Travels with Samantha [Paperback]

Philip Greenspun (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 14, 2000

This book is about the summer I spent seeing North America, meeting North Americans, and trying to figure out how people live, writes Greenspun after losing his companion. Youll come face to face with examples of the stunning ethnic, scenic, and cultural richness of the continent. Meet both sides of the language war in Montreal, bored youths in the Midwest, North Dakota Harley riders, struggling single mothers in the Yukon, and free spirits in Alaska. Join Greenspun as he travels up the spine of the Rocky Mountains into Canada and then up the Alaska Highway. Splash down in a float plane and spend a week with bears.

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

Travels with Samantha was born of the world's indifference to the World Wide Web and then paradoxically grew to prominence with the Web. The hardcopy edition marks the 7th anniversary of the Internet original.

I drove to Alaska and back in the summer of 1993 because I could not get other researchers at MIT interested in Internet-based applications. North America is not an exotic destination for a North American but I learned far more on this trip than on any taken before or since. Having a common linguistic and cultural background enabled me to quickly identify significantly different points of view.

It is tempting now to go back and "improve" the book. As a society we've learned some things since 1993. As an individual, I've learned some things in making the journey from age 30 to age 37. If I drove the 15,000 miles again without the pressure of having to write 19 chapters I could concentrate on photography. But I've resisted the temptation and Travels with Samantha is more or less the text that I wrote in 1993 and the photos that I took in the stolen hours between driving the car, researching the countryside, talking to people, and writing down their ideas. I think it is more interesting to leave the book as a record of what life was like for a set of people in 1993 and leave literary aspirations to those with literary aspirations.

As a long-time advocate of "if you want a printed copy, come to my Web site and print it out on your laser printer," I'm pleasantly surprised by the way the physical book looks and works. The drum scans and four-color printing, though fantastically expensive, reach levels of quality that is often beyond custom Cibachrome prints that I've had made from the original slides.

About the Author

Philip Greenspun founded the Scalable Systems for Online Communities group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is the author of five books, mostly on horrifyingly dull technical subjects. Greenspun was born in 1963 and raised in Bethesda, Maryland. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with Alex, his Samoyed.

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: ArsDigita Press (July 14, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1588750019
• ISBN-13: 978-1588750013
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 8.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,016,832 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A "Must Read" for any introspective traveler/photographer, August 15, 2000

By 

Jay J. Pulli (Fairfax, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Travels with Samantha (Paperback)

I first ran across this book online in 1995 or so when the World Wide Web was just starting. The story of Philip's "time off" from MIT, the why and where, caught my attention immediately for a number of reasons: the excellent photography, the reason for his time off (the death of his dog) and the MIT connection. What Philip does is rather unique, that is, merge excellent travel writing with excellent original photography to tell the whole story (most books liek this rely on different authors and photographers, and hence there is a certain disconnect). Since discovering the online book, I have pointed dozens of friends to it, and I believe all have gone on to become fans of Philip's writing and photography. I imagine I will give away a number of copies of the printed versions as upcoming holiday gifts.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting insights, good photography, August 11, 2000

By 

Douglas M. Broussard "vought" (San Jose, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Travels with Samantha (Paperback)

Phil Greenspun's Travels with Samantha has been online for a while, and I've read the book twice.

From the touching opening chapters to the wandering, wide open details of Phil's journey, we get insight into the American people - not an idealized mom n' pop Lake Wobegon days America, and not a gritty NYPD blue America, but the real country, seen through the eyes and pen (and PowerBook) of a fairly objective and educated man.

Read this book. It isn't long, and you may not like as much as I have, but I guarantee you'll learn something. The photographs are pleasant too.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful and Inspirational, January 10, 2002

By 

Van Goodwin (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Travels with Samantha (Paperback)

I read this book online before it was ever printed, and immediately grabbed a copy of the print version still hot off the press. This book is an excellent, easy read, with deep moments of reflection kept light by Greenspun's usual wit.

If this piece doesn't inspire you to appreciate the vast expanses of these United States and fill you with a yearning to explore them, nothing will.

The rich photography populating this book illustrates the people and places that Greenspun visits. Yes, you get the descriptions of what somebody looks like, as with any account; but with this book, you actually get to see the people Greenspun ran into along his way, and witness the majesty that I feel provides the underlying inspiration for the work.

Buy it. Read it. Keep it. Read it again in a few years. It will never get old.