Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Gardens of Awe and Folly: A Traveler's Journal on the Meaning of Life and Gardening Hardcover – March 1, 2016
Nine masterpiece gardens.
Nine stories of grandeur, sorrow, disaster, triumph, discovery, and joy.
From Scotland to Key West, from Brazil to Paris--even right next door--there is always something to learn about being human from a great garden.
- Print length176 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherBloomsbury USA
- Publication dateMarch 1, 2016
- Dimensions8.17 x 0.73 x 9.25 inches
- ISBN-101632860279
- ISBN-13978-1632860279
Books with Buzz
Discover the latest buzz-worthy books, from mysteries and romance to humor and nonfiction. Explore more
Customers who bought this item also bought
Editorial Reviews
Review
"An engaging guide to gardens in locales ranging from Key West and post-Katrina New Orleans to Paris ('gardening capital of the world') and Marrakech . . . whimsical." ―Kirkus Reviews
"[A] seductive illustrated travelogue . . . there is loveliness and wit through whimsical words and pictures . . . Her splashy watercolors, washing joyfully throughout, include a lesson on how to paint fall leaves." ―Publishers Weekly
"Charming . . . a voyage to nine gardens around the world and [Swift’s] many adventures exploring them." ―Times-Picayune, Inside Out Magazine
"Swift artfully combines history, humor and horticulture to recount journeys to nine magical gardens in different parts of the world . . . This delightful journal touches the heart and moves the spirit." - The Oregonian
“I probably cannot adequately convey how much I absolutely loved reading When Wanderers Cease to Roam . . . It's charming, delightful and captivating . . . A perfect gift for travelers, those with artistic souls, those with a sense of wonder, those who are hug-the-hearths--in short, nearly everyone on your gift list.” ―Nancy Pearl, NPR.org, on WHEN WANDERERS CEASE TO ROAM
"J'adore Vivian Swift--my favorite travel writer, my favorite travel doodler. This book is a little secret pocket of treasure and intimacy. Enjoy every careful and carefree detail!" ―Elizabeth Gilbert on LE ROAD TRIP
“Swift's narrative feels like a vacation . . . A fun, funny, and wonderful experience; highly recommended.” ―Library Journal on LE ROAD TRIP
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Bloomsbury USA (March 1, 2016)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 176 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1632860279
- ISBN-13 : 978-1632860279
- Item Weight : 1.62 pounds
- Dimensions : 8.17 x 0.73 x 9.25 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #845,618 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,040 in Garden Design (Books)
- #1,619 in Travel Writing Reference
- #2,868 in Travelogues & Travel Essays
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

www.vivianswiftblog.com
Just like all my books, my blog goes very well with a glass of wine. Nothing fancy. . . I'm thinking a Pinot Grigio from Trader Joe's.
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on Amazon-
Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
With delightful humor, a generous sprinkling of quotes, information about plants I never considered, an eye for architecture and enchanting paintings, the book is a journey into the worlds of poets, devoted amateur gardeners, gardening tips and the pecking order of the 17th century health care system! Added into the mix is a two page spread where the author demonstrates her painting technique for picture-perfect autumn leaves.
Five reasons to love this book? The paintings, the humor, the gardening tips, intriguing back stories and finally, beautiful production values and the sheer beauty of the finished product.
If I must find fault with Gardens of Awe and Folly it is quite simply because Vivian Swift stops at nine gardens, while I would have loved her to go on and on. Take this book, as I hope you would take the other two books by Vivian Swift ("When Wanderers Cease to Roam" and "Le Road Trip") and savor every second. Perhaps you'll be like me and start reading all over again -- after you order a copy or two for your favorite garden-loving friends!
Swift’s book is classified as Garden Essays, but it far exceeds this label. She describes her work as “an illustrated book for grownups,” with watercolor art, stories, thought provoking collages, and life lessons. Swift shares conversations she had with nine significant gardens. Not actual conversations with the gardeners but the stories found within and around the garden gate.
She is in awe of the complexity of the native plant societies and the powerful color of Majorelle Bleu. The spirit of gardeners is illustrated through Karen rebuilding her garden after hurricane Katrina. Karen purchased a French vintage garden gate, a “Katrinket, a ridiculously expensive, indulgent, and therapeutic thing” to help lift her out of misery. Swift appreciates the folly of gardeners taking on the burden of rearranging nature to create their vision of beauty and provides examples from garden history to make us all feel better.
After you have immersed yourself in this reading adventure, examining every little detail of this beautiful book, you will want to keep it close by. Then in an instant you can open it again to celebrate a sunset in Key West, have tea in Morocco, feel the chill of a winter rain in Scotland, walk in the light of brief autumn hours on Long Island, and sip champagne among a dozen roses in New Orleans. Thanks to Swift, you’ll be prepared for your own conversations with gardens no matter where you travel.
This is a book to savor in bits, taking in all the art and descriptions while trying to make the book last as long as possible.
Books for such value. This is a beautiful collectors book, and the cover is A good portion of what makes it so. I ordered the other book of hers through another vendor, and the cover was missing. I didn’t realize how important it was. Thank you for the impeccability!




