Sand in My Bra and Other Misadventures: Funny Women Write from the Road (Travelers' Tales Guides) [Paperback]

Jennifer L. Leo (Editor), Jessica Maxwell (Introduction)

Book Description

Series: Travelers' Tales Guides | Publication Date: March 2003

Travel doesn’t always live up to one’s expectations — it sometimes exceeds them. For the 25 women contributors to Sand in My Bra and Other Misadventures, hitting the road inspires tales that their friends and families, as well as the readers of this book, will never forget. Readers laugh, cry, and commiserate with these women and their comical, bizarre, and unforgettable adventures including being chased by a herd of 50 African elephants, getting bitten by a goddess-possessed healer in Kathmandu, nightclubbing with a prude in Bangkok’s infamous Patpong sex district, and observing the shenanigans of a delirious new son-in-law in the Himalayas. Contributors include Anne Lamott, Ellen Degeneres, Sandra Tsing Loh, Sarah Vowell, and Cynthia Kaplan.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Travel writer Leo has collected 28 short and snappy travelstories bursting with exuberant candor and crackling humor sure toleave readers feeling that to not have an adventure to remember is agreat loss indeed. Many of these bite-size reminiscences chroniclepersonal ordeals endured in places with unfamiliar amenities,languages and/or cultures. For example, Christie Eckardt's elasticallychallenged underwear falls down in a Muslim country; Kathleen Meyer(How to Shit in the Woods) writes about-what else?-"thissubject... which seems to be overwhelmingly mine"; and Anne Lamott isjealous of younger backsides on the beach. The gems of the bunch areNancy Bartlett's "Panic, in Any Other Language," describing anembarrassing incident in an opulent Italian swimsuit boutique;Christine Michaud's "Chador Etiquette," on her well-intentioned butdisastrous attempt to wear a chador (a large black cloak and headcovering) to a Kuwait shopping mall; and Christine Nielsen's titlestory, which manages, completely by her description of participatingin it, to endear readers to the annual Burning Man project in theNevada desert, a "crazy celebration of life's diversity andcreativity." Some of the stories are on the lengthy side, but as awhole, the anthology will definitely light a fire under, as thededication states, "all the women who sit at home or behind theirdesks bitching that they never get to go anywhere."
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Travelers' Tales is a valuable addition to any pre-departure reading list

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 232 pages
• Publisher: Travelers' Tales; 1 edition (March 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1885211929
• ISBN-13: 978-1885211927
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #514,938 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jen Leo is a natural self-promoter, has a talent for creative publicity, and has built her platform through word-of-mouth marketing. She has risen to the top of the travel writing industry and has six books to her credit including the bestselling SAND IN MY BRA, and the award-winning travel humor series that followed. Her travel writing has also appeared in her book, NIGHT + DAY LAS VEGAS (Pulse Guides 2006), TIME, STUDENT TRAVELER,and BREAK Magazine, among others. In 2005, Jen jumped genres and built her second niche as a poker writer. She is the gossip columnist for BLUFF, writes the "Men of Poker" column for WOMAN POKER PLAYER, and has also written for AUDREY, PokerPages.com, and CardSquad.com. She is currently at work on the GIRLFRIEND'S GUIDE TO DATING A POKER PLAYER, a humorous look at card-slinging men from the women's point of view.

Jen is also known as a professional blogger.WrittenRoad.com, an online resource for travel writers was named one of Writers Digest's 101 Best Websites for Writers, and was noted as one of Frommer's favorite Travel Blogs. She has also written for HotelChatter.com, Weblogs Inc, and started a new blog for those traveling to Sin City called VivaLasVegasBlog.com.

Currently based in Los Angeles, CA, Jen makes frequent visits to Las Vegas and San Francisco. You can catch her teaching travel writing at the New York Times Travel Show and the Book Passage Travel Writers and Photographers Conference, She loves public speaking, and is great as a motivational speaker for writers.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Laugh out loud hysteria!, September 5, 2005

By 

Pamela Pailes (Corpus Christi, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sand in My Bra and Other Misadventures: Funny Women Write from the Road (Travelers' Tales Guides) (Paperback)

I picked this book up on a recent trip to San Francisco to read on the plane home to Texas. All I can say is, don't read this book on a plane unless you know the person sitting next to you WELL - it had me laughing hysterically (and loudly). Fortunately, I was sitting with my husband...

The only possible drawback is that it really does deal mostly with things that women can relate to. From explaining a gynecological problem in a foreign language to being the less-than-perfect body on the beach with bikini clad babes, it definitely speaks to the woman traveler. As for me - I could definitely relate. Buy it for your next plane ride!

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Cute Travel Stories, November 14, 2004

By 

J. Marchese (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sand in My Bra and Other Misadventures: Funny Women Write from the Road (Travelers' Tales Guides) (Paperback)

A cute collection of travel stories by women. I thought it would be funnier than it was. Many of these essays are older and published previously.

A few of the essays stood out (those by Sandra Tsing Loh, Jennifer Leo, Christine Nielse, Sarah Vowell, Christine Michaud, Alison Wright) and others were soon forgotten or difficult to get through (Anne Lamott, Deborah Chaney, E. Jean Carroll, Michele Peterson, Margo Kaufman).

One thing for sure, is that reading these stories makes you want to travel.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars So-so collection..., March 5, 2005

By 

Victory Silvers - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sand in My Bra and Other Misadventures: Funny Women Write from the Road (Travelers' Tales Guides) (Paperback)

These stories are all about women in various traveling situations. I expected more of them to be funny, but hardly any were. Some of them were downright stupid, actually. Quite a few locations were covered, but many of them didn't really give me a good sense of place. I didn't think this was a good book, travel or not.