by Tom Robbins
First published 1988
This collection brings together a dozen established authors as they venture into unfamiliar territories across the globe. Jay McInery navigates the waters of the Zambezi River, while Roy Blount Jr. explores the vast Amazon basin. Bobbie Ann Mason discovers the landscapes of New Zealand. Each writer brings their distinctive voice to these far-flung destinations, creating a mosaic of perspectives on places that exist beyond the typical tourist trail. The authors transform their encounters with foreign environments into literary explorations that capture both the external geography and their internal responses to displacement. These are not conventional travel accounts but rather personal reckonings with otherness, where each writer's established sensibility meets the challenge of unfamiliar terrain. The result offers readers a chance to experience distant places through the eyes of storytellers who know how to find meaning in the unexpected.
Genres: world-literature, literary-fiction, travel, adventure, contemporary
Vibes: atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, personal-journey
Setting: Amazon Basin, New Zealand, Zambezi River
Hardcover · Atheneum