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

~ (Author) "I am a travel editor in Florida, job and geography conspiring to place me at the apex, simultaneously, of envy and invisibility..." (more)
Key Phrases: travel editor, Las Vegas, United States, New York (more...)

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.

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

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: The Lyons Press; 1st edition (September 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592281702
• ISBN-13: 978-1592281701
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,208,850 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #20 in

  Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Regional Canada > Territories

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 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.

5 of 6 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

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.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Travel writing to take with you., January 12, 2007

By	Reader Views "www.readerviews.com" (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews

Reviewed by Olivera Baumgartner-Jackson for Reader Views (1/07)

Being professionally involved with the travel industry for years, I've met my share of travelers and my share of tourists. Same thing applies to travel writing - some writers are tourists, some are travelers. Thomas Swick is without a doubt a traveler. His "A Way to See the World" is subtitled "From Texas to Transylvania with a Maverick Traveler" which immediately gives you an inkling on the scope of his writing. What the title does not convey is how deeply Mr. Swick explored every place described within this marvelous book. He delves into the usual topics of history, landscape and culture; and while all of those are great reading, in my opinion he truly excels when describing the people and their everyday lives.

No matter where his travels take him, be it to Cuba on a cultural exchange, to the Croatian seaside, a carnival in Trinidad or the one in Mobile, Alabama, a dinner with cartoonists in Russia, a baseball game in Chicago, the last leg of Oregon trail or searching for Hungarians in Transylvania, Thomas Swicks discovers the people and talks to them. More importantly, he lets them talk when they so desire. And he listens real well. His explanations are brief and only added when necessary. He discovers real people everywhere he goes, even on board of a cruise ship and in a tennis tournament in Miami.

His observations are keen and detailed and he captures the spirit of each place wonderfully well. Take, for example, this brief scene during the carnival in Trinidad: "At nine the next morning - five hours after the soca stopped - eight middle-aged Germans sat eating fried eggs and tomatoes on the terrace. `Winston, what time is it?' one of them asked the manager. `Time? I don't know. It's carnival.' Then Winston went and put on some calypso."

Or this absolutely brilliant description of Americans: "Restlessness is in our genes. It shows itself in everything from our national literature - `Moby Dick,' `Huckleberry Finn,' `On the Road' - to the short life of the average address book. [...] It seems no coincidence that our largest export company is Boeing. From a historical perspective, no other country could have beaten us to the moon. If, as is said, England is people and France a civilization, the United States is an experiment in perpetual motion."

Each of his stories in "A Way to See the World" is different and every single one is wonderful reading. Take them with you on your next trip, keep them in your car for when you have to wait somewhere or devour a whole book in one sitting when you are too broke or too busy to get on the road yourself - in each and every case they will open your eyes to how life-changing, exhilarating and wonderful travel could and should be.