[HOL]≡ Download The Blind Masseuse A Traveler Memoir from Costa Rica to Cambodia Alden Jones 9780299295707 Books

The Blind Masseuse A Traveler Memoir from Costa Rica to Cambodia Alden Jones 9780299295707 Books

Download As PDF : The Blind Masseuse A Traveler Memoir from Costa Rica to Cambodia Alden Jones 9780299295707 Books

The Blind Masseuse A Traveler Memoir from Costa Rica to Cambodia Alden Jones 9780299295707 Books

Alden Jones uses travel to stimulate experience that takes her both outside her familiar world and inside her increasing self-awareness. Ever self-critical and touchingly honest, we see her evolve as a traveler and a woman, always with sincere respect for the peoples and places she visits. Her gentle humor about the act of travel--or she would ask--is it tourism?--is a question that becomes blurrier to her, like her own photos of Burma, as she matures. Her letter to Flaubert is a gem in itself.

I agree with the other reviews that she is a wonderful story teller, and I look forward to reading stories that go even more deeply into the lives of the people she has observed.


Tags : The Blind Masseuse: A Traveler's Memoir from Costa Rica to Cambodia [Alden Jones] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <div></div><div><b>Longlisted for the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award </b><b>* </b><b>Winner of the Independent Publisher Book Award in Travel Essays</b> <b>* Winner of the ForeWord Reviews IndieFab Book of the Year in Travel Essays</b><b> </b><b>* </b><b>A  Huffington Post </i>Best Book of the Year </b><b>* </b><b>A  </i></b><b> Publishers Weekly </i></b><b>Top Ten Travel Book</b><br /><b></b><b></b><br />The debut memoir from award-winning author Alden Jones<b>―</b>"a witty and daring chronicle" ( The Rumpus</i>) and "mesmerizing travelogue" ( Shelf Awareness</i>) that "is smart and thoughtful,Alden Jones,The Blind Masseuse: A Traveler's Memoir from Costa Rica to Cambodia,University of Wisconsin Press,0299295702,Essays & Travelogues,Inspiration & Personal Growth,Personal Memoirs,Jones, Alden - Travel,Travel,Travel.,Voyages and travels,Voyages and travels.,BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY Personal Memoirs,BODY, MIND & SPIRIT Inspiration & Personal Growth,Biography & AutobiographyPersonal Memoirs,Body, Mind & SpiritInspiration & Personal Growth,TRAVEL Essays & Travelogues,Travel - General,Travel writing

The Blind Masseuse A Traveler Memoir from Costa Rica to Cambodia Alden Jones 9780299295707 Books Reviews

This is not your normal travel book, this is so much more! Jones takes the reader on her journeys while developing her character. By the end of the book I found myself just as curious about her personal life as her last trip. Great read. I highly recommend this book.
A great piece of travel writing and a deserving bearer of the title "best travel book of 2013" (Huffington Post), "The Blind Masseuse..." tells the age-old tale of the perpetual struggle between good (traveler) and evil (tourist) though a new lens. Author Alden Jones beautifully recreates the memorable landscapes and relationships that are the hallmarks of all great travels. The book is a true must-read for anyone who has ever caught the travel bug.
I love a clever book that reads with ease. "The Blind Masseuse A Traveler's Memoir from Costa Rica to Cambodia" is that book. It is especially exciting for the avid traveler (and has made a great gift for friends!).

"Is there a right way and a wrong way to travel?" asks Jones - forcing the travel enthusiast in all of us to dig deeper into our motivations and expectations. It's been a while since a book has kept me wanting more, kept me turning and turning. But Jones writes in a way that makes you feel as if you are simultaneously present in the pages and sitting next to her as she recounts her journeys. Left me reflecting and looking forward to more from Jones!
I started the Blind Masseuse on a Sunday evening and finished it shortly after getting the kids off to school Monday morning. One of those books you can't put down. Jones takes us to unfamiliar places but has an uncanny ability to describe the adventures in such detail and with such sensitivity that you feel as though you are her traveling companion. Her stories are witty, honest and well researched. She does a wonderful job describing the tourist/traveler delemma. She humorously describes the tourist and traveler voices she hears in her head. The tourist's voice desires all the comforts of home while the traveler's voice insists on total cultural immersion. Jones puts into words the conflict that many of us feel when traveling abroad. The Blind Masseuse is an entertaining and fun read, whether you enjoy traveling or not.
This is the first travel memoir I've read and I was hooked from first page to last. Alden Jones has piqued my interest in reading more travel writing, although I'm afraid I've already started with one of the best travel memoirs out there! The vivid, funny and wise chapters take the form of lyric essay, personal reflection, and plot-driven narrative, all bound by the search for the answer to the question what is the right way to travel? Alden Jones explores both exterior and interior worlds in seamless, beautiful prose. As a narrator she is approachable, honest and self-aware. It was a great pleasure to read this book and travel vicariously.
I loved everything about this book -- and knew I would right from the Introduction where the author talks about the difference between a tourist and a traveler. It was clear that, like Jones, I was a traveler, always looking for the "thrill of a new perspective." But, then, all of a sudden she left me behind, referring to herself as an exoticist. And, indeed she was! From that point on I was content to sit back and let her bring me along to the most amazing places, opening up new worlds and showing me how she fit into them. Exotic worlds that a part of me yearned to travel to, but knowing that physically I never would. So, I did the next best thing. I traveled vicariously with a masterful story teller.
I finished reading The Blind Masseuse on a recent flight. Oh, how I could relate! The past subjunctive, the mad cab driver in Cairo, not wanting to grow up at 27....and all the wonderful people you meet while traveling the world. It brought back a lot of memories. And not just because I had the pleasure to meet and travel with Alden several years ago, but because I could really connect with her writing and her sentiments. I could visualize each of the characters and see myself in the various locales. Not only did it bring me back to reflect on past experiences; it inspired me to keep traveling and exploring the world.

It is difficult to pick a favorite chapter as I related to them all. "I know what you did in Egypt" stands out as my favorite and has inspired me to read the letters from Flaubert, to which she responded with humor, thought and intrigue.

This is a book that I will read again, and recommend to all who have that sense of wanderlust that we share.
Alden Jones uses travel to stimulate experience that takes her both outside her familiar world and inside her increasing self-awareness. Ever self-critical and touchingly honest, we see her evolve as a traveler and a woman, always with sincere respect for the peoples and places she visits. Her gentle humor about the act of travel--or she would ask--is it tourism?--is a question that becomes blurrier to her, like her own photos of Burma, as she matures. Her letter to Flaubert is a gem in itself.

I agree with the other reviews that she is a wonderful story teller, and I look forward to reading stories that go even more deeply into the lives of the people she has observed.