Travelers' Tales

A Midwest Indie Bestseller!

When Scott Carpenter moves from Minnesota to Paris, little does he suspect the dramas that await: scheming neighbors, police denunciations, surly demonstrators, cooking disasters, medical mishaps—not to mention all those lectures about cheese! It turns out that nothing in the City of Light can be taken for granted, where even trips to the grocery store lead to adventure.

In French Like Moi, Carpenter guides us through the merry labyrinth of the everyday, one hilarious faux pas after another. Through it all, he keeps his eye on the central mystery of what makes the French French (and Midwesterners Midwestern).

La Dolce Vita University, 2nd Edition (LDVU2) is the perfect sampler for anyone curious about (or already in amore with) Italy and its remarkably rich cultural gifts, both past and present. This fully revised second edition includes 125 pages of new material (more than 60 new mini-essays and 40 new illustrations) to expand on the delights in the first edition. True to its lighthearted name, La Dolce Vita “U” is all about pleasurable learning, or what we prefer to call “edu-tainment.” Its dozens of entertaining yet authoritative mini-essays on a wide assortment of intriguing topics encourage random dipping at the reader’s pleasure. Even the most erudite Italophile will discover fun new facts and fascinating new insights in the pages of La Dolce Vita U.

Mini-essays treat specific topics in one or more of the following subject areas: the Italian character; the visual arts (art, artists, architects); the performing arts (music, theater, cinema); history and antiquity; language and literature; cuisine and agriculture; wine and spirits; traditions and festivals; style and applied arts; unique places. In a wink and nod to the book’s “academic” identity, the 200 mini-essays are arranged alphabetically and accompanied by charming illustrations throughout. A special traveler’s topic index is provided at the end of the book.

—Scott Dominic Carpenter, author of Theory of Remainders

In 1990s San Francisco, the gruesome death of former district attorney Harrison Rose uncovers a 19th-century double homicide aboard the ship Hurricane, and begins the hunt for Inca gold smuggled from Peru to California by wayward Catholic priests.

During the Gold Rush, dozens of ships were abandoned in San Francisco by sailors bedazzled by the news of gold in the California hills. These ships were buried under downtown landfill, and a huge Inca treasure is aboard one of them. Rose's daughter Hannah hires old flame George Krishna Walker to investigate after the police rule her father's death an accident. Walker, born in San Francisco and raised in India, is drawn into a web of intrigue, historical puzzles, mortal danger, and the rekindling of his love for Hannah.

His search for a modern-day murderer and the ancient golden hoard unravels two criminal organizations, one a Chinese triad doing business all over the Pacific Rim, the other an artifact-smuggling ring called Caruso that uses code related to the famous tenor.

Driven by what he learns in his investigation, Walker undertakes a dangerous journey into the Peruvian jungle in search of evidence related to Rose's death and the Hurricane's cargo. He delves into the conquest of the Incas and learns about an immense golden ransom paid to conquistador Francisco Pizarro, believed to be buried aboard the long-lost Hurricane. One torment follows another as Walker faces death and torture, forcing him to face his own violent past and his age-old fear of losing those he loves most. 

With the help of unconventional consultants and techniques, Walker solves both cases and falls in love, again, with the daughter of the deceased, and she with him.

George Walker is reminiscent of Arkady Renko in Gorky Park and other books by the late Martin Cruz Smith; the plot echoes the complexity of Terry Hayes's I Am Pilgrim. The emotional landscape features Walker's South Asia past and his conflicted attraction to Hannah Rose. Passage of the Hurricane is a map of history, adventure, and emotions across generations. Set against the iconic backdrops of San Francisco, the California missions, and Peru, it delves into love, loyalty, redemption, and the pursuit of truth. With an intricate plot and strong characters, the novel promises to be a standout addition to the mystery and thriller genre.

—Scott Dominic Carpenter, author of Theory of Remainders

In 1990s San Francisco, the gruesome death of former district attorney Harrison Rose uncovers a 19th-century double homicide aboard the ship Hurricane, and begins the hunt for Inca gold smuggled from Peru to California by wayward Catholic priests.

During the Gold Rush, dozens of ships were abandoned in San Francisco by sailors bedazzled by the news of gold in the California hills. These ships were buried under downtown landfill, and a huge Inca treasure is aboard one of them. Rose's daughter Hannah hires old flame George Krishna Walker to investigate after the police rule her father's death an accident. Walker, born in San Francisco and raised in India, is drawn into a web of intrigue, historical puzzles, mortal danger, and the rekindling of his love for Hannah.

