Blue Highways by William Least Heat-Moon is probably my favorite travel book of all time, so I was pleased to see it resurface in the news last week, more than 30 years after its publication. CNN.com has an enjoyable interview with the author and a slide show of photographs from the route he took on his classic journey of discovery. For those who aren't familiar, in 1978, William Least Heat-Moon lost his teaching job and his wife left him, so he decided to outfit his van and start driving across the country, avoiding interstates and sticking to the lesser-traveled roads that were colored blue on the old Rand McNally maps. His three month tour produced a terrific book, and one that reveals many great insights into traveling and life in general. ]]> Victor Ozols 2009-11-21T15:19:18-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/11/7/184018/271

Need several excuses to visit Milan? A Renaissance-era library has begun exhibiting Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks, which due to preservation requirements will go on display 45 pages at a time and rotate every three months. So if you can't get to the Bibliotheca Ambrosiana by December 2 to check out da Vinci's military drawings, you have until 2015 to get there and see some of the polymath's magnificent work.

Founded by a cardinal who thought it would aid the Counter-Reformation, the Biblioteca Ambrosiana hosted the second public library in Europe and, unlike most book collections of the day, displayed its treasures in glass cases instead of chaining them to desks against thievery. These days, you still can't borrow anything from the Bibliotheca, but it offers literature classes and, for now, a chance to check out some da Vinci you won't find in other museums. ]]> egw 2009-11-12T13:46:11-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/11/11/15113/415

Think of it as the 21st century's 221B Baker Street: Fans of the book series No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency have taken an interest in the country of Botswana, where the book's action takes place, thanks in part to a small-screen adaptation.

The ten-book series by Alexander McCall Smith follows Precious Ramotswe, the first female Botswanan P.I., as she and her assistant Grace solve cases of missing girlfriends and blackmail, among others. Oscar-winning director Anthony Minghella shot a TV adaptation of the books in Botswana starring singer Jill Scott last year before his untimely death after surgery; in a documentary called "In the Footsteps of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective," author Smith visits Minghella on set as well as other locations he used in his books. ]]> egw 2009-11-11T16:19:25-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/10/30/12056/352

Spider-Man, Batman, and the X-Men are just a few of the superheroes who've earned a respected place in the comic book canon. Dedicated collectors know about mainstream bionic men and woman, and maybe a few underground characters as well, but a new exhibit at Los Angeles' LACMA introduces the public to the transportive world of Indian comics.

Being generally familiar with stories from Hindu epics such as the Ramayana, our interest in modern renderings of ancient gods and goddesses, and the interpretation of said stories, is what drew us to the exhibit. Heroes and Villains: The Battle for Good in India's Comics runs through February 7th of next year, and is a compact representation of cultural comic book art and well-preserved folios from hundreds of years ago. ]]> Heidi Atwal 2009-10-30T15:34:19-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/10/28/104012/13

What if the ghost isn't inside the house, but is the house? NPR rounds up three pieces of fiction where houses want their inhabitants to get out, and quickly, like Manderley, the domain of secrets in Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca where a skittish second wife tries to root out how her predecessor died.

British writer Du Maurier based her depiction of the mansion on two real-life, but sadly private houses, Milton Hall in Cambridgeshire and Menabilly in Cornwall, having visited one as a child and rented the latter as an adult. While you can't tour either one, you can catch a glimpse of Milton Hall from the nearby Peterborough Milton Golf Club (includes free lessons for beginners!) or stay on the grounds of Menabilly in one of two gamekeepers' cottages offered for rent. And really, do you want to get closer? Probably not. ]]> egw 2009-10-28T16:59:18-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/10/22/143859/39

The book world is shaken this week by a massive price war in which two major retailers and an online behemoth battle it out to prove that avid readers love them best. After Wal-Mart announced it would be knocking the price of 10 recently released and pre-order-ready hardcovers to $10, Amazon stepped up and did the same—so Wal-Mart dropped the price to $9, and Jeff Bezos' baby did the same. Target has since followed suit, and indie bookstores are crying foul; sadly, $8.98 is still $8.96 too many to be paying for Sarah Palin's new "memoir," which is included in the sale at all three outlets.

Just the words "book" and "sale" together tend to raise our blood pressure, but the money you save on these blockbusters can go directly into your travel fund. Here are some of the places the anointed bestsellers will take you this fall: ]]> egw 2009-10-22T15:26:47-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/10/14/171256/69

A museum's newest treasure has become an international sensation thanks to the magic of Web 2.0. The Anne Frank House in Amsterdam has already strengthened its international profile in 2009 by sending a traveling exhibit called "Anne Frank - A History For Today" all around the world, from San Antonio to Soweto.

Last week, the museum—commemorating the teenage girl whose wartime diary chronicled her family's attempts to avoid the Nazis by hiding in the attic of an office building—took its subject to your home. Yes, you, sitting right there in front of that computer; the museum launched its own YouTube channel. The centerpiece is not a chat with Nelson Mandela or the testimony of diary finder Miep Gies, but instead a recently discovered bit of footage of Anne herself, the only such known moving image of her in the world. ]]> egw 2009-10-15T09:18:37-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/