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| Beginning
in January 2012, apropos of a series of journeys, interviews,
and reading, I will be writing a book about Marfa, Texas and
environs. At this point it is not possible to say more for, if I've learned one thing, it is that any journey, and that includes the journey of writing a book, is strewn with surprises. When I know about more about the book, including its title, I will post it here. Update: A few prelimary things I can say are that I'm especially interested in exploring the contrasts and comparisons with the subject of my previous travel book, Mexico's Baja California peninsula (geography, flora and fauna, history); Marfa's (and the Transpecos') iconic status in the American imagination; how the vast spaces and the quality of the light inspire various artists; and the way so many of us, all over the world, are connected on the Internet, and how this fundamentally changes a travel writer's approach to a place, and interaction with the people there. I imagine that some or perhaps many people in Marfa, at some point, may find this webpage via a google search or a hashtag on Twitter. So the writer's relative anonymity as he or she travels has evaporated. Similarly, far more of a writer's research, before, during and after travels, will be on-line. With Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, TripAdvisor, YouTube, webpages of all kinds, we are experiencing a hyper-accelerating social transparency—or, the sometimes very misleading appearance of transparency. I find this very interesting. Thank you for your interest. |