén Martínez

  Martinez’s work of cultural reportage and personal memoir provides a vision of a new Latino culture that bubbles from San Salvador to L.A. and that embraces cumbia and hip-hop, anarchists and Catholic priests.

  “A brilliant and breathtaking account of the new culture created by guerrillas of San Salvador and performance artists of feverish Tijuana, by young painters of graffiti in Los Angeles and rock ‘n’ roll singers of Mexico City. It is a revealing, remarkable and timely book,”

  —Ryszard Kapuściński

  Sociology/Current Affairs/0-679-74591-2

  A YEAR IN PROVENCE

  by Peter Mayle

  An “engaging, funny and richly appreciative” (The New York Times Book Review) account of an English couple’s first year living in Provence, settling in amid the enchanting gardens and equally festive bistros of their new home.

  “Stylish, witty, delightfully readable.”

  —The Sunday Times (London)

  Travel/0-679-73114-8

  MAIDEN VOYAGES

  THE WRITINGS OF WOMEN TRAVELERS

  Edited and with an Introduction by Mary Morris

  In this delightful and generous anthology, women such as Beryl Markham, Willa Cather, Annie Dillard, and Joan Didion share their experiences traveling throughout the world. From the Rocky Mountains to a Marrakech palace, in voices wry, lyrical, and sometimes wistful, these women show as much of themselves as they do of the strange and wonderful places they visit.

  A Vintage Original/Travel/Women’s Studies/0-679-74030-9

  IRON & SILK

  by Mark Salzman

  The critically acclaimed and bestselling adventures of a young American martial arts master in China.

  “Dazzling … exhilarating … a joy to read from beginning to end.”

  —People

  Travel/Adventure/0-394-75511-1

  LOW LIFE

  LURES AND SNARES OF NEW YORK

  by Luc Sante

  In this “fascinating … entertaining and sobering” (Philadelphia Inquirer) journey through New York City, from 1840 to 1919, Luc Sante discovers the dark heart, wherein dwell pimps, madams, rat-killing dogs, ear-chewing thugs, con men, and extravagantly crooked cops.

  “Low Life captures the rollicking atmosphere of city life.… Sante reclaims an essential piece of the city’s past.”

  —The New York Times Book Review

  History/Sociology/0-679-73876-2

  IN THE SHADOW OF THE SACRED GROVE

  by Carol Spindel

  A moving memoir of an American woman’s difficult and gradual acceptance into the daily life of a rural West African community.

  “I was unprepared for the quietly gathering power of this respectfully inquisitive study of modern life in a small West African village. It poses, and answers, questions about the lives of a proud and shy people.”

  —Alice Walker

  A Vintage Original/Travel/Adventure/0-679-72214-9

  YOU GOTTA HAVE WA

  WHEN TWO CULTURES COLLIDE ON THE BASEBALL DIAMOND

  by Robert Whiting

  An American journalist gives us a witty close-up view at besuboru—Japanese baseball—as well as an incisive look into the culture of present-day Japan.

  “[It] will please baseball fans and enlighten anyone interested in Japanese-American relations.”

  —James Fallows, Atlantic Monthly

  Sports/Current Affairs/0-679-72947-X

  RIGHT ON THE EDGE OF CRAZY

  ON TOUR WITH THE U.S. DOWNHILL SKI TEAM

  by Mike Wilson

  Mike Wilson follows the underfunded, underreported athletes of the U.S. downhill ski team through a World Cup season that culminates at the 1992 Winter Olympics in France. Juxtaposing scenes of raw courage and gonzo excess, the result is authentic enough to leave the reader windburned.

  “The best [book] ever written about ski-racing.”

  —Denver Post

  Sports/Travel/0-679-74987-X

 

 

 


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