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World Without Pain: The Story of a Search
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Road Signs
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A collection of science fiction and fantasy short stories -
Thoughts from the Aerie
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Memoirs and essays on a range of topics
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Silent Interviews
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Stories about the mysterious Telepathic Guild Invisible People
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A collection of science fiction and fantasy stories The Relocation Blues
Adriana’s Family
The Woman Who Fell Backwards and Other Stories
Apocalypse Bluff and Other Stories
The Senescent Nomad Hits the Road
Invasive Procedures: Stories
Heroes and Other Illusions: Stories
Bedlam Battle: An Omnibus of the One Thousand Series
After the Fireflood
Caliban’s Children
The Fantasy Book Murders
Opting Out and Other Departures
Sunflower: A Novel
America Redux: Impressions of the United States After Thirty-Five Years Abroad
Fear or Be Feared: Fantasies
Writing as a Metaphysical Experience
Reviews and Reflections on Books, Literature, and Writing
The One Thousand: A Novella
The One Thousand: Book Two: Team of Seven
The One Thousand: Book Three: Black Magic Bus
The One Thousand: Book Four: Deconstructing the Nightmare
After the Rosy-Fingered Dawn: A Memoir of Greece
The Misadventures of Mama Kitchen: A Novel
Dark Mirrors: Dystopian Tales
Love Children: A Novel
Painsharing and Other Stories
The Dragon Ticket and Other Stories
Category Archives: Travel
Book Review: Lost in the Valley of Death: A Story of Obsession and Danger in the Himalayas by Harley Rustad – Part Three
(For the background to this article, see Part One and Part Two below.) Except for major classical works of literature, usually I only write one review per book. However, Lost in the Valley of Death evokes so many memories and … Continue reading
Book Review: Lost in the Valley of Death: A Story of Obsession and Danger in the Himalayas by Harley Rustad – Part Two
In my previous essay about Lost in the Valley of Death, I came down somewhat hard on the author’s negative attitude concerning spiritual quests that lead people to the Indian Subcontinent and other exotic locales. As I continued to read … Continue reading
Posted in Book Reviews, Travel
Tagged India, Katmandu, Nepal, Parvati Valley, Pokhara, traveling
2 Comments
Book Review: Lost in the Valley of Death: A Story of Obsession and Danger in the Himalayas by Harley Rustad – Part One
Usually I wait until I have finished or almost finished a book before I write a review of it, but I am just over halfway through Lost in the Valley of Death, and it has already provoked so many thoughts … Continue reading
Posted in Book Reviews, Travel
Tagged backpacking, Himalaya Mountains, India, journey, quest, traveling
2 Comments
Another Look: World Without Pain: The Story of a Search
In the 1970s, after the Altamont Rock Festival, the Manson Family cult murders, and the fiasco of the Vietnam War many young people, disillusioned by the hippy movement, began to leave their homelands and travel to the far places of … Continue reading
Posted in Travel
Tagged Europe, hitchhiking, India, Middle East, Nepal, quest, seventies, travel
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Book Review: The Sun Is a Compass: A 4,000-Mile Journey into the Alaskan Wilds by Caroline Van Hemert
The Sun Is a Compass is a wonderful book. I enjoyed it through and through. In it, a young couple travel by rowboat from Bellingham, Washington up the Inside Passage to a town called Haines, hike and canoe through the … Continue reading
Book Review: Riverman: An American Odyssey by Ben McGrath
Riverman tells the story of Dick Conant, an itinerant canoeing enthusiast. Self-describing as homeless, he might have been like many other wandering vagabonds, albeit with a preference for waterways rather than dry land, had he not bumped into McGrath, a … Continue reading
Posted in Book Reviews, Travel
Tagged canoeing, homeless, river journey, traveling, vagabond
2 Comments
Book Review: River of the Gods: Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile by Candice Millard
River of the Gods is a powerful, well-written book about some fascinating historical characters on adventurous journeys. Although the central focus is the expedition of Richard Burton, John Hanning Speke, and Sidi Mubarak Bombay through East Africa from Zanzibar to … Continue reading
Posted in Book Reviews, Travel
Tagged adventure, Africa, exploration, history, Nile River, traveling
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Book Review: Wild Horses of the Summer Sun: A Memoir of Iceland by Tory Bilski
I picked up this book at the library because it struck me as an unusual memoir and travel tale. It concerns a group of women who for over a decade journeyed to Iceland every year to get away from their … Continue reading
Book Review: Northland: A 4,000-Mile Journey Along America’s Forgotten Border by Porter Fox
I love a good travel book, and I am grateful for the serendipitous discovery of this one on the library shelves. In it, the author writes of his journeys from east to west along the northern border of the United … Continue reading
Posted in Book Reviews, Travel
Tagged history, Maine, Minnesota, North Cascades, North Dakota, the Great Lakes, travel, Washington
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The Relocation Blues Is Now Available!
The Relocation Blues: An Inquiry into Transitions, my latest memoir and thirty-first book, is now available in digital and print form. Pick up a copy by clicking on one of the links below. Here’s what it is about: Life is … Continue reading




