His search for a modern-day murderer and the ancient golden hoard unravels two criminal organizations, one a Chinese triad doing business all over the Pacific Rim, the other an artifact-smuggling ring called Caruso that uses code related to the famous tenor.

Driven by what he learns in his investigation, Walker undertakes a dangerous journey into the Peruvian jungle in search of evidence related to Rose's death and the Hurricane's cargo. He delves into the conquest of the Incas and learns about an immense golden ransom paid to conquistador Francisco Pizarro, believed to be buried aboard the long-lost Hurricane. One torment follows another as Walker faces death and torture, forcing him to face his own violent past and his age-old fear of losing those he loves most. 

With the help of unconventional consultants and techniques, Walker solves both cases and falls in love, again, with the daughter of the deceased, and she with him.

George Walker is reminiscent of Arkady Renko in Gorky Park and other books by the late Martin Cruz Smith; the plot echoes the complexity of Terry Hayes's I Am Pilgrim. The emotional landscape features Walker's South Asia past and his conflicted attraction to Hannah Rose. Passage of the Hurricane is a map of history, adventure, and emotions across generations. Set against the iconic backdrops of San Francisco, the California missions, and Peru, it delves into love, loyalty, redemption, and the pursuit of truth. With an intricate plot and strong characters, the novel promises to be a standout addition to the mystery and thriller genre.

Write guidebooks, make travel TV, lead bus tours? Cameron Hewitt has been Rick Steves’ right hand for more than 20 years, doing just that.

The Temporary European is a collection of vivid, entertaining travel tales from across Europe. Cameron zips you into his backpack for engaging and inspiring experiences: sampling spleen sandwiches at a Palermo street market; hiking alone with the cows high in the Swiss Alps; simmering in Budapest’s thermal baths; trekking across an English moor to a stone circle; hand-rolling pasta at a Tuscan agriturismo; shivering through Highland games in a soggy Scottish village; and much more.

Along the way, Cameron introduces us to his favorite Europeans. In Mostar, Alma demonstrates how Bosnian coffee isn’t just a drink, but a social ritual. In France, Mathilde explains that the true mastery of a fromager isn’t making cheese, but aging it. In Spain, Fran proudly eats acorns, but never corn on the cob.

While personal, the stories also tap into the universal joy of travel. Cameron’s travel motto (inspired by a globetrotting auntie) is "Jams Are Fun"—the fondest memories arrive when your best-laid plans go sideways. And he encourages travelers to stow their phones and guidebooks, slow down, and savor those magic moments that arrive between stops on a busy itinerary.

The stories are packed with inspiration and insights for your next trip, including how to find the best gelato in Italy, how to select the best produce at a Provençal market, how to navigate Spain’s confusing tapas scene, and how to survive the experience of driving in Sicily (hint: just go numb).

And you’ll get a reality check for every traveler’s "dream job": researching and writing guidebooks; guiding busloads of Americans on tours around Europe; scouting and producing a travel TV show; and working with Rick Steves and his merry band of travelers. It’s a candid account of how the sausage gets made in the travel business—told with warts-and-all honesty and a sense of humor.

For Rick Steves fans, or anyone who loves Europe, The Temporary European is inspiring, insightful, and fun.

In The Creative Spark, a collection of interviews prefaced by brief biographies, these luminaries join dozens of other voices to create a symphony of inspiration. Lucinda Williams talks about honesty and making every word count; Jane Goodall cites the value of persistence and believing in yourself; and Smokey Robinson heralds the timeless power of love songs.

For more than a decade, award-winning author Michael Shapiro (A Sense of Place) has interviewed many of our brightest creators. In The Creative Spark, musicians, authors, explorers, and chefs speak about what drives them, what helps them see the world in fresh ways, and what inspires them to turn their visions into art.

Shapiro’s work as a music journalist has led to interviews with legends including Graham Nash, Lyle Lovett, Melissa Etheridge, Jake Shimabukuro, Merle Haggard, and Jethro Tull bandleader Ian Anderson. And he’s spoken with creative masters in other fields, such as comedian Joan Rivers and author Frances Mayes.

Yet it’s not simply that Shapiro has had access to so many supremely talented people—it’s that he gets them to go deep. Moments into his penetrating conversation with Lucinda (her fans call her by her first name), she tells Shapiro about how decisions made about her mother’s funeral led to fissures in her family. From this achingly personal conversation, readers can glean fresh insights into why Lucinda has such a devoted following and why her songs open listeners’ hearts.

