Eating Europe: A Meta-Nonfiction Love Story (Writing Travel) [Paperback]

Jon Volkmer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 15, 2006 | Series: Writing Travel

Literary Nonfiction. Travel Writing. EATING EUROPE is travel writing in its most hilarious, poignant, and consequential form. It is the year 2000, and Jon has a grant to write about "the Euro-transitional era." From Amsterdam to Alsace, the tourist life is good. He and Janet eat and drink and spar with breezy affection while Jon pays scant attention to his project. As they drive on toward southern France, it becomes clear that something has gone very wrong--both in the journey itself, and in the telling of the journey. Jon the author steps in to explain that he had stopped writing for three years. In the meantime, the tragedy of 9/11 and the drumbeat of war have changed everything.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jon Volkmer has written numerous travel features for newspapers and magazines. He is director of creative writing at Ursinus College, where he teaches travel writing and travel literature. He is an award-winning fiction writer, essayist and poet, with publications in such journals as Parnassus, Prairie Schooner, Texas Review, and Painted Bride Quarterly. He is the author of THE ART OF COUNTRY GRAIN ELEVATORS, a poetry collection with photographs by Bruce Selyem (Bottom Dog Press.) He holds an MA in Creative Writing from Denver University, and a PhD in English from the University of Nebraska.

Product Details

• Paperback: 253 pages
• Publisher: Parlor Press; Illustrated. edition (October 15, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932559698
• ISBN-13: 978-1932559699
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,203,124 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delicious, de-lovely., October 30, 2006

By 

D. Parker "mykarma" (Lederach, PA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Eating Europe: A Meta-Nonfiction Love Story (Writing Travel) (Paperback)

"Eating Europe" is a delightfully different entry in the category of Provence travel memoirs. What begins as a light-hearted adventure, with the narrator and his wife wining, dining, and bantering their way across southern France, turns into something heavier, darker, and more thought-provoking. In the wake of 9/11 the couple return to France, sadder and older, weighed down by the gravity of world events and struggling to understand each other's responses to the world around them. Volkmer's skillful prose pulls the reader into Jon and Janet's world, occasionally playing with frame-breaking techniques that challenge and entertain. A terrific read.

5.0 out of 5 stars Writing with Conscience, February 15, 2007

By 

Gary D. Reiswig (East Hampton, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Eating Europe: A Meta-Nonfiction Love Story (Writing Travel) (Hardcover)

I purchased this book on the recommendation of a friend and got much more than I expected. The first half is a romantic romp through the French country side, with witty gastronomical observations riding the rumble seat while the relation between the lovers, Jon and Janet, occupies the driver's seat or sometimes rides shotgun. Then things get complicated as the writer's consciousness about truth duels with his need to live with the terms of his professorial position and meet the requirements of a grant, while, at the same time, he drives and loves. This exploration of romance, literary genre, and writing with conscience is, in my opinion, close to genius. While I would not call it a Provence Travel Memoir, as others have, I'd call it a great trip, worth taking.

4.0 out of 5 stars Provence Travel Memoir, December 29, 2006

By 

Patrick C. Dougherty - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Eating Europe: A Meta-Nonfiction Love Story (Writing Travel) (Paperback)

The prose roped me in from the beginning, even before I was able to discern what the book was about. I continued to read, for the sheer enjoyment of the pictures the writing produced. Eventually, I realized I was reading anecdotes that could just as easily been about me and one of my partners as about the author and his wife. Universal themes of relationships emerged from every chapter as I read on. Some brought back happy memories, some brought back painful memories. I substituted myself for the author and read faster and faster, in spite of the fact I wanted to make the book last. Joy of reading came from exploration of the human soul. It was the same kind of joy, from the same source, I have gotten from Dostoyevsky, and Kesey, and Helprin, and many other authors.

I derived an immense amount of pleasure from Eating Europe, yet I gave it only 4 stars. I felt no resolution. Instead I felt that literary trickery had been substituted for an ending to the story. That is why I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5.