The House on Via Gombito, Second Edition: Writing by American Women Abroad (A New Rivers Abroad Book) [Paperback]

Madelon Sprengnether (Editor), C. W. Truesdale (Editor)

Book Description

Series: A New Rivers Abroad Book | Publication Date: October 1, 1997

A classic book of travel writing with a new introduction, reprinted to complement New Rivers second collection Tanzania on Tuesday and the forthcoming anthology An Inn Near Kyoto.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

For most of history, men have been writing about travel and calling it heroic. In the 46 pieces contained in The House on Via Gombito, women take the same opportunity and end up exploring inner landscapes as well as outer ones. Traveling as a woman is very different from traveling as a man, and the voices anthologized here wrestle with familiar demons such as loneliness, harassment, and fear. But they also resonate with strength, independence, and the joys of discovery.

The circumstances of these women's journeys vary widely--from a few weeks abroad to ten years on the Greek island of Mykonos--and so do the perspectives. A 60-year-old woman writes her daughter from her new teaching job in Zambia. A Peace Corps volunteer find herself physically and psychologically shattered by a stint in Morocco. A young woman drops her life in the States, flies to England, and buys a 10-year-old Austin Mini, planning to travel until her money runs out. Organized by region, The House on Via Gombito is perfect reading for anyone thinking of or dreaming about traveling abroad.

Product Details

• Paperback: 506 pages
• Publisher: New Rivers Press; 2 edition (October 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0898231825
• ISBN-13: 978-0898231823
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,338,562 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Dense, varied, uneven, September 5, 2003

By 

Erika Mitchell (E. Calais, VT USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The House on Via Gombito, Second Edition: Writing by American Women Abroad (A New Rivers Abroad Book) (Paperback)

This book is a collection of writings about travel, some fiction, some nonfiction, by women. The only thing that the writings have in common is that many of the authors seem to have some connection with Minnesota. A few of the writings, such as Sarah Streed's Moroccan Memoir are extremely engaging. Others attempt to be poetry in prose and are quite cryptic. The fiction is mixed in with the nonfiction, and this can be a little annoying since the reader is not quite sure what is real and what is not real. Most of the writings are new and original, but some are excerpts from longer works; this is especially the case with the fiction entries. Short biographical blurbs about the authors are provided at the end of the book; it would have been more helpful to read them together with each author's essay or excerpt. With its 500 dense pages, the book is quite long and overbearing, and it includes a lot of material that isn't that well written or interesting. The editors would have been better to use a heavier hand in selecting the best of the material that was submitted to them. But since they didn't, all the writings are there, and the reader is free to pick and choose which selections to read.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One thousand times better, November 7, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The House on Via Gombito, Second Edition: Writing by American Women Abroad (A New Rivers Abroad Book) (Paperback)

One thousand times better than Travelers Tales, A Woman's World, in my opinion, because of the more refined perceptions of the writers, and their explorations of both geographical and emotional landscapes. Michelle Dominique Leigh's, The Blue-Green Seas of Forever, is one of the most original travel essays I've ever read.

5.0 out of 5 stars One thousand times better, November 7, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The House on Via Gombito, Second Edition: Writing by American Women Abroad (A New Rivers Abroad Book) (Paperback)

One thousand times better than Travelers Tales, A Woman's World, because of the more refined perceptions of the writers, and their explorations of both geographical and emotional landscapes. Michelle Dominique Leigh's, The Blue-Green Seas of Forever, is one of the most original travel essays I've ever read.