Unexpected revelations pop up in every chapter of The Creative Spark. Iowa folksinger Greg Brown isn’t a household name, but his fellow musicians revere his poetic compositions. Then there’s San Francisco Giants announcer Mike Krukow, who turns every broadcast into a work of art. Chefs, including SingleThread’s Kyle Connaughton, discuss how they’re transforming the way we approach fine dining and why social responsibility is essential.

Each chapter starts with a short biography of the creative person being profiled, then segues into Q+A. This collection brings together some of the best-known artists of our time with others who may not be as famed but who have valuable insights about living an artful life. The Creative Spark stands as a testament to human achievement, showing how creativity illuminates our world. And how it resides in each and every one of us, just waiting to break out.

As Andrew McCarthy wrote in The New York Times Book Review, “For more than 20 years, Travelers’ Tales has been publishing books that might best be described as the literary equivalent of a group of travelers sitting around a dim cafe, sipping pints or prosecco and trading their best stories.”

Now, new from Travelers’ Tales comes The Best Women’s Travel Writing, Volume 12: True Stories from Around the World—the latest collection in the best-selling, award-winning series that invites you to ride shotgun alongside intrepid female nomads as they wander the globe discovering new places, faces, and facets of themselves.

“In story after story,” McCarthy wrote about the previous volume of The Best Women’s Travel Writing, “the refreshing absence of bluster and bravado, coupled with the optimism necessary for bold travel, create a unifying narrative that testifies to the personal value and cultural import of leaving the perceived safety of home and setting out into the wider world.”

The essays in this volume are as diverse as the destinations, exploring themes of kindness, transformation, nature, friendship, family, strength, and resilience.

When Scott Carpenter moves from Minnesota to Paris, little does he suspect the dramas that await: scheming neighbors, police denunciations, surly demonstrators, cooking disasters, medical mishaps—not to mention all those lectures about cheese! It turns out that nothing in the City of Light can be taken for granted, where even trips to the grocery store lead to adventure.

In French Like Moi, Carpenter guides us through the merry labyrinth of the everyday, one hilarious faux pas after another. Through it all, he keeps his eye on the central mystery of what makes the French French (and Midwesterners Midwestern).

Many stories are funny, others are poignant, and quite a few are heart stopping, while others are unique insights into remote ways of life most of the world does not know exists.

In this book the reader will climb a remote volcano in Ethiopia, cross the Sahara Desert with nomads, undergo a tribal exorcism, and visit shamans, healers, witch doctors, and holy men.

This is not your average travel book, but an entree to some of the world’s remote corners and people.

Rife with misadventures, brushes with death, and moments of existential insight, The End of the World Notwithstanding is a hilarious yet reflective look at the emotional experiences that make everyday life exciting—and the physical ones that remind us we’re lucky to be alive.

I’m traveling alone, renting a cabin at a normally tranquil spot—that’s called foreshadowing—on the banks of the Big Laramie River at the edge of the Medicine Bow National Forest.

So begins Janna L. Goodwin’s lighthearted collection of nail-biting stories, all true, and all of which fill the listener with wonder … as in, “I wonder how any of us survives?”

Encounters with wildfire, insects, house pets, weather, gravity, predators, bullies, and the most potent force of all—fear itself—unfold in remote landscapes of the American West (and Midwest); on the neon-splashed sidewalks of Hollywood; at a Catskills summer camp for actors; in the lavish apartment of a famous senator; in a Hawaiian beach condo; on the side of a mountain above the Mediterranean Sea; and far beneath the streets of Paris. Goodwin looks for and ultimately finds meaning (if not security) in a clear-eyed acknowledgment of our shared, human condition—and in laughter.

A vividly intense and personal saga.... It stirred such powerful emotions..."
—Marina Romanov, grandniece of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia

One Hundred Years of Exile: A Romanov's Search for Her Father’s Russia is the story of one woman’s journey through 100 years of history to find peace with her father. Tania Romanov Amochaev and her father were both exiled from their homelands as infants; both knew life in refugee camps. Their shared fate does not lead to mutual understanding.

The family’s immigration to San Francisco heralded a promising new future—but while Tania just wanted to be an American, her father could not trust that this was his final asylum. His fears and his resistance to assimilation leave Tania with deep resentment toward him and her Russian heritage. Decades later, his unexpected death exposes Tania’s open wounds and a host of unanswered questions about her father and his story.

