Site-Wide Activity

“Publication was never my initial objective,” admits British author Joanne Harris. “I kept writing because I liked it, and on some level I guess I had to do it… but when my first book was published, I was […]

I just read a column The Life Report by David Brooks in the NY Times. He suggested that readers over the age of 70 submit a report of their lives and describe the things that have been important to them and how […]

Today’s edition of Key West Friday is going to focus on something very near and dear to my own heart: literary cocktails. More specifically, I want to talk about one of the greatest mixologists of the 20th […]

Sitting in a beer garden atop the ancient Vyšehrad courtyards, my host, Radka took a swig of pilsner and began, “A friend once asked me, ‘What are the Czech people like?’ And I said, ‘Czechs, we just don’t […]

Please enjoy an accompaniment to Literary Traveler’s November 5th article by Veronica Hackethal, Becoming Dostoyevsky. This addition of Behind The Article is packed with existential quandaries inspired by the man […]

Last week, we talked about Ernest Hemingway, one of America’s greatest writers, most famous drinkers, and a sometimes resident of Key West. Today, we’re going to shift our focus (but only a little) to yet another […]

Leonard Bernstein was born and raised in Lawrence, Massachusetts, where his family ran a bookstore. He studied in Boston and Cambridge, as well as Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In New York City he became known as a […]

The state with the prettiest name,
the state that floats in brackish water,
held together by mangrave roots
that bear while living oysters in clusters,
and when dead strew white swamps with skeletons,
dotted as […]

  “Then we came to the edge of the stream and the water quit being blue and was light and greenish and inside I could see…the wireless masts at Key West and the La Concha hotel up high out of all the low houses”  […]

From Ernest Hemingway and Tennessee Williams to Elizabeth Bishop, Key West is steeped in literary history.  You can see Bishop’s house on White Street, have a drink at the bar where Hemingway was a regular and […]

Chances are you’ve heard of the Florida Keys’ sprawling overseas highway. You may even have enjoyed the unique pleasure of traversing its 120 plus miles by car. If this is the case, you’ve got turn-of-the-century […]

There seems to be two schools of thought when it comes to eReaders.  On one side we have the tech savvy convenience driven consumer who appreciates the ease of carrying multiple books on one device, whether it be […]

American tycoons were once something we admired as a nation. They were the physical embodiment of the American Dream and represented the supremacy of the free market. Turn-of-the-century oilmen, factory owners and […]

Lovers of machinery – masters of cogs and wheels – enjoy the knowledge that every little piece is essential for a device to work. Hugo Cabret belongs to this mechanical school of philosophy. While he hides in […]

If you are coming to Key West inspired by Ernest Hemingway, then you should look into getting the Hemingway Retreat at the Suite Dreams Inn in Key West. The Inn is run by a wonderful couple Andy and Jaime Laba. […]

A renaissance is sweeping the nation, turning amber waves of grain to barley, malt, and hops. Brews with names like Mephistopheles Stout and Oberon Ale are delighting enlightened drinkers and reminding us all of […]

I have always loved books, and I don’t mean this broadly, as in “I love to read,” which, of course, is also true.  I have always loved books: the shape, the smell, the weight of the hardback cover in my hands.  I […]

With winter winding to a close, there is no better time to hop in the car, roll down the windows, and enjoy the warm breezes of spring as you venture off to places unknown.  From John Steinbeck’s Travels with […]

Birthdays are not an occasion given much significance in vampire lore; it is death that denotes the beginning of a vampire’s immortality.  Therefore, it’s only fitting to mark the 100th anniversary of the death of […]

Everyone knows the Internet is the best place to find reliably accurate statistics and hard facts. No? Well, do me a favor and suspend your disbelief in that last sentence, at least until my 500 words are […]