Amsterdam: A Traveler's Literary Companion [Paperback]

Manfred Wolf (Author)

Book Description

Series: Traveler's Literary Companions | Publication Date: May 1, 2001

Travel to one of the most dynamic cities in the world in the company of its finest writers. The stories in this volume will take you on a personal odyssey through the city's rich past to its dynamic present. Arranged by the areas of Amsterdam they illuminate, these stories offer up a rich literary banquet to the traveler who wishes to experience the character and soul of this great city. Join better-known Dutch writers such as Harry Mulisch and Cees Nooteboom, along with those whose writing appears in English here for the first time, as they lead you along the canals, through the neighborhoods, and from the past to the present in this rare collection of twentieth-century Dutch literature. Contributors include Cees Nooteboom, J.J. Voskuil, Simon Carmiggelt, J. Bernlef, Martin Bril, Remco Campert, Marion Bloem, Maarten 't Hart, Geert Mak, Hermine Landvreugd, Gerrit Komrij, Bas Heijne, Lizzy Sara May, Gerard Reve, Marga Minco, Harry Mulisch, and Hafid Bouazza.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Manfred Wolf, Editor

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Whereabouts Press; 1 edition (May 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 188351309X
• ISBN-13: 978-1883513092
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #353,876 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amsterdam for Readers, November 9, 2001

By 

Dan Wick - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Amsterdam: A Traveler's Literary Companion (Paperback)

Anyone who has ever visited Amsterdam knows the curious magic of that city, its canal-lined streets, polyglot population, and unconventional mores. But few are aware of Amsterdam's rich literary life. Manfred Wolf brilliantly redresses that cultural gap in Amsterdam, A Traveler's Literary Companion.
In what may be the best in an excellent series, Wolf, Professor of English at San Francisco State University and leading expert on Dutch literature, introduces the reader to an Amsterdam of gaiety and sadness, beauty and squalor, hope and despair. The selections are arranged thematically and geographically and include "City and People," "Canals," "Red-Light District," "Gay Amsterdam," and "Jewish Amsterdam." Among the provocative essays and stories are Remco Campert's "Soft Landings," Hermine Landvreugd's "Staring out the Window," and Margo Minco's "The Return."
To read this fine collection is to come a step closer to overcoming what Cees Nottebom observes in the opening selection, "Amsterdam": "This is my city, a token for the uninitiated. She will never reveal herself to the outsider who does not know her language and history, because it is precisely language and names that are the keepers of secret moods, secret places, secret memories."

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Rich Portrait of a Fascinating City, June 11, 2001

By 

Randall P. Harrison "Randall Harrison, Ph.D." (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Amsterdam: A Traveler's Literary Companion (Paperback)

A delightful book! Makes me wish I was headed again for Amsterdam tomorrow. Fortunately, I do have friends headed that way this year and it's going to make a great going away present. This "traveler's literary companion" gives the English-speaking reader a glimpse they usually never get of a complex city. It's like being given the keys to the hidden treasures that most tourists don't see. While the typical guide gives a quick sketch of the main outlines, this book presents an in-depth portrait worthy of an old Dutch master. Enjoy! I sure did.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worthy of its 5 stars, October 14, 2005

By 

Paul L (California, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Amsterdam: A Traveler's Literary Companion (Paperback)

I don't have a whole lot to add to these great reviews other than stating that this book deserves its current five-star rating. The excerpts are well-chosen and they really help the reader see into the lives of the Dutch from multiple angles. The fact that the excerpts are bite-size makes this an especially desirable book to take with you to read on the plane or in your hotel/apartment each night.

I am leading a group to the Netherlands next year and this will likely be required reading.