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Rating: 
Summary: 20 years old but still useful
Review: Even though it's not current, this book is a decent guide for travelers intending to visit literary homes in New England. It could also serve as an introduction to the lives of major authors. Featured here are home descriptions for Mark Twain, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Eugene O'Neill, Edith Wharton, Helman Melville, William Cullen Bryant, Emily Dickinson, Bronson Alcott, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Greenleaf Whittier, Robert Frost, and Sarah Orne Jewett. Each entry begins with a detailed line-drawing view of the house by illustrator Tom Siebert. It's followed by basic site information, an author photo, author chronology and extensive biography. Site information should be checked with another source, for hours and admission prices are sure to be different now. Each site has a web page by this time too. I've visited 8 of the 19 homes described here, and I can tell you that while much of the information is applicable, at least few major site changes have taken place for the better. Emily Dickinson's home in Amherst, Mass., has undergone administrative changes, and it's now more accessible than it used to be. At Walden Pond, a replica of Thoreau's cabin now stands next to the parking lot, while the original site is a brisk walk away along the far north side of the pond. The book also includes 11 pages listing other minor literary sites in New England. If you enjoy reading the works of these authors and want to see where they created them, this guide is for you. Someone should produce a third edition that's up-to-date.
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