The digital age struck a major blow to brick-and-mortar bookstores. The number of traditional bookstores, including major chains like Borders, has dwindled over the last decade. Many will point to the rise in popularity of e-readers and Amazon delivery services. In certain respects, a niche, hole-in-the-wall store is a thing of the past. However, smart branding and positioning are key elements that allow stores to keep their lights on despite dig...

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Cargo Literary Magazine showcases personal development through travel. They do this through stunning photography, intriguing stories and evocative poetry as well as beautiful digital artwork and a book review. I recently reviewed Issue No. 14  One of the photo essays with its gorgeous photography was very moving! In this issue, one of the essays was by Fabrice Poussin, and he had offered up ten breath taking photos along with a short statemen...

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Twain’s “(The) Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” is notable for many things, including its unique position as the first novel to feature contemporary slang in the first person. While the book is well-known for its frequent use of an ethnic slur, to the point of having a character named “[expletive] Jim,” it also serves as a satire of the American South by comparing that region to what it was like two decades prior.  ...

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Wanderlust Read: On the Road by Jack Kerouac
Default / 22/06/2018

Kerouac’s On the Road has the combination of a poet’s unrelenting free-form lyricism in blank verse—freed from the contrived structure of traditionally staid writing as well as at least some of the formula of conventional storytelling—with the unapologetic mania of youth untethered, unbound by the pages in the present moment of being On the Road, the terrible and terribly beautiful mania of the sleep-deprived, self-medicating, t...

Literary Companion: Istanbul and My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk
Default / 23/05/2018

The first in our “Literary Companion” series, I want to recommend My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk to those about to visit (or who have just recently visited) Istanbul, Turkey. The novel, originally titled Benim Adim Kirmizi, was written in 1998 and translated into English in 2001. In 2006, Pamuk received the Nobel Prize in Literature; this novel established his reputation and contributed to his Nobel Prize. Those familiar with...

Wanderlust Read: A Sentimental Journey, by Laurence Sterne
Default / 04/04/2018

Though unlikely to appear in contemporary “Best Travel Writing” lists, this Laurence Sterne text is the foundation of the genre. Published in 1768, the book portrays Sterne’s 1765 travels through France and Italy. Upon release, the text was extremely popular, establishing travel writing as the dominant genre of the late 18th century. A Sentimental Journey discusses travel in a new light—rather than focusing on skills and lessons...