Venice, a city steeped in a thousand years of history, art and architecture, teeters in precarious balance between endurance and decay. Its architectu <more...>ral treasures crumble, foundations shift, marble ornaments fall, even as efforts to preserve them are underway. The City of Falling Angels opens on the evening of January 29, 1996, when a dramatic fire destroys the historic Fenice opera house. The loss of the Fenice, where five of Verdi's operas premiered, is a catastrophe for Venetians. Arriving in Venice three days after the fire, Berendt becomes a kind of detective, nquiring into the nature of life in this remarkable museum-city, while gradually revealing the truth about the fire.

Back in America after twenty years in Britain, Bill Bryson decided to reacquaint himself with his native country by walking the 2,100-mile Appalachian <more...> Trail, which stretches from Georgia to Maine. The AT offers an astonishing landscape of silent forests and sparkling lakes, and to a writer with the comic genius of Bill Bryson, it also provides endless opportunities to witness the majestic silliness of his fellow human beings.

Australia is a country that exists on a vast scale. It is the only island that is also a continent and the only continent that is also a country. Desp <more...>ite being the most desiccated, infertile, and climatically aggressive of all inhabited continents, it teems with life. In fact, Australia has more things that can kill you in extremely nasty ways than anywhere else: sharks, crocodiles, the ten most deadly poisonous snakes on the planet, fluffy yet toxic caterpillars, seashells that actually attack you, and the unbelievable box jellyfish (don't ask). The dangerous riptides of the sea and the sun-baked wastes of the outback both lie in wait for the unwary. It's one tough country.

Like many of his generation, Bill Bryson backpacked across Europe in the early seventies, in search of enlightenment, beer, and women. Twenty years l <more...>ater he decided to retrace the journey he undertook in the halcyon days of his youth. The result is Neither Here Nor There, an affectionate and riotously funny pilgrimage from the frozen wastes of Scandinavia to the chaotic tumult of Istanbul, with stops along the way in Europe's most diverting and historic locales. Like many of his generation, Bill Bryson backpacked across Europe in the early seventies--in search of enlightenment, beer, and women. Twenty years later he decided to retrace the journey he undertook in the halcyon days of his youth. The result is Neither Here Nor There, an affectionate and riotously funny pilgrimage from the frozen wastes of Scandinavia to the chaotic tumult of Istanbul, with stops along the way in Europe's most diverting and historic locales.

After nearly two decades in England, Bill Bryson returned to the country of his birth. Gathered here are 18 months' worth of his "Mail on Sunday" colu <more...>mns about that strange phenomena, the American way of life, in which he brings his bemused wit to bear on one of the world's craziest countries.

After nearly two decades in Britain, Bill Bryson decided to move his wife and kids back to his homeland of the United States. But not before taking on <more...>e last trip around Britain, a sort of valedictory tour of the green and kindly island that had so long been his home. The result is a hilarious social commentary that conveys the true glory of Britain.

Following an urge to rediscover his youth, Bill Bryson left his native Des Moines, Iowa, in a journey that would take him across 38 states. Lucky for <more...>us, he brought a notebook. With a razor wit and a kind heart, Bryson serves up a colorful tale of boredom, kitsch, and beauty when you least expect it. From Times Square to the Mississippi River to Williamsburg, Virginia, Bryson's keen and hilarious search for the perfect American small town is a journey straight into the heart and soul of America.

Not long after her thirtieth birthday, on the heels of an ugly divorce, Elizabeth Gilbert traveled for a year, to Italy, India, and finally Indonesia. <more...> In Italy she wanted to explore the art of pleasure (pasta, wine, handsome men speaking a beautiful language); in India, devotion (waking at 4:15 a.m. to scrub the Ashram floor); and, the last four months she spent in Bali, trying to balance the two.

In 1986, Susan Jane Gilman and a classmate embarked on a bold trek around the globe starting in the People's Republic of China. At that point, China h <more...>ad been open to independent backpackers for roughly ten minutes. Armed only with the collected works of Nietzsche and Linda Goodman's Love Signs, the two friends plunged into the dusty streets of Shanghai. Unsurprisingly, they quickly found themselves in over their heads, hungry, disoriented, stripped of everything familiar, and under constant government surveillance. Soon, they began to unravel, one physically, the other psychologically. As their journey became increasingly harrowing, they found themselves facing crises that Susan didn't think they'd survive. But by summoning strengths she never knew she had--and with help from unexpected friends, the two travelers found their way out of a Chinese heart of darkness.