We look forward to seeing you on your next visit to the library. Find a location near you.

Passionate nomad: the life of Freya Stark

Book Cover
Average Rating
Publisher:
Varies, see individual formats and editions
Pub. Date:
Varies, see individual formats and editions
Language:
English
Description
A New York Times Notable Book • Finalist for the PEN/Martha Albrand Award for First Nonfiction
“Highly readable biography . . . The woman who emerges from these pages is a complex figure—heroic, driven . . . and entirely human.”—Richard Bernstein, The New York Times
Passionate Nomad captures the momentous life and times of Freya Stark with precision, compassion, and marvelous detail. Hailed by The Times of London as “the last of the Romantic Travellers” upon her death in 1993, Freya Stark combined unflappable bravery, formidable charm, fearsome intellect, and ferocious ambition to become the twentieth century’s best-known woman traveler. Digging beneath the mythology, Geniesse uncovers a complex, controversial, and quixotic woman whose indomitable spirit was forged by contradictions: a child of privilege, Stark grew up in near poverty; yearning for formal education, she was largely self-taught; longing for love, she consistently focused on the wrong men. Despite these hardships, Stark’s astonishing career spanned more than sixty years, during which she produced twenty-two books that sealed her reputation as a consummate woman of letters.
This edition includes a new Epilogue by the author that, citing newly discovered evidence, calls into question the circumstances of Stark’s birth and adds new insight into this adventurous and lively personality.
Praise for Passionate Nomad
Passionate Nomad is a work of nonfiction that reads and sings with the drama and lilt of a fine novel. The story of Freya Stark is stunning, inspiring, sad, funny, unique, and moving. Jane Fletcher Geniesse tells it straight, but with a care for delicious detail and a sympathy for the characters that make this a truly special book.”—Jim Lehrer
Passionate Nomad supplies a fascinating individual thread in the tapestry of twentiethcentury Middle Eastern history. . . . [Geniesse] has achieved, in the end, an admirable focus, at once critical and sympathetic. . . . For all Stark’s unresolved contradictions, . . . her distinction as a latter-day woman of letters survives.”The New York Times Book Review
“Compulsively readable . . . [Geniesse] has done a thorough job re-creating the life of a woman many consider to be the last of the great romantic travelers.”The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)
Also in This Series
More Like This
More Copies In LINK+
Loading LINK+ Copies...
More Details
ISBN:
9780394583969
9780307756855
Reviews from GoodReads
Loading GoodReads Reviews.
Staff View

Grouping Information

Grouped Work IDd6043935-ac6d-7587-1f4d-8d42474cae90
Grouping Titlepassionate nomad the life of freya stark
Grouping Authorjane fletcher geniesse
Grouping Categorybook
Grouping LanguageEnglish (eng)
Last Grouping Update2024-03-28 02:11:39AM
Last Indexed2024-03-28 02:24:37AM

