My Kind Of Place : Travel Stories From A Woman Who’s Been Everywhere

Susan Orlean is a travel writer with a difference. Her writings for the New Yorker magazine have delighted readers for over ten years, and now those of us who never even crack open the magazine can enjoy her observations in her book My Kind Of Place : Travel Stories From A Woman Who’s Been Everywhere (2004. ANF 910.4 ORL)

Orlean brings us a picture of different parts of the world through unusual stories. For instance, I knew next to nothing about taxidermy until I read “Lifelike”, her chapter on the subject. She attended the 2003 World Taxidermy Championships in Springfield, Illinois, and learned the business is actually in the multi-million dollar range. Practitioners have created a demand for services and for products ranging from frozen goat feet to glass boar eyes.

She also introduces us to the Sunshine Market in Jackson Heights, Queens, NY, where the customers make up a mini-United Nations. This is a supermarket with customers from all income, ethnic and mental health groups. Her account of the young manager and his dealings with difficult customers is inspirational and educational. I’ll have to remember his technique for my own staff.

Travels out of the United States have taken Orlean to both mainstream and obscure destinations. The little kingdom of Bhutan has a very specialized tourist industry. It seems there is a Bhutanese fertility ceremony that attracts women from all over the world, and to enhance the prospects of these women, the Bhutanese have carvings and paintings of penises everywhere. That’s just a little bit of information for you so you won’t be surprised when you travel to Bhutan.

Each chapter is complete in itself so you can read the book in bits and pieces if you like. If unusual travel books are not your thing, then maybe one of these others would interest you.

>> Find this book in VIRL’s catalogue

Taken with permission from Gloria Novak’s “Good Reads at the Library”