A serendipitous meeting with a last surviving member of the Russian royal family, followed by a baffling error that miraculously connects her with unknown relatives, catapults Tania on a quest for answers in her father’s homeland.

Tania’s story proves inseparable from Russia’s, featuring Cossacks who fled revolution, a family who survived Stalin, and a family of royal exiles, culminating in a meeting between princess and peasant.

One Hundred Years of Exile is a moving story of how revisiting the past can bring not only forgiveness and redemption, but something far more powerful as well.

"Romanov has situated her absorbing story exactly at the intersection of history and memoir. It's a wonderful read."
—Tamim Ansary, author of Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes

Praise for the first book in the Strange Tales series:

“This book contains some of the most astonishing tales I’ve ever encountered. One after another. They make for obsessive reading.” —Tim Cahill, author of Jaguars Ripped My Flesh“

What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever seen or experienced?”

Gina and Scott Gaille have traveled to more than 100 countries, including many off-the-beaten-path places in Africa, South America, and Asia. Wherever they go, they ask this question. Everyone has a story, and some are truly extraordinary.

Strange Tales of World Travel, Volume 2 is the follow-up to the Gailles’ award-winning debut. Their sequel entertains readers with 50 more thrilling, hilarious, heartbreaking encounters, including: 

• Mr. Centenarian, the 111-year-old who attributes his longevity to drinking and bathing in a magical river
• Mr. Serengeti, who picked the wrong bush to relieve himself in while on safari
• The Refugee, who witnessed his friend get shot for begging a soldier to protect his family from approaching rebels
• Mr. Lucky to Live, who was scalped by an angry baboon, and many more.

Each story represents an indelible memory for its narrator. These are peak moments in their lives, tales they tell and retell. Once again, the Gailles bring them together in this captivating second volume of Strange Tales of World Travel.

Mother Tongue is an exploration of lives lived in the chaos of a part of the world known as the Balkans. It follows the lives of three generations of women—Katarina, Zora, and Tania—over the last 100 years. It follows countries that dissolved, formed, and reformed. Lands that were conquered and subjugated by Fascists and Nazis and nationalists. Lives lived in exile, in refugee camps, in new worlds.

What language did you speak with your mother? What language did you speak with your father? What language did you speak with your brother? For Tania Romanov there are three different answers to those questions.

Did you speak your mother tongue with anyone except your mother? That is the most bizarre question of all. But for Tania Romanov, the answer is no. She spoke a unique language with her mother, one in which she is still fluent. And by the way, it was not her mother’s native language.

The language is Serbian. Tania’s mother was Croatian. Her father was Russian. Tania was born in Serbia, but left when she was six months old. She and her brother grew up in San Francisco speaking English. She didn’t speak any language until she was two.

Tania doesn’t know why she spoke Serbian, rather than Croatian, with her mother Zora. It never occurred to her to ask until she started writing her memoir. And by then, her mother was gone.

The country of birth listed on Tania’s American passport changed four times in four successive renewals. Until the first time, she believed your country of birth was a fixed point. Today she knows better.

Go with her as she journeys through time and history looking for answers, and finding some.

As Andrew McCarthy wrote in The New York Times Book Review about the previous volume, “For more than 20 years, Travelers’ Tales has been publishing books that might best be described as the literary equivalent of a group of travelers sitting around a dim cafe, sipping pints or prosecco and trading their best stories.”

Now, new from Travelers’ Tales comes The Best Women’s Travel Writing, Volume 13: True Stories from Around the World—the latest collection in the best-selling, award-winning series that invites you to ride shotgun alongside intrepid female nomads as they wander the globe discovering new places, faces, and facets of themselves.

“In story after story,” McCarthy wrote about the previous volume of The Best Women’s Travel Writing, “the refreshing absence of bluster and bravado, coupled with the optimism necessary for bold travel, create a unifying narrative that testifies to the personal value and cultural import of leaving the perceived safety of home and setting out into the wider world.”

The essays in this volume are as diverse as the destinations, exploring themes of kindness, transformation, nature, friendship, family, strength, and resilience.

La Dolce Vita University, 2nd Edition (LDVU2) is the perfect sampler for anyone curious about (or already in amore with) Italy and its remarkably rich cultural gifts, both past and present. This fully revised second edition includes 125 pages of new material (more than 60 new mini-essays and 40 new illustrations) to expand on the delights in the first edition. True to its lighthearted name, La Dolce Vita “U” is all about pleasurable learning, or what we prefer to call “edu-tainment.” Its dozens of entertaining yet authoritative mini-essays on a wide assortment of intriguing topics encourage random dipping at the reader’s pleasure. Even the most erudite Italophile will discover fun new facts and fascinating new insights in the pages of La Dolce Vita U.

