Traveler Literary Companions

AVAILABLE JANUARY 2010 Argentina has produced some of the most well-known writers of the Americas: Jorge Luis Borges, Julio Cortázar, and Luisa Valenzuela, to name but a few from the country's capital, Buenos Aires. But what lies beyond Argentina’s urban center will equally intrigue readers as they travel through one of the most geographically and culturally diverse regions of Latin America. This...

Brazil is the largest and arguably the most dynamic country in South America. Each of the myriad cultures is so distinct that it would be impossible to characterize Brazil with one voice. Here is a collection of nearly forty stories drawn from all corners of that vast land, inlcuding the Amazon and its two dominant cities, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Avoiding the pitfalls of a scholarly tome,...

Whether revealing small-town superstitions or exposing Beijing's underworld, these works of literary fiction offer insights to modern China. The diversity and dynamics of a country on its way to being the economic power of the world are reflected here in the literature of its best writers. Travel to the idyllic mountains and streams of West Hunan; a picturesque water town and the silkworm-raising...

Travel to Cuba in the company of its finest writers and gain an understanding of its remarkable mystique. The twenty-one stories in this collection—some of which appear in English for the first time—will take you on an odyssey through the country's rich past to its dynamic present, where it is poised at the brink of immense change. Arranged by the areas of Cuba they illuminate, these stories...

Discover Greece—a country that has inspired centuries of travel —through its best modern writers. Against a superb landscape of islands, rocks, caves, villages, windmills, vineyards, cities, ports, beaches, and ruins, all bathed in the rich light of the Mediterranean, these twenty-four stories draw from the long oral and written evolution of the Greek literary tradition. Incorporating myths, the...

What explains the fact that one of the world's smallest, least assuming countries has consistently been among the top 15 international travel destinations for Americans? Ireland's appeal can be attributed to many things: its blend of picturesque villages and bustling modern cities; its people known for their warmth, charm, stoicism, and individuality; its history—one of the most dramatic of any...

Italy’s rising literary stars join some of its best-known writers—including Nobel-laureate Luigi Pirandello, Natalia Ginzburg, Alberto Moravia, and Antonio Tabucchi—to take the reader on a panoramic tour of both city and countryside, across the social spectrum, surveying the country’s rich cultural history. Explore Italy’s popular tourist destinations and out-of-the-way spots under the fresh and...

Mexico has long been the top travel destination for Americans. But until now, there has not been such a panoramic vision of Mexico offered by some of Mexico's finest contemporary writers of fiction and literary prose. Here are writings—many translated for the first time—that bring you to the people of the beaches, deserts, jungles, snow-capped mountains, and megacities. The voices are rich and...

In time for those planning to travel to South Africa for the 2010 World Cup soccer tournament! Eighteen contemporary short stories by South Africa’s best writers take the reader on a journey through the country's literary landscape. Giants such as Nadine Gordimer, J.M. Coetzee, and Alan Paton (whose Cry, the Beloved Country, excerpted in the book, was made into a major motion picture) are...

The always-alluring city of Vienna becomes even more enticing with the release of a new book of short stories compiled specifically for prospective visitors. Vienna: A Traveler’s Literary Companion seduces readers with some of the finest writing set in the city. The fifteen stories collected in the volume include two by Nobel Prize winners, several by well-known Austrian writers, and even a...