Books that Travel – Flung

10 Essential Works of Literature about Delhi

Elen Turner — Fri, 13 Apr 2018 00:42:43 +0000

India’s capital is a full, fascinating city with a long past that prompts a certain air of nostalgia in many writers. The best are able to capture its complex historical layers while addressing the facts of the modern metropolis, with all of the benefits and drawbacks of such a position. From a book-length poem about the love affair of a Sufi saint to a Booker-winning portrayal of the city’s class struggles, here are 10 great books about Delhi… […]

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5 Things You Never Knew about the U.S. Territories

Poornima Apte — Mon, 10 Apr 2017 23:05:28 +0000

From sea to shining sea—that last line of “America the Beautiful” speaks to an integral element of the American narrative, in which we’re romanced by a vast, beautiful, and unified land. Sure, Americans include nods to Hawaii and Alaska when considering their country—those are two states with stars on the flag, after all. But many fail to give the other territories much thought. And it’s our loss, argues Doug Mack in his rollicking new travelogue, The Not-Quite States of America: […]

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10 Great Works of Literature About Los Angeles

Sarah Stodola — Thu, 16 Mar 2017 14:52:00 +0000

The city known for churning out fantastical versions of life via film tends toward a darker sensibility in its fiction. Of course, when it’s been in a more sullen mood, the Hollywood machine has adapted a good number of these novels to the silver screen. Here are 10 great novels about Los Angeles… [columns] [column size=”third” last=”no”] [/column] [column size=”third” last=”no”] The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler This atmospheric, high-brow crime novel introduced the world to Philip Marlowe, who conducted […]

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Great Works of Literature About West Africa

Sarah Stodola — Thu, 19 Jan 2017 22:48:06 +0000

In the past couple of decades, the amount of literature out of West Africa available to English speakers in the West has increased manifold, and in recent years it’s been expanding beyond the historical subjects of war and slavery to reflect the humanity of everyday life in the region. If you’re heading to West Africa, here are 10 great books that will help you better appreciate the visit… [columns] [column size=”third” last=”no”] [/column] [column size=”third” last=”no”] Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi […]

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6 Fascinating Facts About Bourbon from ‘Bourbon Empire’

Sarah Stodola — Mon, 08 Aug 2016 21:41:43 +0000

As is my wont, I only took an interest in Bourbon Empire: The Past and Future of America’s Whiskey, Reid Mitenbuler’s engrossing book on the history of America’s quintessential liquor, after returning from a trip to Kentucky’s Bourbon Trail earlier this summer—it’s a repeat of my approach to guidebooks in general, which I always buy before the trip, but fail to read mostly until I get home from it. And so Bourbon Empire is a guidebook of sorts, sifting through an […]

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10 Great Works of Literature about Florida

Sarah Stodola — Tue, 05 Apr 2016 23:41:36 +0000

The best books about Florida tend toward what are arguably that state’s sleaziest features–its seedy backwaters (literal and other), its wayward characters, its activities of dubious legality. In other words, you won’t find a reflection of your retired grandparents’ condo anywhere in this literature (unless your grandparents are seriously exceptional examples of such). If you’re heading to Florida, here are 10 all-time-best books about the state that will help you better appreciate the visit… [columns] [column size=”third” last=”no”] […]

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