Mini-essays treat specific topics in one or more of the following subject areas: the Italian character; the visual arts (art, artists, architects); the performing arts (music, theater, cinema); history and antiquity; language and literature; cuisine and agriculture; wine and spirits; traditions and festivals; style and applied arts; unique places. In a wink and nod to the book’s “academic” identity, the 200 mini-essays are arranged alphabetically and accompanied by charming illustrations throughout. A special traveler’s topic index is provided at the end of the book.

The adventures continue for Billy Gogan, an intrepid Irish-American immigrant. Young Billy enlists in the U.S. Army on the eve of the war. Amidst the bloodshed he encounters the Texas Rangers, Ulysses S. Grant and friends who fight alongside him.

Billy navigates a dangerous path through gambling dens, wealthy estates, mysterious women, and sweltering heat. While challenged to follow meaningless orders, he struggles to escape a threat more imminent than war.

Roger Higgins, author of Billy Gogan, American, presents the second historical fiction novel in the award-winning Billy Gogan series. Roger’s debut novel has been honored by the Hollywood Book Fest, (Honorable Mention, 2018), the International Book Awards (Finalist, 2017), the New York Book Festival (Honorable Mention, 2018), Reader’s Favorite (Finalist, 2018), Best Book Awards (Finalist, 2018), and the Independent Author Network (Finalist, 2018).

The 100 places profiled in this book are the result of decades of travel, research, and living in Cuba by a US journalist with uncommon access, ensuring travelers incomparable experiences. Much more than a prescriptive list, these narratives incorporate adventures and mishaps, insider opinion, slang, gossip, and conversations with Cubans during a historic shift which saw Soviet support evaporate, Fidel Castro take his final bow, economic reforms whiffing suspiciously of capitalism, and quasi-normalization with the United States. From exclusive interviews with prestigious Cubans to tales from intrepid travelers, these stories decipher the mysteries of Cuba while describing the country’s most alluring sites, sounds, and off-the-beaten track locales.

Author Conner Gorry has spent decades writing guidebooks for Lonely Planet (Cuba included), reporting from post-disaster situations, and covering Cuban life from the inside for a variety of international publications. Her expertise in parsing Cuban machismo and gender politics, analyzing the role and impact of Cuban women, and ferreting out the best places for women traveling solo or with children enriches the book. She first visited Cuba in 1993 and has been permanently based in Havana since 2002 where she reports on everything from clinical trials to questionable fashion. She has written several books about Cuba and founded the island’s only English-language bookstore, Cuba Libro, in 2013; most of her explorations for 100 Places in Cuba Every Woman Should Go were made on a 1946 Harley-Davidson, leading one observer to say: ‘Conner’s Cuba is where Shakespeare and Company meets Easy Rider.”

In this book, readers will:

Deposit a loved one's ashes in a Bolivian River

Find the Celtic soul you never knew you had in rural Ireland

Grope through the maze of sorcery and madness in Cameroon

Rediscover your sense of self on a return to Russia after many years away

Follow the spirit of John Wesley Powell down the Grand Canyon in Arizona

Engage loss and the specter of death in Mexico

Face your deepest fears alone in an Alaskan winter

Encounter the realities of prostitution in Thailand

Absorb the rhythms and soul of Flamenco in Spain

Fall in love with a home in rural France and make it your own...

“Intrepid and empathetic, gifted with the dispassionate gaze of a born observer…a  harmonious collage of worldview and character, a wunderkammer of experiences in a life fully lived.” —Melissa Febos, The New York Times

Winner of the 2023 Lowell Thomas Award

“DeSanctis encounters spies and love interests, but it’s her lushly polished writing that makes this book a joy to read.” —The Washington Post

Vogue's Best Books of 2022

The Washington Post’s Best Travel Books of 2022

Restless to leave, eager to return: this memoir in essays captures the unrelenting pull between the past and the present, between traveling the world and staying home.

Starting in a dreary Moscow hotel room in 1983, weaving back and forth to rural New England, and ending on a West Texas trail in 2020, Marcia DeSanctis tells stories that span the globe and half a lifetime. With intimacy and depth, over quicksand in France, insomnia in Cambodia, up a volcano in Rwanda, spinning through the eye of a snowstorm in Bismarck, and atop a dumpster in her own backyard, this New York Times bestselling author, award-winning essayist and journalist for Vogue and Travel + Leisure immerses us in places waiting to be experienced and some that may be more than we’re up for. She encounters spies, angels, leopards, shoes, the odd rattlesnake, a random head of state, and many times over, the ghosts of her past. Each subsequent voyage leads to revelations about her search for solitude, a capacity for adventure, and always, a longing for home.

