Travelogues Books

Gray Highway redefines the American fascination with aliens ... but it is also a very stirring portrait of America. This book is incredible -- looking forward to the next Holm/Follett book!

This book had me rolling on the floor -- three cheers for the intrepid UFO searchers. Can't wait for the next book!

While I love reading about the unexplained, supernatural, and otherwise curious, I'm about as skeptical as people come about the existence of "original" UFO books. It's all been covered about a million times, in a million different ways, right?

WRONG. Gray Highway approaches the American UFO mythology from a totally new angle: two friends embark on a roadtrip of famous UFO sites. From Roswell to New England, to the mesa vortex of Sedona, they scrounge the American landscape for signs of intelligent life...and often come up with the unexplicable. The co-authors recorded their experience vigilantly, and their back-and-forth narrative is the work of people unhampered by commercialism or preconceived notions of the subject matter. Which isn't to say they don't know what they're talking about!

Gray Highway is a light but literate exploration of how a collective mythology shapes the American landscape. Whether you believe in little green men or not, you will surely be taken in by this very original and entertaining book.

This book was incredible. I'm soooo glad I checked it out before I went away.

The tips information and contacts are first rate.

If you want a fun spring break, check out this book.

Information, contacts and tips for college vacationers, I'm soo totally glad I got it before my trip.

A truely nescessary planning tool, well-written and concise

I cannot put this book down. It is quite the tome!The material in the book is quite fascinating. I feel like when I read Green Enchantments that i am in a green field at the base of a majestic Catskill Mountain. I reccomend this book for hikers as well as nature lovers. This book is a natural high that is quite addictive.............Bravo Mr. Boyajian!I can't wait to read any additional books written by you!

Michael Boyajian not only communicates a massive amount of information about the Catskills, he gets under the surface to reveal the soul and depth of this special region. Green enchantments, indeed!

Spending so much time as a kid and then as an adult with my own children, I am surprised at just how much there is to know about the Catskills. I thought I had it all covered. Reading your book has opened up alot for future trips with my family, especially the "festivals" section which the kids love. Good job!!!

The range of Miller's interests, and her writing skill, are mesmerizing. She also has a knack for finding the outrageous in the ordinary and the soothing in the outrageous. A terrific book.

Carol Miller fulfills every reader's fantasy of traveling the world over. Her wonderful research, the autobiographical reminiscenes, the tales of love and dismay, are a delight to read, while they take us to the heart of Mexico and the Mexicans, and beyond: to Peru, Turkey, Syria, Greece and the Greek Islands, the heart of Africa and Southeast Asia, even the stormy California coast. Every page is surprising and unexpected. I loved this book!

The author's passion for travel is at the heart of 'The Guttered Dog', which is a series of nineteen chapters that unveil memorable people, places and events in her life. The tantalizing title refers to the author's lifelong and consuming love for animals and a horse riding accident that threatened to leave her paralyzed for life. She has traveled the world and delves into foreign cultures with enthusiasm and insight. Carol Miller is a multi-talented woman--a sculptress, a writer, a correspondent and an expert on the culture of the Maya. From her home in Mexico, she takes the reader to continents and cities such as Asia, South America, New York and introduces enduring friends along the way. Each chapter includes enough history to provide a framework for the pictures she paints with words. Her descriptive yet concise writing style takes the reader on her travels, making pilgrimages and meeting people. Most of the book centers on the last half of the twentieth century, which gives the reader an opportunity to read about places such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok as they were then, rather than the westernized metropolises they have become recently. The author embraces life fully and as she states in the epilogue, she wrote the book to share what she has learned and felt. Anyone who reads this entertaining and poignantly written book will be a richer person for it.

Hair of the Dog is an immensely interesting tale of the life of an American translator aboard Soviet fishing trawlers during a Joint-Venture in the late 1980s. The story gives insight into the lives of the Soviets and how they lived with constant observation by the political commissars and KGB agents while working alongside the Americans. The friendships formed by the author and the experiences she had as both a translator and representative of America were solid and left me wishing I could have joined her out at sea. The story flows well and was an extremely easy read for anyone interested in Russia, the Soviet Union and the people of both great countries.

