AOL's Book Maven

Lots of people are into literary travel reading, these days -- Salon.com devotes an entire column to literature of place, for example, and my beloved PAGES magazine has an occasional feature on it, too. I recently mentioned some books about Berlin when I took off on my vacation, and I know other friends who like to read fiction and narrative non-fiction about cities and countries before they visit.

But there's another side to literary tourism, of course, and that is to actually visit places that inspire great works of literature. I was reminded of this when I received a press release from I Love New York the other day titled "Classic Novels Come Alive in New York State: Visit the places that inspired Fitzgerald, Wharton, Irving and others."

        Staatsburgh State Historic Site -- Inspiration for 'The House of Mirth'

I believe that visiting literary sites is always worthwhile, but I was particularly caught by this release because I grew up in New York State and visited several of the places mentioned when I was a child. From the Staatsburgh Estate, which Edith Wharton used as the model for Bellomont in 'The House of Mirth,' to Almonzo Wilder's childhood farm (yes, Laura Ingalls' future husband grew up in New York, not the Midwest!) to the Long Island of 'The Great Gatsby,'  and much more (I'm overlooking Washington Irving, the West Point of Edgar Allen Poe, Manhattan!!!, just to mention a few), New York offers a truly diverse collection of places to visit for literary travellers.

If anyone has ever been to one of the places I've mentioned, or if you've got one in New York to add, please do. If you've got ideas for other "Literary Landscapes" entries, email me at bookmaven2005 at aol dot com.

|  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this

• #1 Comment from happinessdreams 
  8/16/06 9:45 PM | Permalink

  i would love to do this.
  eli