House-hunting

 

    Following on from our glimpse of writers' houses, I'm drawn to read A Skeptic's Guide to Writers' Houses by Anne Trubek - has anyone read it?

"What is it we hope to accomplish by trekking to the home of a dead author?" Anne Trubek wonders, and she travels across America visiting numerous writers' homes in an effort to find out.

"With a gimlet eye and indefatigable curiosity, Anne Trubek peers through the veil of domestic veneration that surrounds canonized authors and neglected masters alike. In the course of her skeptical odyssey, she discerns the curious ways in which we turn authors into household gods [... and] carries us along as she falls at least a little bit in love with each stop on her itinerary and finds in each some truth about literature, history, and contemporary America".

    Coming closer to home, this book looks like an excellent vade mecum: A Reader's Guide to Writers' Britain by Sally Varlow. Both a practical guidebook, a reference book and a source of anecdote and whatnot, "Essential reading for everyone who loves books and places to visit in Britain," says one reviewer; it's gone on my wishlist, too.