Synopses & Reviews
Review
"Alden Jones is something of a 'Prodigal Daughter,' and she has come home from her long travels to tell us the stories from her own life and education. We both delight and learn from her wisdom and her tales of nine places in the world."—Brian Bouldrey, author of Honorable Bandit: A Walk across Corsica
Review
"Wise, witty, and well traveled, Alden Jones has given us a beautifully written book that honors the wandering spirit in all of us. Take this journey with her and return newly alive to the pleasure of moving through the world."—Ana Menéndez, author of Adios, Happy Homeland!
Review
“Jones celebrates the impulse to wander and recognizes the value in savoring vagabondage for the gift it ultimately is. An engaging travel memoir. ”—
Kirkus ReviewsReview
“More than a simple travelogue, Jones chronicles her experiences in each culture while pondering her place as a citizen of the world.”—
Boston GlobeReview
“Readers arrive at a new place in each chapter and see it through Jones’s eyes, allowing for insightful views of several places.”—
Publishers WeeklyReview
“Unlike most travel memoirs,
The Blind Masseuse is thoughtful and literate, leaving you with much to think about.”—
A Traveler’s LibraryReview
“A thoughtful meditation on the conflicting roles of a traveler.”—
Shelf AwarenessReview
“It’s smart and thoughtful, but also Jones is cackle-for-days hilarious and the book is a page-turner from second one, when she’s out walking in the dark in her village and bumps into a cow. Please, everyone, read this book!”—
Huffington PostSynopsis
Through personal journeys both interior and across the globe, Alden Jones investigates what motivates us to travel abroad in search of the unfamiliar. By way of explorations to Costa Rica, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Cuba, Burma, Cambodia, Egypt, and around the world on a ship, Jones chronicles her experience as a young American traveler while pondering her role as an outsider in the cultures she temporarily inhabits. Her wanderlust fuels a strong, high-adventure story and, much in the vein of classic travel literature, Jones's picaresque tale of personal evolution informs her own transitions, rites of passage, and understandings of her place as a citizen of the world. With sharp insight and stylish prose, Jones asks: Is there a right or wrong way to travel? The Blind Masseuse concludes that there is, but that it's not always black and white.
Synopsis
Through personal journeys both interior and across the globe, Alden Jones investigates what motivates us to travel abroad in search of the unfamiliar.
By way of explorations to Costa Rica, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Cuba, Burma, Cambodia, Egypt, and around the world on a ship, Jones chronicles her experience as a young American traveler while pondering her role as an outsider in the cultures she temporarily inhabits. Her wanderlust fuels a strong, high-adventure story and, much in the vein of classic travel literature, Jones's picaresque tale of personal evolution informs her own transitions, rites of passage, and understandings of her place as a citizen of the world. With sharp insight and stylish prose, Jones asks: Is there a right or wrong way to travel? The Blind Masseuse concludes that there is, but that it's not always black and white.
About the Author
Alden Jones has lived, worked, and traveled in over forty countries, including as a WorldTeach volunteer in Costa Rica, a program director in Cuba, and a professor on Semester at Sea. Her work has appeared in AGNI, Time Out New York, Post Road, The Barcelona Review, The Iowa Review, Prairie Schooner, Gulf Coast, and The Best American Travel Writing. She lives in Boston.
Table of Contents
Preface: The Charm of the Unfamiliar Lard Is Good for You (Costa Rica) A Normal American Life (New York) Coke Is It (Bolivia) The Blind Masseur (Costa Rica) One Side of the Story (Nicaragua) The Answer Was No (Cuba) This Is Not a Cruise (Around the World) How to Be a Tourist (Cambodia) The Burmese Dreams Series (Burma) I Know What You Did in Egypt: A Letter to Gustave Flaubert (Egypt) Afterword Bibliographical Note Acknowledgments