She gave a detailed of how the journey would go through out the ship voyage and gives reader a great idea of how brave she was on the ship. This book does not only show the readers that even you only spend most of the time on the ship that you can still have fun and this a once a life time experience. You can imagine how people who sail or working on the ship most of the time, and how they spent their time. It's a great and fuuny book and gives me a imagination of how her journey is.

This is a special book and a very enjoyable read. Oakley perservered in getting it published and we are all the beneficiaries. Give yourself a treat and get a glimpse of US-Soviet relations that few Americans have witnessed. This book is not just a factual account of life at sea; it is a view into the Russian soul and psyche. You will not regret it.

To me the amazing coincidence of the narrative by Joseph C. Meridith on the Patrols of the USS. Hanna DE449 in 1953-1954 is that it almost perfectly coincides with the time that I was a Radarman on the Hanna. It is like he wrote my history of that time in my Navy experience. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading the book and it will be treasured by me and my family. The Patrols were a great experience with all the sailors on board wanting to be on the small parties that were able to go ashore to walk around the islands. The ones that I remember the most were Ponape, with its absolute breathtaking beauty and Truk with its abundant Japanese navy ships that had been damaged during World War II. The book is a great treasure of information on the islands written by a man who recorded his observations in a colorful and well written manner

I ran across this book looking for information about the USS Hanna (DE 449), a WWII Destroyer Escort ship named after Private Billy T. Hanna USMC, who died on Guadalcanal in 1942.

I highly recommend reading this to anyone interested in Micronesia and War in the Pacific. It is very readable and well worth the effort. Written by the USS Hanna's captain, Joseph C. Meredith, the book details the ship's patrols of Micronesia, and the Bonin and Volcano Islands in 1953-54.

Captain Meredith describes the seven patrols he captained, giving intimate observations on the islands they visited, the people, history and geology. The stories of the attempts of foreigners to discover, exploit and dominate the islands, provide a real understanding of the islands and their people.

His emphasis on Japanese influence on the islands gives a real understanding of WWII and the Pacific, of what it was like to be there, and of the reasons and strategy of the War in the Pacific.

He researched the history of Micronesia in great detail, providing an accurate view of how Micronesia became what it is today.

World War II in Micronesia laid a foundation for hundreds of books and thousands were written. For those of us who were there right after the war few books have recorded what it was like. This author, a naval captain of a Destroyer Escort, told his story and wove in history and the continuing story of the people. And he told the story we lived. Casual inspection tours of twenty islands in fifteen days. Landings that started in a small boat and ended swimming in across a rocky beach. Local administrators who had shamefully little support from the US government and still carried on trying to do a decent job. Priest and missionaries who carried on in the wake of war, building communities with Navy discards. Hopeless ocean searches that sometimes were successful. And a little boredom. For those who were there, a very true book.

This book I started reading in a half price book store and could not put it down. This is better than a fiction adventure any day.

The author survives by his wit and wisdom along with the help of the natives. Made me want to pack my bags and head for South America to retrace his trip.

You wouldn't survive for two weeks what this crazy guy endured for seven years. Luckily, he wrote his memories, they are back in print, and you can have the experience without getting bitten by any monster, big or small. Up de Graff is a young engineer from New York state, who is anxious for adventure. When a former schoolmate, a rich guy from a big time Equatorian family, invites him over to look for business opportunities, he eagerly accepts. During a year Graff runs a salt mine up in the Andes, surrounded by the Indians' intrigues adn resentment, as well as by the unethical conduct of his friend's family. After some guys beat him up badly, Graff finally breaks up with his friend and decides to travel down the Amazon to reach its mouth in Brazil and then take a ship to NY. But as soon as he has stepped down the Andes, he meets another American adventurer, the great Jack Rouse, with whom he decides to explore the mysterious and unknown river Yasuni, to collect rubber-gum to sell dearly in Iquitos (this is 1896). The two men intern in the dark jungle along the river on a canoe, surrounded by treacherous and elusive aborigines, innumerable insects and other bugs, and not least by vampire bats who suck their blood at nights. After two years, they reach Iquitos with lots of rubber but almost dead. They spend six happy months there, meeting other adventurers from the US and Europe. Graff, Jack and two others, plus two Indians, decide to travel up the Peruvian Amazon to discover the gold of the Incas. Of course, they experience lots of misadventures among the Jibaros, the original head-hunters. They are unreliable and violent people. They return to Barranca empty-handed, but Graff still goes on in two more expeditions, each one more disastrous than the previous, until he and his associate Ed Morse cut short the last and return to Iquitos, from where this time Graff does travel back home.

