Maps of the Imagination: The Writer as Cartographer

User Review: - UNPUTDOWNABLE!
I strongly recommend this book to anyone who likes to get lost in the thick forest of words, beautifully arranged by the author, to take you through uncharted territories. You'll be introduced to a magic world where maps, stories, life and time are blended into a mind galaxy. Peter Turchi is a gifted writer, full of wit, imagination and knowledge. More than a book, it's a journey into text and its endless possibilities. Don't miss it!

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User Review: - Extended metaphor
This book is a breezy meditation on the creative process in writing. It sprang out of a series of lectures the author gave on fiction writing as a form of mental mapmaking. While this could have been dreadfully pretentious, Turchi writes deftly and never pushes his "extended metaphor" beyond the limits of plausibility. He even thanks us (readers, colleagues, and students) for indulging him in it. I really enjoyed reading this book, and I still browse through it from time to time for inspiration. Highly recommended.

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User Review: - Heavy on the writing, light on the cartography
Be warned. This book compares the craft of writing, particularly fiction writing, to mapmaking and other forms of graphic representation. It is not a book about imaginary maps that do or could appear in fiction. This book does refer briefly to a few books containing such maps: Absalom, Absalom!; Watership Down; Lord of the Rings; Treasure Island; etc. But imaginary maps in fiction are not this book's subject.

The book tries to be for fiction writers and poets what Tufte's Visual Display of Quantitative Information might be for a statistician. For fiction writers and some readers, this book is probably helpful and interesting. It is well-written, contains many illustrations, and makes some valuable points about perspective, metaphor, and details. But the illustrations often don't match up to the text. And one won't learn much about mapmaking or visual representation here. For that sort of thing, time with books by Edward Tufte or Mark Monmonier would be time better spent.

I'd still like to see the book I thought I was buying. What might a map of Combray (In Search of Lost Time) look like? How about the map that Le Grand Meaulnes made? Turchi lives in Asheville, North Carolina. What might a map of Altamont (Look Homeward, Angel) depict? The list could go on.

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User Review: - fascinating and engaging extended essay about writing
I'm not a writer, not in any meaningful sense. I am a reader, and I deeply admire writers who can immerse me in their story.

I received this book as a gift from someone who I respect. It seemed an odd gift, but now I understand it. This is one of the best non-fiction books that I've read in quite a long time. In this book, Turchi gives us a fascinating and engaging extended essay about writing. He compares it to the art and science of cartography, pointing out the myriad and unexpected ways in which cartography and writing are similar.

While the idea is an interesting one, Turchi makes it all the more approachable through the examples and quotes that he sprinkles liberally throughout the book. This is possibly the only book that references both the storytelling of "Lolita" as well as that found within the Road Runner cartoons that I grew up with. I found myself constantly writing down more books, stories, and poems that I needed to read, based on how they were discussed herein. Many of them are books that I've been meaning to read, such as "Treasure Island", others are authors that I've heard discussed before but never in a way that made me want to rush out and read them.

The book is full of maps, ranging from early maps of the world to a map drawn by the author's son showing locations in town for street luge. These maps serve as a reminder of one of the central points of the book: cartography and writing both choose what to illuminate and what to ignore. I remember annotating a map with landmarks that I found useful, which tells you just as much about what I found useful at the time as it tells you about what I didn't find useful at the time.

I can't recommend this book highly enough. I feel like I need to send a copy of it to every writer I know.

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User Review: - Left brain 'jumper cables' for the right brained
Cartography is an analytical science ... mathematical, temporal, evolving. Novels are literal explorations. Perceiving a common link between the technical cartography and the creative novel becomes a fascinating common ground. Ever wonder how a left brainer thinks? Turchi gives us a hint.

Turchi makes a living from his application of the understanding of the technical structure of novels ... cartography is his hobby. Right brainers make a living from the technical ... novels are the hobby.

The subtleties and enjoyable descriptions of the structure and theory of great novels are merged with the structure and theory of great maps. How we use language and data to convey structural information is common ground in Turchi's premise.

For this reviewer, a great map improves efficiency in getting from "A" to "B". Turchi is revealing in his observation that humans use maps to reduce an anxious uncertainty of the unknown. As one of those 'if I'm lost, get loster' types, I suppose I do enjoy the ' ... get loster' adventure. The same is true in enjoying the unexpected adventures in the great novel. Turchi's insight into natural human motivation to seek a clearing of the veil of uncertainty left me thinking down a whole other set of rabbit holes.

This book is a box of chocolates.

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