Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Aug 2008
304 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
Pete Ferry, our narrator, teaches high school English in the wealthy suburb of Lake Forest outside of Chicago, and moonlights as a travel writer. On his way home after work one evening he witnesses a car accident that kills a beautiful woman named Lisa Kim. But was it an accident? Could Pete have prevented it? And did it actually happen, or is this just an elaborate tale he concocts to impart the power of story to his restless teenage charges? Why can’t he stop thinking about Lisa Kim? And what might his obsession with her mean to his relationship with his girlfriend, Lydia?
With humor, tenderness, and suspense, Travel Writing takes readers on fascinating journeys, both geographical and psychological, and delves into the notion that the line between fact and fiction is often negotiable.
"The result is a novel that, for all the cleverness of its construction, is also earnest, engrossing and affecting. " - Publishers Weekly.
"For readers interested in experimental fiction and psychological puzzles; recommended for larger literary collections." - Library Journal.
"Starred Review. Imagination and literal truth collide intriguingly in this Chinese-box puzzle about a man obsessed with a car crash . . . or is he?" - Kirkus Reviews.
This information about Travel Writing was first featured
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Peter Ferry is a teacher, writer, and editor. He has written textbooks for Rand McNally and travel pieces for the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times. His short stories have appared in StoryQuarterly, Overtures, the New Review of Literature, and McSweeney's. He has won the Illinois Arts Council Literary Award for Short Fiction. He lives in Evanston, Illinois. Travel Writing is his first novel.
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