It is no secret that most tourists – even intrepid backpackers – flee San José as soon as they can. But Michael Miller makes a compelling argument that San José is worth exploring.
Take a break this evening. After you've gone to Mass or eaten your matzo or taken a dip in the ocean or whatever other activity you might be doing today, on this 20th day of the fourth month of the year -- take a break. Now go read two of Gabriel García Márquez's most famous short stories.
Unlike so many would-be authors, Page can put words together. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee and has published in The New York Times, and her literary competence shows. Some sections in “Paradise Imperfect” are smart and eloquent, and she frames her story well.
In 2004, J. Maarten Troost burst onto the travel-writing scene with his first book, “The Sex Lives of Cannibals.” Troost was lovable for many reasons: He was a Gen X slacker, but inspired enough to live in the South Pacific. He was funny, but not hyperbolic. He was Dutch, but not really European – more like a bumbling Englishman with a hemp necklace. He was smart, free-spirited, and utterly fun.
Even for a children’s book, “The Manatee’s Big Day” (Zona Tropical Press) is goofy. For the first few pages, Erin Van Rheenen’s animal adventure looks like a story of zoological teamwork: There’s a shark in the jungles of Tortuguero on Costa Rica's northern Caribbean coast, and the animals are all freaked out. Instead of fearing each other, the rival species band together against their common enemy.
