Tag Archives: Alexandria

What Is Your Alibi For Travel?

Destination: Rome, New York City, Tuscany, Paris, Barcelona, Alexandria Egypt

Book Cover

Book: Alibis:Essays on Elsewhere by André Aciman

André Aciman travels with a very different mindset than you and I.  We are going away from our home to a different place.  He agrees with T.S. Eliot, who said, “The end is where we start from.”

A journey, he says, always is FROM somewhere. But in his case, home is elsewhere in time. Since it is difficult to pin down where he comes from–anywhere he goes is also elsewhere.  His essays play with the idea of memory of place, trying to recover the past, fiction that sneaks into memoir, and the time-bending quality of anticipation. Continue reading What Is Your Alibi For Travel?

New book: Chick-Hist-Lit

Cairo mosque

Destination: Cairo, Alexandria, Istanbul in WWII


Book: Jasmine Nights (NEW in U.S. June 2012) by Julia Gregson

Julia Gregson specializes in chick-hist-lit.  I invented that to mean  historical novels featuring adventurous and strong-willed female characters in romantic situations in exotic locations. And she bases their adventures on true stories.  In 2009, I reviewed her best seller, East of the Sun and so I was happy to take a look at her new Jasmine Nights .   (Her website www.juliagregson.net was not loading properly when I drafted this. Perhaps you’ll have better luck.) Continue reading New book: Chick-Hist-Lit