Travelers’ Tales
“Wonderfully detailed, every word the right word, this book is a genuine keeper.”
―Kirkus Starred Review
Praise for the end of the world notwithstanding: stories i lived to tell
“This wild memoir is excruciatingly honest, hilarious in its Chaplinesque escapades, and deliberate in the suspenseful nature of each story. I found myself yelling at the pages, not wanting her to make that choice, or at least look over her shoulder. As she so precisely describes ‘our learned performances of cheerful compliance,’ Goodwin exposes a vulnerable humility and belief in human goodness that to some could appear naïve, but to me conveys the strength of a Zen Master. She never rages against her abusers, against the weather, or the drunken driver. Instead, she reflects on the rich complexity of life and the deliciousness of being able to live inside it. This book is a beauty.” ―Fay Simpson, author of The Lucid Body
“This is the only book I want to read, again and again, for the rest of 2021. There is a philosophical destination here, but the road to that destination is forever and wonderfully forking. I was thrilled to be carried along for the ride. And what message do we need more urgently these days than to laugh at ourselves at the height of our anxiety, that the best we can possibly do is to say ‘Oh well―ha!’ to everything, and to be reminded that we will, someday soon, be eating peaches again?” ―David Hicks, author of White Plains: A Novel
“The only writer who can make Nietzsche seem funny.” ―Gary Buslik, author of A Rotten Person Travels the Caribbean
“Goodwin spins a comedic memoir that mines the absurdity of human experience, offering readers profound moments of insight. Because of her sensibility―self-deprecating and quirky, self-aware and intelligent―I would follow her anywhere.” ―Suzanne Roberts, author of Bad Tourist: Misadventures in Love and Travel
“Decades ago, new to San Francisco, broke but needing adventure, I began to surreptitiously follow and eavesdrop on street people who muttered aloud, explaining and justifying their lives to themselves and an invisible audience. I found a significant percentage of them to be perfectly lucid, often employing a word-perfect prose bordering on poetry. Those voices came back to me as I read this captivating, trance-inducing memoir. Goodwin exorcises painful chapters of her own past, while―and here lies her genius―commanding guffaw after guffaw from the reader, yet never diminishing the gravity of her stories.” ―Brad Newsham, author of Take Me With You
“Janna Goodwin’s writing voice is so clear, so candid, and so self-deprecating, it’s hard to believe she’s not sitting in front of you as you read her stories. They’re not always easy, they’re full of doubt and some genuinely bad decisions, but they are so very human. She wanders a lot, as people do when they tell a story, but you want to go along for the entire ride.” ―Pam Mandel, author of The Same River Twice
“Janna L. Goodwin’s true stories lie somewhere between a memoir and a literary travelogue and reflect not just on adventure, but the life lessons they bring. It creates a journey that appeals on many different levels with a series of stories designed to entertain, educate, and delight. Each story holds the opportunity for readers to stay on edge not about the journey, but its ultimate impact and promise of change. Goodwin writes with a wry humor and insight that sets it apart from the usual travelogue.” ―Midwest Book Review
Available wherever books are sold and online
Past author events
May 11, 2021, Tuesday, 6pm MDT, Magers & Quinn Booksellers, Minneapolis, MN with Scott Carpenter. Find us on Facebook Live or YouTube
May 12, 2021, Wednesday, 7pm MDT, Barnes & Noble, Cheyenne, WY. Link to live event here
May 19, 2021, Wednesday, 6pm MDT: Book Passage, Corte Madera, CA with Lavinia Spalding
May 20, 2021, Thursday, 4pm MDT (5pm CT): Barbara’s Bookstore, Chicago, IL with Gary Buslik
June 3, 2021, Thursday, 7pm MDT: The Book Bar, Denver, CO with Lee Massaro. On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/2896893373866057
June 9, 2021, Wednesday, 6pm MDT: Old Firehouse Books, Fort Collins with Nicole Szmyd (Zoom streamed to Facebook)
June 17, 2021, Thursday, 5pm MDT: Tattered Cover Bookstore, Denver, CO with Suzanne Roberts
June 18, 2021, Friday, 11am-2pm: Barnes and Noble, Cheyenne, WY (in person signing)
June 19, 2021, Saturday, 10am-2pm: Barnes and Noble, Ft. Collins, CO (in person signing)
Reading and signing, June 29, 2021, 6:30pm MDT: Boulder Book Store, 1107 Pearl Street (in the Pearl Street Mall), Boulder, CO (in person)
April 30, 2022 Wind City Books, Casper, Wyoming
Janna L. Goodwin 