Praise for the first book in the Strange Tales series:

“This book contains some of the most astonishing tales I’ve ever encountered. One after another. They make for obsessive reading.” —Tim Cahill, author of Jaguars Ripped My Flesh“

What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever seen or experienced?”

Gina and Scott Gaille have traveled to more than 100 countries, including many off-the-beaten-path places in Africa, South America, and Asia. Wherever they go, they ask this question. Everyone has a story, and some are truly extraordinary.

Strange Tales of World Travel, Volume 2 is the follow-up to the Gailles’ award-winning debut. Their sequel entertains readers with 50 more thrilling, hilarious, heartbreaking encounters, including: 

• Mr. Centenarian, the 111-year-old who attributes his longevity to drinking and bathing in a magical river
• Mr. Serengeti, who picked the wrong bush to relieve himself in while on safari
• The Refugee, who witnessed his friend get shot for begging a soldier to protect his family from approaching rebels
• Mr. Lucky to Live, who was scalped by an angry baboon, and many more.

Each story represents an indelible memory for its narrator. These are peak moments in their lives, tales they tell and retell. Once again, the Gailles bring them together in this captivating second volume of Strange Tales of World Travel.

As Andrew McCarthy wrote in The New York Times Book Review about the previous volume, “For more than 20 years, Travelers’ Tales has been publishing books that might best be described as the literary equivalent of a group of travelers sitting around a dim cafe, sipping pints or prosecco and trading their best stories.”

Now, new from Travelers’ Tales comes The Best Women’s Travel Writing, Volume 13: True Stories from Around the World—the latest collection in the best-selling, award-winning series that invites you to ride shotgun alongside intrepid female nomads as they wander the globe discovering new places, faces, and facets of themselves.

“In story after story,” McCarthy wrote about the previous volume of The Best Women’s Travel Writing, “the refreshing absence of bluster and bravado, coupled with the optimism necessary for bold travel, create a unifying narrative that testifies to the personal value and cultural import of leaving the perceived safety of home and setting out into the wider world.”

The essays in this volume are as diverse as the destinations, exploring themes of kindness, transformation, nature, friendship, family, strength, and resilience.

In The Creative Spark, a collection of interviews prefaced by brief biographies, these luminaries join dozens of other voices to create a symphony of inspiration. Lucinda Williams talks about honesty and making every word count; Jane Goodall cites the value of persistence and believing in yourself; and Smokey Robinson heralds the timeless power of love songs.

For more than a decade, award-winning author Michael Shapiro (A Sense of Place) has interviewed many of our brightest creators. In The Creative Spark, musicians, authors, explorers, and chefs speak about what drives them, what helps them see the world in fresh ways, and what inspires them to turn their visions into art.

Shapiro’s work as a music journalist has led to interviews with legends including Graham Nash, Lyle Lovett, Melissa Etheridge, Jake Shimabukuro, Merle Haggard, and Jethro Tull bandleader Ian Anderson. And he’s spoken with creative masters in other fields, such as comedian Joan Rivers and author Frances Mayes.

Yet it’s not simply that Shapiro has had access to so many supremely talented people—it’s that he gets them to go deep. Moments into his penetrating conversation with Lucinda (her fans call her by her first name), she tells Shapiro about how decisions made about her mother’s funeral led to fissures in her family. From this achingly personal conversation, readers can glean fresh insights into why Lucinda has such a devoted following and why her songs open listeners’ hearts.

Unexpected revelations pop up in every chapter of The Creative Spark. Iowa folksinger Greg Brown isn’t a household name, but his fellow musicians revere his poetic compositions. Then there’s San Francisco Giants announcer Mike Krukow, who turns every broadcast into a work of art. Chefs, including SingleThread’s Kyle Connaughton, discuss how they’re transforming the way we approach fine dining and why social responsibility is essential.

Each chapter starts with a short biography of the creative person being profiled, then segues into Q+A. This collection brings together some of the best-known artists of our time with others who may not be as famed but who have valuable insights about living an artful life. The Creative Spark stands as a testament to human achievement, showing how creativity illuminates our world. And how it resides in each and every one of us, just waiting to break out.