I learn about the places I want to go, more often than not, by reading. The latest culprit who has added a whole list of new places to my planned destinations is Kevin Dolgin, with his book, The Third Tower Up from the Road
The book is a collection of stories, each of which incorporates Dolgin’s own travel experiences, history, literature and anything else he managed to pick up along the way. While The Third Tower Up From the Road is ostensibly a travel book, it is by no means a guide book. Even if the contents had actually focused on one area, Dolgin’s storytelling style includes more than a few twists, including tips on how to linguistically bait freelance travel guides and a count of the number of waterfowl Dolgin spotted in Windsor, England.
Dolgin lives in Paris, but that fact hasn’t limited his travels to Europe. There are plenty of Asian anecdotes, a side trip to Brazil and even a few pages devoted to the American West. Dolgin is an ex-pat, but during his time living in the U.S, it seems that he managed to avoid just about everything west of the Mississippi. On a trip recorded in The Third Tower Up From the Road, Dolgin convinced his European friends and family to climb aboard two RVs for five weeks and explore the American West. The trip included Dolgin’s first trip to Wal-mart, an experience smoothly summed up by a query as to where American grocery stores might keep their wine.
Among Dolgin’s writing credits is a long running column for McSweeny’s, titled, “Kevin Dolgin Tells You About Places You Should Go.” He’s been writing the column since 2003 and it provided a substantial chunk of the material for the book. However, Dolgin also wrote material specifically for the book and included his Puschart Prize-nominated story, “The Corsican Swallowtail.”
In the end, it’s Dolgin’s wanderlust that makes The Third Tower Up From the Road a particularly wonderful read.
…If I hadn’t been born with this wanderlust I might still be living in the South Bronx. It’s a drug, travel. It’s the drug of discovery, and it perches on your back banging on your head if you don’t feed it from time to time. Hold out to me the opportunity of discovering someplace new and it’s very difficult not to go.
The Third Tower Up from the Road
I heart your method of giving away your review copy.
I had occasion to get into The Third Tower Up From the Road in a pretty comprehensive way, and it is a remarkable book.
I haven’t met Kevin Dolgin, but if I were casting the movie of his life, I’d find an actor as much as possible like Alan Alda in the TV series MASH.
I didn’t travel to a single one of the places mentioned in Kevin’s book, but I did look up a bunch of stuff about many of them, as you can see on the website, The Blog of Kevin Dolgin. When you’re narrowing down your travel targets, maybe there’s something in that collection, to help you decide.
My destination of choice would be Ljubljana, no question.
Best of all possible regards,
Pat Hartman
I accidentally stumbled upon this blog looking for a book call Working Your Way Around the World. “Another great mishap!” I have never heard of this book but it sounds very exciting. I am 21 and have the itch for travel. My next trip is actually coming up in just the next couple of days. I am driving from Michigan to New Orleans, then up to Columbus Nebraska (my cousin is turning 21). This is just my fix for the next 3 months before I am off to Ireland. I plan on working my way across Europe. I don’t have any set plans or major destinations, just the hope that the journey will be well worth it. I would love to read about where Kevin Dolgin has been and where he suggests. Any advice about travel helps. Thanks for adding to my well of travel knowledge.
Sincerely T.J. Brown