A fascinating, provocative look into great writers' lives

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	• A Sense of Place: Great Travel Writers Talk About Their Craft, Lives, and Inspiration (Travelers' Tales) Michael Shapiro Travelers' Tales, 2004 - 396 pages average customer review:based on 15 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

I'll Never View Travel in the Same Way

I guess I had never thought of travel writing as a genre. Sure there are biographers, mystery writers, text book writers and all the others. And come to think of it, when I wanted to go somewhere on vacation I would sometimes go down to the book store and pick up something about the place I was visiting. I guess that I never though about how these books got written.

Michael shapiro has changed my view. In this book he reports on visiting eighteen travel writers and getting them to talk about their lives, their profession, and their industry. These authors lead a different kind of life. I've travelled a lot on business, and the travel part of it is an unavoidable evil, cramped airplane seats, a never ending string of airports that all look much the same, an uncertainty as to the hotel, the money, the culture. For these writers, the travel is the end in itself. Well, almost. You still have to do the writing after you've done the travel. After reading this book, I'll never look at travel the same way. The people Mr. Shapiro interviews are a delightful and eclectic group, and very fascinating.

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A fascinating, provocative look into great writers' lives

This book sparkles with wonderful stories and insights. By traveling to the homes of so many of the world's leading travel writers, "A Sense of Place" author Michael Shapiro gives us glimpses into how these writers see the world, how they write so beautifully, and how they achieve their success.

At first I was envious of Shapiro -- he somehow convinced just about every top travel writer (Bill Bryson, Frances Mayes, Paul Theroux, Simon Winchester, Tim Cahill, Arthur Frommer and many others) to invite him to their homes for a conversation. But that envy disappeared as I went along with him to Frances Mayes's Tuscan villa, to Jan Morris's sturdy Welsh stone home, and to Isabel Allende's hilltop abode overlooking San Francisco Bay.

Among my favorite conversations was the one with Arthur Frommer, who started out as a copy boy as Newsweek, wrote the first version of "Europe on $5 a Day" as a pocket guide for GIs, and returned from the Army to work alongside Adlai Stevenson at a top New York law firm where he defended "Lady Chatterley's Lover" against pornography charges.

I also loved hearing Morris discuss accompanying the 1953 Everest expedition as a reporter for the London Times and getting the news to London just in time for the coronation of the queen. I was intrigued by the Pico Iyer chapter - as someone who was born in England to Indian parents and moved to California and then to Japan, he's a citizen of nowhere and everywhere and seems at home wherever he goes. And Shapiro's introduction to the Paul Theroux chapter ("Will the real Paul Theroux please stand up") is spot on.

A nice touch is that the book features short excerpts from each of these author's books, so I could chuckle at anecdotes from Bill Bryson's books while reading the Bryson interview, and get a sense of Redmond O'Hanlon's style while reading that chapter.

As I concluded "A Sense of Place," I realized that the book is more than a collection of interviews; it's an appreciation by the author, a young travel writer, for his literary heroes. He manages to weave the story of his own journeys throughout the book while keeping the writers at the forefront. This is a book to which I'll return again and again over the years.

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Terrific Book!

I just finished reading Sense of Place and it's just great! I enjoyed it so much,found myself relating to and identifying with so many of the authors, their trips, and thoughts, some of whom I've met, many whose works I've read.

It's evocative. A splendid book. I hope it does well and that it also comes out on tape.

A college course in one book

Shapiro wrote this book instead of going to graduate school. After reading his adventures with "the masters", I'm sure you'll agree A Sense Of Place is magna cum laude. I wish I would have spent my tution on this!
What i enjoy most about this book is that it's not a one time read. The first time you read it enjoy the inspiration and knowledge Shapiro has outlined for you. AFter being introduced to some new authors in A Sense of Place, I plan on reading some of their work and will refer back to Shapiro's interviews as referance to the authors personality, background info- where they live, etc. When i travel to some of the places mentioned in this book i will take A Sense of Place along and compare these authors thoughts on countries, politics, landscapes, food and enjoy traveling with them. I might even leave a copy in the hotel. Sorry Cahill I'm not going to ruff it, but I know Isabell would come along! And then I'll read it again and again for fun!
I saw Shapiro and some of the authors, Morris, Cahill, etc on a pannel discussion about this book on Book tv CNN, get a hold of that video it's lovely.
Also email Shapiro with the address included at the back of the book.

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Shapiro is a keen interviewer.

I'm reading Shapiro's book right now, and am already recommending it to folks. Each interview is tailored; the questions aren't just stock questions asked of each writer. He's obviously done some mighty research. I also love how he inserts himself, his personality, into each interview. Makes it much more personal.

In other words, Shapiro creates a sense of place in each interview. I feel like I know much more about the various writers, because Shapiro makes it so easy to visualize both the setting and the process.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

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