Gravity : the allure of distance : essays on the act of travel / W. Scott Olsen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Olsen, W. Scott, 1958-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Olsen, W. Scott, 1958---Travel.

Olsen, W. Scott.

Olsen, W. Scott, 1958-.

Travel.

Voyages and travels.

Physical Description:

x, 228 pages ; 22 cm

Place of Publication:

Salt Lake City : University of Utah Press, [2003]

Summary:

On the road again "This is a book about gravity, the allure of distance, the attraction of the far away. And while many books are about the other places, this is not one of them. This is a book about the act of going." ANSWERING THE CALL OF THE ROAD, Scott Olsen takes off in this series of literate, wry essays to find out what there is to learn in the space between "here" and "there, " tackling with alacrity such esoteric subjects as the philosophy of topography, the fluidity of borders, and the comfort of the familiar found in a roadside McDonald's. Whether he's musing at the edge of a cliff in New Zealand, on the rim of the Arctic, or behind the wheel of his old Jeep halfway between Washington, D.C. and home, Olsen opens our minds to a kind of tourism that wants to take in everything with fresh eyes, wants to find out what's around the corner, wants to hear the stories we haven't yet heard. His essays remind us that it isn't always the destination but rather the journey that matters.

Contents:

The Love of Maps 5

An Advent Nature 23

Departures 35

At the Hangi 45

So Far from Home 61

Gravity 83

A Tourist's Petition 109

Banff in a Day 121

The Lolo Pass 143

Road Notes 157

The Joy of Beginning 163

Pointed Home - 1991 181

Dust and Gravel, Beauty and Dreams 211.

ISBN:

0874807492

OCLC:

51518324