Custom-design your own literary tour using Literary Travelerâ??s Guide to American Literary Sites. Whether you plan a cross-country pilgrimage in the footsteps of Ernest Hemingway, with stops from Key West to Idaho, or are looking for a day trip near home, our travel guide to over 125 sites will be indispensable.
Be Intrigued
As if their creative impulse could not be limited to the pages of a book, many of the authors featured in our guide used their homes for boundless self-expression. From The Mount, Edith Whartonâ??s stately home in the Berkshire Mountains, to Washington Irvingâ??s intimate Sunnyside on the banks of the Hudson River, our guide will introduce you to a new side of your favorite authors.
Be Inspired
This guide is your passport to the intimate world of some of our countryâ??s most visionary authors. Experience a sense of wonder at the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge on the Maine Coast, tour Frederick Douglassâ??s Cedar Hill in Washington, D.C., and visit the cabin on the shores of Walden Pond in Concord Massachusetts, where Henry David Thoreauâ??s home once stood.
Be Delighted
Experience the fun that many of these historic literary sites have to offer. Human and canine visitors alike are invited to make themselves at home in the Reading Garden at the Thurber House in Columbus, Ohio, where sculptures inspired by Thurberâ??s cartoons romp among flowering trees and shrubs. Experience ZORA! the annual festival honoring Zora Neale Hurston, featuring films, food, and live performances.
Be Entertained
Learn about writers whose work inspired Hollywood blockbusters, and who captured the popular imagination of our country. Step into the tiny apartment where Margaret Mitchell penned her epic Gone With the Wind. Visit the idiosyncratic study of General Lew Wallace, author of Ben Hur, the best-selling novel of the 19th century. Take in the exhibits at the Will Rogers Memorial Museum in Claremont, Oklahoma, and learn about the actor, journalist, and radio commentator whose name was a household word in the 1920s and â??30s.
A wealth of experiences await you as you embark on your own literary travels. Please let us know if you recommend any sites that are not on the list.
This listing was compiled with help from Jennifer Ciotta, and Susannah Abbott.
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