Anybody out there a travel essay enthusiast?

There were some great books written in the '20s and '30s in a sort of "do it yourself" around the world genre, and there are some good ones now, although some stinkers too...many of the new ones have a kooky premise, and that's it ("hitchhiking around Ireland with a refrigerator","Traveling to Rio in a hearse"...)

Anybody have any toothsome reads?

SIX YEARS IN THE MALAY JUNGLE by Carveth Wells (1924) is fascinating.

Anything by Paul Theroux is brilliant (& scathing)!

Michener's IBERIA, a collection of essays about his experiences in spain during the 60's, is one of my all time faves & STILL a relevant travelguide!

Bill Bryson has written some really funny stuff-I'd recommend "A Walk in the Woods" especially.He tells about hiking the Appalachian Trail,and he peppers his narrative with some fascinating facts about the trail and region.He's very entertaining.

Oh,I forgot-one of the best is "Travels" by Michael Crichton.One of my favorites.

"I Married Adventure" by Osa Johnson (copyright 1940) is one of my favorite African safari/South Seas/Borneo non-fiction books. The Johnsons contributed to projects for the American Museum of Natural History. Martin Johnson was a photographer, and the book has many of his photos featuring boats and buildings made with thatched roofing, and wildlife of Africa and Borneo. They have bouts of "safari fever" (malaria), run low on funds, risk loads of film being exposed,and have George Eastman (their photography sponsor) along on several adventures.

Another book that isn't exactly travel essay, but biography is "Among the Stone Giants: The Life of Katherine Routledge and Her Remarkable Expedition to Easter Island".(2003)

It's by Jo Anne Van Tilberg, who is an archaeologist, described in the author bio as, "The contemporary world's leading authority on the Easter Island statues." The book is as much about Routledge's upbringing (daughter of Sir Robert Pease, big-game hunter.) and manic/schizophrenic episodes as her effect on the people of Rapa Nui, and how she tried to communicate with them. Her husband seemed to cause resentment and revolt with the natives, as well as their own crew. Interesting chapters about the moai, and the Rapa Nui people's regard of Katherine and her interest in the statues.

Dr. Van Tilburg's works are excellent. I have her tome, Easter Island.

Are there any other more contemporary travelouges.

The Johnson's are wonderful- just finished "4 years in paradise"...the photos really made that book alive. I just found out there is a museum of thier lives in Kansas.

Theroux sells himself along side Bruce Chatwin (mostly wrote in the 1980s) who is also a fine writer, and less smug.

Blair Bros' "Ring of Fire" (late 1980s) was hard to put down once started.

"Around the world on Two Wheels" by Robert Fulton was really inviting...(Traveling alone around the world in the 1930s.)

Bill Bryson once wrote that the phrase "What-Ever" is Californian for F-off".

Not a day goes by that I don't think of that.

This is really fun!
Creating christmas list from these.

[ Edited by: Gigantalope on 2004-09-03 19:55 ]

I suggest the following books ...

1. The Granta Book of Travel- This is a collection of travel essays that appeared in the literary journal 'Granta' which always features top-notch writing. This bookincludes essays by Bill Bryson, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Paul Theroux, Salman Rushdie, Martha Gelhorn, and lots more. You can read the introduction here .....
   http://www.granta.com/books/chapters/26

2. 'A Fez of the Heart: Travels Around Turkey in Search of a Hat' by Jeremy Seal. You will learn more about the fez here than any other book, and also a good description of the ongoing struggle that Turkey has between finding the right balance between the more traditional Islam culture and the more modern, secular world. A fun and very good read.

3. 'The Farm on the River of Emeralds' by Moritz Thomson. This one is out of print, but worth tracking down. It is perhaps the favorite of all the books I have read in my life - and I have read many. An older man, in his 50's, volunteers for the Peace Corps in Ecuador. When his volunteer stint is done, he decides to stay in Ecuador, and tries to eke out a living by farming in the tropical climate ... its a jungle out there, that's for sure.

Vern

[i]On 2004-09-03 19:45, Gigantalope wrote:

Bill Bryson once wrote that the phrase "What-Ever" is Californian for F-off".

Mahalo Gigantalope & verntikI.

"Blue Latitudes: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook has Gone Before" Traveling around the Pacific in the foot steps of Captain Cook, visiting Tahiti & other Polynesian islands, New Zealand, Australia, Tonga, Alaska & Hawaii.