During his years in the jungle (imagine it 100 years ago!), Graff had to learn to find his way, semi-nude, in almost identical landscapes; to isolate fabrics with rubber to make bags and shoes; to improvise canoes; to build shelters and cure wounds. He ate alligator, ant-bear, turtle, monkey (he liked them a lot), insects, birds and some vegetable flour preserved in (ugh) Indians' saliva. He suffered interminable fevers, was attacked by vampires and meat-eating ants, escaped the hug of anacondas, was defeated many times by tiredness and malnutrition. An episode that stands out is the time he and his comrades participated in a Jibaro battle, and then saw (and explained to us) precisely the way in which these guys used to reduce their enemies' heads to a third of their size.

All of this written with a wonderful sense of humor, modesty, and grace. Even if Graff had added some spice of his own, they don't sound like hunter's stories, but like the humorous account of crazy years of youth. The last adventure ends with the story of Breginia, a young and brave girl travelling alone through the jungle in search for her kin, after escaping from kidnapping.

Ironically, this survivor died in his fifties in a car accident. What nature couldn't achieve, the machine could.

So they finally reprinted this book! My copy is an antique that I found by pure chance at my local GoodWill store. I loved this book! It is the diary of a man who spent several years living in the amazon jungle in the late 1890's. His encounters with nature, exotic animals, natives, tropical diseases (and more) fascinated me. The most well-known part of the book is how he got to observe first-hand the process of how headhunters shrink the heads. (It is a very precise process!) I'm surprised there are no other reviews of this book. Maybe it has been out-of-print so long that very few people know about it. If you like true life travel and adventure stories, I think you will like this book!

Rabbi Leibel Reznick blends archeology, biblical and talmudic sources, stunning drawings, rare photographs, and keen scholarship in search of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. An exciting read, couldn't put it down all night.

A fantastic synthesis of archaelogical finds and ancient rabbinic literature.

The author has done a brilliant job of researching and presenting to the lay public the history and archeology of the Temple Mount. This book is a definite must read for those interested in the subject. -Prof. Albert Bressnan, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland

I have just finished the "acknowledgments" section of Brian Bouldrey's new book, and it's one of the best I've ever read. That may sound like hyperbole, but it's not. I'm a voracious reader -- I tear through 5-10 "acknowledgments" sections every week -- and Mr. Bouldrey's is as good as any penned by Mailer, Updike, or (God rest his soul) Vonnegut.

Instead of struggling in vain to adequately describe the merits of Bouldrey's acknowledgements, let me just quote a short passage from what is destined to become a classic of the form:

"The author wishes to thank . . . Larry Wood . . . ."

Bouldrey, Brian. "Honorable Bandit: A Walk Across Corsica", University of Wisconsin Press, 2007.

