More of This World or Maybe Another -- Guest Post from Erica of The Olive Reader

Thanks to Erica, she of the Olive Reader, Harper Perennial's fab blog, for today's guest post on Barb Johnson's new book of short stories, More of this World or Maybe Another.

I'll always regret that I never visited New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina. I still had a wonderful, special, practically magical time when I spent time there in 2007, but I could tell there was something different, something lost that I would never get a chance to experience. It was an extension of the way I always feel as a tourist, wondering "what is this place really like?", and "who are the people who live here and could never live anywhere else, who have this place in their bones?"
 
More of This World or Maybe Another, Barb Johnson's collection of linked stories, is about those people. There's Delia, who runs The Bubble, the local laundromat that serves as a nexus for the neighborhood while struggling with forgiveness and infidelity. There's Dooley, her younger brother, who grows from a sensitive boy to a man whose plans to please his wife and child end in tragedy. There's also Pudge and Luis, Maggie, and Big Luce, all fragile heroes fighting to hang on to love and happiness no matter what the back streets of New Orleans throw at them.
 
There's so much for book clubs to discuss with More of This World or Maybe Another, from issues of sexuality and poverty to questions of identity and home. We have discussion questions available, and we have five copies to give away! Just leave a comment below about a book you've read where the sense of place is so strong it had you wishing you could go there. We'll pick 5 random winners from all entries received by midnight, Friday November 6th (US and Can only please).

Comments

[Melissa C]

When I read Very Valentine by Adriana Trigiani I wanted to go to New York so badly! I felt like I was there myself since she did such a good job of describing the city. Even though I really have no desire to live in New York permanently (I am more of a live in a suburb, drive in when you want some big city type of girl), I would so love to visit!

[ruth]

Thanks for featuring this lovely book. When I read Sea of Lost Love by Santa Montefiore it was emotional and beautiful especially for the scenic descriptions of the locale where the story takes place. I could easily imagine the wonderful area which I would love to visit. Puglia, Italy is where I would want to travel to.

[Kathy R (Bermudaonion)]

I'm going to say Galway Bay by Mary Pat Kelly, although times were so tough in Ireland during the famine, I don't think I would have wanted to go there then.

[Amanda]

I wanted to be in Savannah so badly while reading Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. The people in Berendt's book have such quirky personalities! Luckily, I was able to go there for a day this last summer and tour the downtown area. Thanks for the guest post and fabulous giveaway.

[Erica]

Definitely Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. It made me want to visit Greece and Detroit!

[Julie H.]

Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani, in fact all of the series, made me want to visit this town.

[Karen]

When I read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, I became very intrigued with the Island of Gurnsey. I did some research to try and discover what this island looked like in real life as compared with how the book described it for me. It was almost a perfect match. When I someday cross the pond, I plan to get to Guernsey. I loved the book so much it made me want to go there to experience it for myself.

[Dawn - She is Too Fond of Books]

Does place in time count? I loved the descriptions of 1920s/1930s NYC in THE RED LEATHER DIARY, and would love to travel there (appropriately outfitted, and with a nice home, and money in my pocket ... and connections, gotta have connection!)

Thanks for the opportunity!

[Carolina Gal's Literary Cafe]

There are two books that I thought of that I just finished reading. One is Dead Weight, it takes place in Charleston, SC I felt time of place, and costume. I was just in Charleston and could picture it in my mind. I love a book when the town also plays a character.

[Kate]

Wally Lamb's writing, especially in The Hour I First Believed, has made me want to visit Three Rivers. It's just too bad it's a fictional place.

[Barbara - On the Bookcase]

I never wanted to go to Niagara Falls until reading The Day The Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan. The history and lore of the Falls has spike my interest.

[ces]

comment

[Tracey Adams]

When I was 11 or 12 my grandmother brought me boxes of books that had belonged to her, my great-grandmother and my mom. One of the books was The Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie - reading about the Orient Express and the places it was going to seemed a far off land where magic was all around. I still have the same feeling when I re-read the book (which I do very often).
Happy Reading

[Robin Cain]

I have to say the PRINCE OF TIDES was some of the most beautiful writing and scene creation I've ever experienced in a book. I felt like I was there.

[Sandra Furlotte]

When I read THE BISHOP'S MAN by Linden MacIntyre, I had a great urge to visit Cape Breton again. I have been there a few times but not in recent years and the beauty of the mountains and the sea is unmatched anywhere. Maybe I will go next summer.

[Lois Evans]

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society has inspired me to further research the Guernsey Islands and I would love to be able to visit. The book really made me want to join their fictional book club.