Cathedral of Junk

Keeping it Weird in Austin, Texas

Aren't the residents of the proudly hip city of Austin, Texas, just traditionalists at heart?
January 2012 | By ZZ Packer

The college city's big sky and endless farmland gave this New Yorker some fresh perspective
November 2011 | By Meghan Daum

From out-of-the-way jazz joints to po' boy shacks, a native son shares his favorite haunts in the Big Easy
September 2011 | By Randy Fertel

Author Rick Bass trades wilderness for city life, Montana style
August 2011 | By Rick Bass

Returning to his native Ohio, author Charles Michener marvels at the city’s ability to reinvent itself
April 2011 | By Charles Michener

These are not your average travel stories, but pieces filled with highly colorful and personal observations that evoke a strong sense of place
January 2009 | By Smithsonian magazine

The author finds inspiration at the doorstep of his Frank Lloyd Wright-designed house near the central California town
February 2011 | By T.C. Boyle

The town's Civil War cemeteries deepened Ernest Furguson's view of history as a young boy
January 2011 | By Ernest B. Furgurson

The Pacific Northwest city captivated the author first when she was an adventure-seeking adolescent and again as an adult
November 2010 | By Katherine Dunn

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist J.R. Moehringer rolls the dice on life in Sin City
October 2010 | By J.R. Moehringer

Travel writer Pico Iyer remains both fascinated and puzzled by the ancient Japanese city
June 2010 | By Pico Iyer

She didn't plan on staying, but more than 20 years later novelist Patricia Henley embraces her adopted community
February 2010 | By Patricia Henley

A community in the Allegheny foothills nurtured novelist Jayne Anne Phillips' talent for storytelling
January 2010 | By Jayne Anne Phillips

Observing ibises and kayaking among sharks, author Barbara Ehrenreich savors life "up the Keys"
July 2009 | By Barbara Ehrenreich

The fiction writer cherishes her mountain town's anti-commercialism, as epitomized by the local swap stop, a regional landmark
August 2009 | By Antonya Nelson

Idaho's natural beauty is what makes novelist Anthony Doerr feel so much at home in Boise
April 2009 | By Anthony Doerr

Novelist Tim O'Brien revisits his past to come to terms with his rural hometown
November 2009 | By Tim O'Brien

Memorist Rick Bragg finds forgiving soil along the brown sand stretch of Mobile Bay
June 2009 | By Rick Bragg

Novelist Josephine Humphreys says the city is more than just her hometown, it's her life
March 2009 | By Josephine Humphreys

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Geraldine Brooks delights in the allure of Martha's Vineyard's off-season
February 2009 | By Geraldine Brooks

Far from her Northern roots, the best-selling novelist discovers a new sense of home amid rolling hills and Thoroughbred farms
December 2008 | By Kim Edwards

Celebrated poet Mark Doty succumbs to Houston's humid charms
October 2008 | By Mark Doty

He arrived unsure of what to expect—but the prolific author quickly embraced Seattle's energizing diversity
September 2008 | By Charles Johnson

Why do New Yorkers seem rude? A noted critic and essayist has a few ideas
May 2008 | By Joan Acocella

Claire Messud, the best-selling author of The Emperor's Children, discovers the grown-up pleasures of her adolescent playground
April 2008 | By Claire Messud

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