Return Passages (Magill’s Literary Annual 1991-2005)
At a glance:
- Author: Larzer Ziff
- First Published: 2000
- Type of Work: History, biography, and literary criticism
- Time of Work: The late eighteenth through the early twentieth centuries
- Setting: The world
- Principal Characters: John Ledyard, John Lloyd Stephens, Bayard Taylor, Mark Twain, Henry James
- Genres: Criticism, Nonfiction, Travel writing, History, Biography
- Subjects: Traveling or travelers, Twentieth century, Authors or writers, Nineteenth century, Literature, Writing, Eighteenth century, Exploration or explorers, Literary criticism
The early twenty-first century is an age when many Americans take distant travel for granted and feel themselves broadly familiar with the entire globe thanks to the news media, television programs, and films. However, if they do want to learn more about the world, they are not likely seek enlightenment in travel books, which constitute a distinctly minor and vaguely defined literary genre that rarely attracts attention.
This was not always so. During the nineteenth century, travel books were among the best-selling and most enthusiastically read books throughout the United...
[The entire page is 2102 words long]
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