A Way to See the World: From Texas to Transylvania With a Maverick Traveler [Paperback]

Thomas Swick (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2005

Take a journey of discovery to the unsung places on the globe.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

As travel editor for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Swick travels all over the world, writes about it and sees the proof of his journeys in the Sunday papers. Although his job could easily spark considerable envy among readers, the author possesses a healthy sense of proportion when talking about his profession: "[Travel editors] lack seriousness of purpose and, in a chronically superficial profession, depth. In a dilettante's game, we are the ultimate gadabouts." Swick proceeds to take them around the world to countries and cities that he has no good reason to visit and no overarching thesis to prove or disprove-he just wants to go. He traipses from Columbus, Ohio, to Normandy, France, and on to Szeged, Hungary. His chapter on Vietnam doesn't begin with any assumptions, except a desire to hang out and do what travel writers do: meet people, see the sights and spend time in cafes chatting with locals. Similarly fascinating are his trips to Turkey, which seems at once friendlier and more terrifying than it should, and Minnesota, where Swick conducts a few sharp interviews with the state's battling giants: Gov. Jesse Ventura and Garrison Keillor. Swick is an enjoyable companion: knowledgeable but not too wordy, a fellow who knows when to describe the passing countryside and when to let the people who actually live there just talk.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"This is travel writing as it should be! Swick gives a sense of history, land, and people, all in a concise and memorable way."
--Ben Franklin Awards Judge

"Swick is an enjoyable companion: knowledgeable but not too wordy, a fellow who knows when to describe the passing countryside and when to let the people who actually live there just talk."
--Publishers Weekly

"A collection of essays that are astute, slyly humorous, informative, and unabashedly literary. Wonderfully evocative reportage. Readers will be pleasantly transported by this bookish, culturally responsive traveling companion. Recommended for all libraries."
--Library Journal

"A surprising enjoyable read. This might be an interesting book for a book club discussion group."--Ben Franklin Awards Judge

"Mr. Swick's keen awareness of travel clinches only spurs him to greater originality-just as living in a cultural wasteland only sharpens his appreciation of far-away oases."
--Wall Street Journal

"All you have to do to follow his footsteps is turn the page, and you'll see the world in a new way."
--Newsday

"Swick captures the wide-eyed wonder of being in unimagined places and the sheer delight of discovering something new far away from the comfort of the familiar."
--Chicago Tribune

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: The Lyons Press; 1st edition (June 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159228647X
• ISBN-13: 978-1592286478
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,901,377 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A first-person journey which is stimulating, fun, and never too predictable, November 7, 2005

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Way to See the World: From Texas to Transylvania With a Maverick Traveler (Paperback)

Thomas Swick's A Way To See The World: From Texas To Transylvania With A Maverick Traveler isn't your usual travelogue of wild and woolly adventures; for Swick chooses no ordinary path for his journeys. His accounts are unconventional at the least; from attending a hobo convention in Iowa to his search for James Thurber's spirit in Columbus, OH and his entry to the forbidden Cuba on a cultural exchange program. Colorful observations of counter-culture and local color provide a first-person journey which is stimulating, fun, and never too predictable. A fine armchair adventure awaits.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The world's mine oyster, which I with pen will open., September 26, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: A Way to See the World: From Texas to Transylvania With a Maverick Traveler (Hardcover)

Delightful! Thomas Swick's writing is elegant, his observations about the places I've been to are perfect, and his descriptions of places I haven't seen make me feel like I've just been there. Highly recommended.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beyond travel, November 16, 2003

By 

Webb Chiles (Charlestown, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Way to See the World: From Texas to Transylvania With a Maverick Traveler (Hardcover)

Tom Swick has written not just an exceptional travel book, but an exceptional book. Period. Horizon broadening, mind opening, amusing, pure pleasure.