Solr Fields

accelerated_reader_point_value
0
accelerated_reader_reading_level
0
author
Geniesse, Jane Fletcher
author_display
Geniesse, Jane Fletcher
detailed_location_catalog
Central
display_description
A New York Times Notable Book • Finalist for the PEN/Martha Albrand Award for First Nonfiction
“Highly readable biography . . . The woman who emerges from these pages is a complex figure—heroic, driven . . . and entirely human.”—Richard Bernstein, The New York Times
Passionate Nomad captures the momentous life and times of Freya Stark with precision, compassion, and marvelous detail. Hailed by The Times of London as “the last of the Romantic Travellers” upon her death in 1993, Freya Stark combined unflappable bravery, formidable charm, fearsome intellect, and ferocious ambition to become the twentieth century’s best-known woman traveler. Digging beneath the mythology, Geniesse uncovers a complex, controversial, and quixotic woman whose indomitable spirit was forged by contradictions: a child of privilege, Stark grew up in near poverty; yearning for formal education, she was largely self-taught; longing for love, she consistently focused on the wrong men. Despite these hardships, Stark’s astonishing career spanned more than sixty years, during which she produced twenty-two books that sealed her reputation as a consummate woman of letters.
This edition includes a new Epilogue by the author that, citing newly discovered evidence, calls into question the circumstances of Stark’s birth and adds new insight into this adventurous and lively personality.
Praise for Passionate Nomad
Passionate Nomad is a work of nonfiction that reads and sings with the drama and lilt of a fine novel. The story of Freya Stark is stunning, inspiring, sad, funny, unique, and moving. Jane Fletcher Geniesse tells it straight, but with a care for delicious detail and a sympathy for the characters that make this a truly special book.”—Jim Lehrer
Passionate Nomad supplies a fascinating individual thread in the tapestry of twentiethcentury Middle Eastern history. . . . [Geniesse] has achieved, in the end, an admirable focus, at once critical and sympathetic. . . . For all Stark’s unresolved contradictions, . . . her distinction as a latter-day woman of letters survives.”The New York Times Book Review
“Compulsively readable . . . [Geniesse] has done a thorough job re-creating the life of a woman many consider to be the last of the great romantic travelers.”The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)
format_catalog
Book
eBook
format_category_catalog
Books
eBook
id
d6043935-ac6d-7587-1f4d-8d42474cae90
isbn
9780307756855
9780394583969
itype_catalog
Adult Book Non-Fiction
last_indexed
2024-03-28T09:24:37.294Z
lexile_score
-1
literary_form
Non Fiction
literary_form_full
Non Fiction
local_callnumber_catalog
BIOGRAPHY Stark, F. 1999
owning_library_catalog
Sacramento Public Library
owning_location_catalog
Central
primary_isbn
9780394583969
publishDate
1999
2010
publisher
Random House
Random House Publishing Group
recordtype
grouped_work
subject_facet
British -- Travel -- Foreign countries -- History -- 20th century
Great Britain -- Biography
Stark, Freya
Women travelers -- Great Britain -- Biography
title_display
Passionate nomad : the life of Freya Stark
title_full
Passionate Nomad The Life of Freya Stark
Passionate nomad : the life of Freya Stark / Jane Fletcher Geniesse
title_short
Passionate nomad
title_sub
the life of Freya Stark
topic_facet
Biography & Autobiography
British
Foreign countries
History
Nonfiction
Stark, Freya
Travel
Women travelers

Solr Details Tables

item_details

Bib IdItem IdShelf LocCall NumFormatFormat CategoryNum CopiesIs Order ItemIs eContenteContent SourceeContent URLDetailed StatusLast CheckinLocation
overdrive:f4a8a5d7-9d6e-4497-ba99-13b9e00f9a05-2Online OverDrive CollectionOnline OverDriveeBookeBook1falsetrueOverDriveAvailable Online
ils:.b11867929.i29128225CentralBIOGRAPHY Stark, F. 19991falsefalseOFF CAMPUScenag

record_details

Bib IdFormatFormat CategoryEditionLanguagePublisherPublication DatePhysical DescriptionAbridged
overdrive:f4a8a5d7-9d6e-4497-ba99-13b9e00f9a05eBookeBookEnglishRandom House Publishing Group2010
ils:.b11867929BookBooks1st edEnglishRandom Housec1999xvii, 402 p. : ill., maps ; 25 cm.

scoping_details_catalog

Bib IdItem IdGrouped StatusStatusLocally OwnedAvailableHoldableBookableIn Library Use OnlyLibrary OwnedHoldable PTypesBookable PTypesLocal Url
overdrive:f4a8a5d7-9d6e-4497-ba99-13b9e00f9a05-2Available OnlineAvailable Onlinefalsetruetruefalsefalsefalse
ils:.b11867929.i29128225Currently UnavailableOFF CAMPUSfalsefalsetruetruefalsetrue0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18, 19, 20, 22, 24, 26, 31, 32, 33, 34, 36, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 12011