Words Tales for the armchair traveler from the joy of m e e t i n g it face-to-face for the first t i m e , " he began. Four m o n t h s later he w a s gone, on his last a n d m o s t mysterious journ . ... ,, ney. The book, Literary Trips: Following in the Footsteps of Fame, came out the next year. Brooks edited it a n d contributed three of the twenty-three chapters: the B o w l e s piece, a r e w o r k i n g of the Jamaica of Ian Fleming a n d Noel C o w a r d , a n d a nostalgic look a t Ernest H e m i n g w a y ' s C u b a , a place of f l a m i n g o e s a n d cigars a n d s m o o t h m u l a t t o haunches. True to her original idea, she does indeed f o l l o w in Papa's footsteps. She visits the places w h e r e he lived, w h e r e he w o r k e d , w h e r e he drank, a n d w h e r e he entertained his f e m a l e admirers. One of the latter shinned up the w a l l of a hotel to Hemingway's TRIPS I \ ( " I I I l i * l M l o One night Victoria Brooks w e n t to bed at h o m e in Deep C o v e a n d d r e a m e d she'd been transported to an oasis in the desert. "The light w a s yellow, a n d a b o v e me there w e r e p a l m trees that s w a y e d like belly dancers," she s a i d . " A h a n d s o m e y o u n g m a n w a l k e d up. I k n e w he w a s famous, a n d I t h o u g h t m a y b e he w a s a movie star, Steve M c Q u e e n or s o m e l b o d y . He started t a l k i n g about writers a n d a b o u t travel a n d a b o u t the relationship b e t w e e n writers a n d their sense of place. W h e n I w o k e up I k n e w i m m e d i a t e l y it w a s Paul Bowles, w h o I h a d n ' t t h o u g h t a b o u t for t w e n t y years." B o w l e s is best r e m e m b e r e d as the author of The Sheltering Sky. P u b l i s h e d in 1949, the novel established him b o t h as an extraordinarily gifted writer a n d , because of his bisexuality a n d drug use, as an icon for the e m e r g i n g Beat g e n e r a t i o n . For half a century he lived in self-imposed exile in Tangier, the ultimate outsider. His a p p e a r a n c e in Brooks's d r e a m helped her find the project she'd been l o o k i n g for. A n established travel writer, she'd d o n e a series of business travel guides to southeast A s i a , a n d she'd h a d several offers to w r i t e other books. But everybody a n d his uncle write travel b o o k s these days. She w a n t e d s o m e t h i n g different. "I didn't w a n t to do s o m e t h i n g I d i d n ' t think w a s creative a n d s o m e h o w i m p o r t a n t , " she s a i d . W h e n she r e m e m b e r e d Bowles, a light w e n t o n . "I'd already w r i t t e n m a g a z i n e pieces a b o u t Ian F l e m i n g a n d N o e l C o w a r d in J a m a i c a , a n d they'd been very popular. I thought, this is it: a book that puts together f a m o u s writers a n d the places that they h a d m a d e famous. A n d I'll m a k e it different by h a v i n g c o m p r e h e n s i v e travel i n f o r m a t i o n as w e l l , so it can be b o t h a book of stories a n d a guidebook." Since it's easier to attract attention if there's a k n o w n n a m e attached to a n e w b o o k -- m a r q u e e value, it's c a l l e d in the trade -- she tracked B o w l e s d o w n a n d w e n t to Tangier to visit h i m . She f o u n d an o l d m a n , soft-voiced a n d in failing h e a l t h . He h a d n ' t w r i t t e n a n y t h i n g for years, he s a i d , a n d g l a u c o m a w a s r o b b i n g h i m of his eyesight. But Brooks left him a s m a l l tape recorder, a n d in July of 1999 he dictated one of the last things he w r o t e d u r i n g a long a n d colourful career. "A great part of the fascination exerted by the u n k n o w n comes fifth-floor r o o m , a n d you get the feeling that Brooks w o u l d do the same herself if the big m a n w e r e still a r o u n d . Not quite all the destinations in Literary Trips are so exotic or so far-flung. M.R. Carroll trails the ghost of M a l c o l m Lowry a r o u n d D o l l a r t o n , the place he m y t h o l o g i z e d as his o w n personal heaven. " B e y o n d , g o i n g t o w a r d the spring, t h r o u g h the trees, range beyond celestial range, c r o w d e d the mountains, snow-peaked for most of the year. A t dusk they w e r e violet, a n d frequently they looked on fire, the w h i t e fire of the m i s t , " Lowry w r o t e . Like Brooks, Carroll lists her writer's favourite d r i n k i n g places, a l t h o u g h , for Lowry, B.C.'s b o o z e laws w e r e a l w a y s a blight o n the o t h e r w i s e perfect landscape. Drinking, he wrote, w a s " e v e r y w h e r e beset by perhaps favourable difficulties. N o bars, only beer parlours so u n c o m f o r t a b l e a n d c o l d that serve beer so w e a k that no self-respecting d r u n k a r d w o u l d s h o w his nose in t h e m . You have to drink at home, a n d w h e n you run short it's t o o far to get a b o t t l e . " Other chapters include explorations of Bruce C h a t w i n ' s Australia, Tom W o l f e a n d M a r g a r e t M i t c h e l l ' s A t l a n t a , a n d D.H. Lawrence's N e w Mexico. A t the start of A p r i l , Literary Trips h a d 4 6 , 0 0 0 copies in print. It has been m e n t i o n e d in the Weiv York Times, the Chicago Tribune, and Publishers' Weekly a n d it has b e c o m e a popular book club selection. It has already s p a w n e d a second volume, Literary Trips Volume 2, for w h i c h Brooks persuaded A r t h u r C. Clarke, w h o lives in Sri Lanka, to write a f o r e w o r d . N o w the third v o l u m e is in p r e p a r a t i o n , an armchair tour round places m a d e f a m o u s by mystery writers. This o n e w i l l be slightly different in that most of the mystery writers are still alive. She has no shortage of p e o p l e w a n t i n g to contribute. "I w o k e up o n e m o r n i n g a n d f o u n d 150 messages on my e-mail," she s a i d . Her success comes from c o m b i n i n g stories for armchair travelers w i t h practical advice that makes it easier for t h e m to take the next step if they decided to visit the places they have read about. It's clearly a winning formula. "I think that is really g o i n g to light a f l a m e for a lot of people," Brooks s a i d . W h e n it appears it w i l l be her fourth p u b l i c a t i o n in t w o years; her first novel, Red Dream, comes out in June. Literary Trips: Following in the Footsteps of Fame and Literary Trips Volume 2 are published by GreatestEscapes.com Publishing at $29.95. 2 2 May | June