Judith Hamera

Years ago, when I reviewed the remarkable Cambridge Companion to Travel Writing, my only complaint was that it didn't cover more geographic regions. Now my wish has come true with The Cambridge Companion to American Travel Writing. Like its predecessor it is a collection of linked essays by 15 scholars. It is broken into three sections: 1) travel writing by Americans about America (Niagra, Mississippi, Southwest); 2) travel writing by Americans outside of America (Europe, Middle East, Pacific, Latin America); 3) and thematic topics like black and woman travel writers, and an essay on the "road book". In general I found most of the essays useful surveys of the important literature within the defined scope. The authors take unique approaches - some are more theory based, using particular works as examples to make a point, while others are more practical, attempting an authoritative survey of the field.

After reading through this I wonder about the wisdom of categorizing travel literature by nation-state. Why limit it to American writers only, at a minimum British and American writers were equally influential, it's impossible to untangle the field by nationality. I think it is the books ultimate weakness, it is not an authoritative survey since it arbitrarily excludes so many important non-American writers. Geography has political borders, but writers from all nations have written about America, just as Americans have written about other nations. It's ironic because the field of travel studies looks at this very issue of "exclusion", it is one of the core tenants of the discipline, but the book remains trapped by the very thing it purports to describe.

I recommend it for the serious reader of travel writing because the essays are generally good and one will find a number of reading ideas ranging from the 18th century to the 2000's.

--Review by Stephen Balbach, via CoolReading (c) 2008 cc-by-nd… (meer)