America's Most Important Literary Landmarks You Need to Visit
Despite its relative youth compared to Europe and Asia, the United States of America is a country with a rich literary legacy, filled with places of pilgrimage for readers and writers alike. The homes of quintessentially American authors such as Flannery O’Connor and Mark Twain attract hundreds of tourists from around the world, and bookstores including Portland, Oregon’s Powell’s Books are unrivaled for selection and ambience. Often these landmarks deepen the readerly experience or provide context to bodies of work like that of Emily Dickinson, whose life is chronicled by the Dickinson Museum in Amherst, Massachusetts. Here are ten of the most standout landmarks for literature in the U.S.
Kansas City Public Library
Noted for its unusual architecture, the Kansas City Public Library boasts a parking garage that emulates an enormous bookshelf with larger-than-life tomes by Ralph Ellison, Langston Hughes, J.R.R. Tolkien, and many others. Each spine is 25 by 9 feet, making for one of the most impressive exteriors in the country.
Kansas City Public Library, 14 W 10th St, Kansas City, MO, USA +1 (816) 701-3400
2. The Mark Twain House and Museum
Museum
3. Cannery Row
Market, Market
Immortalized in John Steinbeck’s Cannery Row, Monterey, California’s once-industrial waterfront street now attracts legions of tourists. Although the area around it has changed massively since the publication of Steinbeck’s book, many of its key locales, including the Pacific Biological Laboratories and the Chinese-American-owned market across the street, have been preserved and remain in business.
Cannery Row, Monterey, CA, USA
4. Powell's Books
Bookstore, Park, Store
5. Rowan Oak
Museum
6. Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site
Museum
7. City Lights
Bookstore, Store
8. Flannery O'Connor Childhood Home
Museum
9. The Bridges of Madison County
Bridge
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