Deceptive Humility

Amos Lassen and Literary Pride

The University of Wisconsin Press has taken the lead in the academic field of publishing books relevant to our community. Brian Bouldrey, one of the leading gay men of letters published with them and the result is always exceptional. In
"Honorable Bandit, he takes us to he island of Corsica where the beach is as white as sugar, the sea is deep and dark as wine and the food and drink is spectacular. Bouldrey walked across Corsica so that he could spend time with himself and to think about his life. At the same time he could also avoid thinking and could escapeâ"escape to remember and to revel in his past and to mourn his losses. For two weeks he and a German friend named Petra hiked cross the land and in this book he gives us a journal of the experience. Corsica was t be for Bouldrey a place for reflection so that he could explore himself first of all ad then the difference in cultures and friendships.
He surmounted physical dangers and challenges in order to find himself and risked getting lost and facing personal challenges as memory often forces people to do.
It is somewhat hard to classify this book"it is both memoir and travelogue and also lampoon". Most of us are unfamiliar with Corsica and the beautiful pictures he creates in our minds are not likely to be forgotten quickly
Bouldrey's journal is humorous and touching at the same time. It is also very wise and extremely touching. As we travel with him, we also explore ourselves and it is easy then to look into the places in our hearts and face issues we may have avoided facing. We can deal with our own demons and Edens and Hells. All of this is in Corsica just as all of this is within every individual. Reading Bouldrey face his inner soul allowed me to peek into my own. Reading Bouldrey allows us to know him and to know ourselvesâ"it is as if he is the tour guide on each readerâ(tm)s personal journey to self discovery and acceptance..
Bouldrey's humility is deceptive at times and fro this I learned that we should move simply"one step at a time and that step must be timely and measured and full of thought".
We live in a world where destinations are fixed places ad by leering how to move toward our goal we may be forced to look at our mortality and the road that lies before us. The beauty of Corsica is a metaphor for the beauty of life and while we may trek on the path toward wherever we are going, we question who we are ad what our purpose in life is. I sincerely believe that all of us want to leave a mark on the world and to be remembered for the accomplishments we have made but it is impossible to journey through life and not be affected by it. We also learn that a set destination is not always setâ"obstacles and accidents can change our paths and when all is said and doe, it is up to us to decide which is more importantâ"where we end up or how we get there.
When I closed the covers of the book I felt cleansed. As I walked through Corsica, which s described so beautifully in Bouldreyâ(tm)s words, I also walked through where I had been and thought very carefully where I am going. A perfect example of this is how I ended up in Arkansas. Had it not been for Katrina, my life would have been completely different and I may not have ever read this book or written this review. It was not planned to be that way but that is how it turned out. Walking through Corsica with Brian Bouldrey allowed me to walk through my own life. Whether where I am now is worth it or not is a question to be answered and while the journey was not always fun, the rewards have been great.

If you've read any of Bouldrey's other work, this book will come less of a surprise than a delight. If you're new to Bouldrey, I envy you the discovery.

"Honorable Bandit" is part travelogue, part memoir, part meditation on walking, and part shaggy dog story. Bouldrey spent several weeks walking across Corsica, the Mediterranean island best known as the birthplace of Napoleon (the ruler, not the pastry), and he does offer tips on dealing with pigs, flash floods, and tiny horses. But "Honorable Bandit" is not a guidebook. Corsica merely provides the context for tales of vendettas, lonzu, throat singing, disagreeable roosters, and a host of other subjects that won't get you across the island any quicker or more safely. Speed is not the point, after all -- the journey is about the journey, and the journey is through life and history, not an island that seems to be saying, "We're #1!"

Reading the book is like watching a slideshow given by a loquacious, but very engaging, host, who stops the show for long stretches as one story leads to another, starting with the slide, but then sliding into tales of family and friends and escaped convicts and past journeys and memorable meals, yet always returning to the next slide, and just in the nick of time. In the hands of a lesser writer, such a book would be tedious at best and infuriating at worst. But Bouldrey loves language, and loves the reader, and has such wonderful things to tell you that you forgive him his excesses, even when they are excessive.

The problem with most memoirs is that the memoirist generally thinks of him- or herself as the most important -- and certainly most interesting -- character in the story. Bouldrey is rarely guilty of that crime. He uses his experiences as a way to tell us about what he's discovered along the way, and in doing so, allows us to make our own discoveries. He is a most generous host, and his book is a most satisfying repast.

Very interesting account of an Eurasian American college student's search for his ancestors in China. This book is a real page turner, even for those who have no interest or knowledge of China. Travelers will get a realistic overview of the Chinese history and culture. Very Funny! Well worth the price!

This book was so amazing I read it twice! It is a funny, witty, educational story which really makes you feel like a part of the author's journey. His story is honest and fullfilling. The reader does not even need know much about China to be greatly entertained. I would suggest this book to anyone. I hope the author writes again...Horray for Beadle Lu!

This book combines the funniest "travel stories" I have ever read with lots of useful information including history, very practical travel tips, and a wonderfully insightful analysis of how recent changes in China have affected her people. The author steadfastly avoids any and all "travelogue cliches"- his account is all the more hilarious (and informative) for its brutal honesty.

In addition to all of this, there is a delightful plot twist (related to the title) that is both touching and hysterically funny. (And good plot twists are sometimes hard to find in travel memoirs.) This is one of the most entertaining books I have ever read!