The Ideals Guide to Literary Places in the U.S

by Michelle Prater Burke

Here is a travel book with a difference! For the armchair traveler, there are fascinating descriptions, sketches, and quotes from the authors. For the more adventurous, there are maps, directions, and information on how to ger there and the features of each place. And there are over 50 places included, each associated with one of America's greatest writers. Clearly and logically presented, this is a beautiful book that is fun to read as well as a practical guide to America.

Genres: Travel, Reference, Nonfiction

208 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1998

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sigh. I really wanted to like this book. I bought it to be inspired and get possible trip ideas. I expected that this guide would entice me to want to go visit these homes. But this book does not do that - at all. It's dry, dry, dry. No fun, no excitement. Ugh.

The homes are organized by regions, which is fine. But there was no an introduction to explain the author's focus and what she wanted us readers to get from her hard work putting this book together. Now that I have read the book, I have gathered that the homes included in this book are all on the national registry of historic places. There are 54 homes listed in the book. Only one home belonged to an African American (Ann Spencer), only one home was located in New Jersey (Walt Whitman's home in Camden), and only one home was located in one of the five boroughs of Manhattan (Edgar Allen Poe's cottage in the Bronx). These observations bothered me. How could this be?

I think it would have been worth the effort to provide an explanation of what it takes to get a house on the national registry in the first place. Why not include that in an introduction? Maybe, it would have been useful to make a note of some prominent writers' homes that were not saved for posterity and some of the reasons why they weren't. Maybe it would help to explain how many writers over the years haven't had the luxury of owning a home?

I also noticed was that some of the writers noted in the book seemed obscure. Examples include Joel Chandler Harris, Gene Stratton-Porter, James Whitcomb Riley, Eugene Field and Sidney Lanier. Are these household names worthy of being included in this book? i don't know, but their homes are available to visit.

I liked that the book included visitor information (the home layout, visiting hours and other points of interest in the area). This information is included in the back, so you have to flip back and forth to get the full information for each home. I also liked the color photos of the homes and the references to where the writers preferred to write in their homes. Other details included the books each author wrote while living in the specific home and interesting details not to miss, such as interior designs, prominent visitors, gardens and views of the surrounding landscape. One note that that I particularly enjoyed was an explanation that Robert Frost's poems are placed on plaques on trees in the woods surrounding his home.

Overall, the book lacked excitement. I would give the book 2 and half stars, rounding up because there is an index and there are useful references. But the guide did not inspire me to want to travel to any of these places and that is sad.

[Kay Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're planning to travel this summer, you might want to pick up a copy of this book and plan a literary tour of historic homes where authors lived and worked.

Burke divides the book into five regions--New England, Middle Atlantic, Southeast, Midwest, and Far West. Most museums are listed here, with full-color photographs and useful info like location (with map), hours, admission fees, and nearby places of interest.

Some of the best literary museums in the U. S., with historic house tours, programs, and special events, are Edith Wharton's The Mount in Lenox, Massachusetts; Washington Irving's Sunnyside in Tarrytown, New York; and the Pearl S. Buck House in Perkasie, Pennsylvania.