I don’t think I’ve come across any other book, though, that combines those two favorite themes as enjoyably as David Farley’s An Irreverent Curiosity: In Search of the Church’s Strangest Relic in Italy’s Oddest Town.

The book follows Farley, a New York City-based travel writer (and Matador member) as he journeys to an isolated Italian village with his wife, Jessie, and trusty chihuahua, Abraham Lincoln, for an extended stay.

The reason for the expatriation? Calcata, the village in question, is home to a bizarre Christian relic, the foreskin of Jesus Christ. Or rather, Calcata was the relic’s home – until it was stolen.

What follows is an entertaining, endearing and, yes, educational mix of history, conspiracy, humor, and personal travelogue.

There are two main threads running through “An Irreverent Curiosity”.

First, the story of the Holy Foreskin, how it came to be placed in and then stolen from Calcata’s church, and, more broadly, how the Catholic Church came to revere and then downplay a whole array of holy relics over the centuries.

And secondly, how Farley managed to settle in a small village, learn Italian, and gain the trust of the locals in order to pursue his quest.

That first thread could easily have become dry and academic, or oversimplified, but Farley is able to keep the sections on the history of relics approachable and entertaining without ever dumbing them down.

On the other side of things, Calcata’s odd assortment of characters – the hilltop medieval village was re-settled by artists and other “freaks” after a bureaucratic twist pushed all the original residents out – could easily have become cartoons, quirky foils for Farley’s story. Instead, the residents who pop up most frequently feel fleshed-out and real.

David Farley, Author

While it’s still clear that many locals are decidedly unusual, Farley’s humor and self-deprecation means that the reader never feels as though the Calcatans are being mocked or their hospitality abused.

I’ll be honest: I’m a bit of a church history geek. So I suppose it’s possible that not everyone will find the story of the relic itself as absorbing as I did.

Luckily, though, the various elements of the book are woven together so tightly it’s not likely that anyone will have time to get bored, no matter how disinterested they think they are in relics.

Before that happens, Farley will be off on another sneaky research trip to the Vatican Library (where he once introduced himself to a priest as Gary Coleman), or drinking dangerous quantities of wine in a Calcatan cave, or recalling his high school days in the “special ed” class.

Bottom line: “An Irreverent Curiosity” is the story of an unlikely holy relic, true, but it’s also the story of a very unlikely village, and of one man’s (very funny) obsession with both.

Go ahead, snicker and make an off-color joke if you will, but for my money there should be more travel books like the tale of the holy foreskin.

Community Connection

Be sure to check out Matador’s exclusive interview with David Farley about “An Irreverent Curiosity” at The Traveler’s Notebook.

Photo of Muddy Waters – © Paul Natkin / Morrison Hotel Gallery

Rough Guide to Delta Blues

This is an evocative sampler of the raw, ragged blues that came out of the Delta in the pre-war years, from the likes of Charley Patton, Tommy Johnson and– of course– Robert Johnson, who so famously sold his soul at the crossroads.

Some later artists, including Muddy Waters and R.L. Burnside, are also represented.

A fantastic starting point, and an eerie accompaniment to any drive along Highway 61.

Muddy Waters: His Best, 1947-1955

Admittedly, Muddy Waters is most closely associated with the Chicago blues scene, and in fact this album is a collection of his finest from the early Chess years.

But there’s no denying where he came from, or where he got the sounds that he made so famous.

Ike Turner and His Kings of Rhythm: Rhythm Rockin’ Blues

Before Ike & Tina, and everything that came after, there were the Kings of Rhythm.

They left Clarksdale for Memphis and released “Rocket 88″ — which many folks would call the first ever pure rock ‘n’ roll song– in 1951 and continued recording, with a rotating cast of vocalists (and Ike on piano or guitar, and calling most of the shots) through the early to mid 50s.

This compilation rounds up Ike’s early work and shows the inarguable links between rock’n'roll and the blues.

Sam Cooke at the Copa

Alright, alright. Sam Cooke’s no bluesman (and yeah, my soul bias is showing).

But he is yet another huge talent who came out of tiny Clarksdale, and hey, you can’t listen to the blues for an entire roadtrip, right?

This live album from the Copa mixes everything from gospel to soul, country standards to pure pop — even a Bob Dylan cover! — in a consummate performance and, tragically, one of Cooke’s final recordings before his death at age 33.

Community Connection

Heading down south soon? Why not roll your own adventure with our handy blues guide.

Café Life Venice is a remarkable hybrid: part guidebook, and part coffeetable book. Written by Joe Wolff, and beautifully illustrated with photographs by Roger Paperno, the book profiles 17 traditional, family-run establishments in Venice.

The cafés, trattorias, pasticcerias and bacari (Venetian-style wine and tapas bars) listed in the book are scattered across Venice: some in tourist-thronged San Marco, and some in the lesser-visited — and totally magical — sectors of the city, like Cannaregio or Dorsoduro.

At every location, the author-photographer team interviewed the owners and staff, and photographed the establishment and its surrounding neighborhood, providing the reader with a rich history and context.

The book is compact and informative enough to be worth packing away for your next trip, and it’s also sufficiently compelling (both in terms of the photography and the mouth-watering content) to make for a good armchair read.

If you’re headed to Venice (or even if you’re not!), you’re interested in learning more about the city’s unique culinary traditions, and you’d like to avoid the usual tourist-trap meals in favor of some locally owned gems, I’d recommend Café Life Venice.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some serious Venetian daydreaming to get back to…

Photo by josef.stuefer (Creative Commons)

I began reading Wanderlust and Lipstick for Women Traveling to India with both hope and apprehension.

Photo by Meanest Indian

I’m generally skeptical of travel resources aimed specifically at us gals; all too often, they play to tired stereotypes (“How to Pack ALL Your Shoes! Bring Travel-Size Make-up! Let’s Shop Up a Storm!”), and when it comes down to it, I’m simply not convinced that men and women travel all that differently.

And yet, I thought as I opened the book for the first time, if there was ever a country that demanded a female-specific guide, wasn’t it India?

I visited the country myself as a solo, inexperienced 22-year-old a few years ago, and struggled to adapt throughout the trip. I was curious to see whether author Beth Whitman would offer the sort of advice I wished I’d had.

Price: $12.71 | BUY

The book follows an unconventional guidebook structure: it’s divided thematically rather than geographically (with subject areas like “Getting Around,” “Feasting” and “Your Health”) and is spliced with anecdotes and testimonials from an array of women who’ve traveled to India.

I was immediately impressed by “Follow Your Passions,” a chapter surveying the range of activities available to visitors. It went well beyond the usual lists of yoga studios, trekking companies and shopping bazaars.

In the planning section, Whitman was blunt (in a good way) about how much ground you can actually expect to cover, and offered helpful trip-planning strategies and resources to get the reader started.

A pre-guidebook guidebook, you might ask? Again, if ever there was a country that required one, it would be India. The transportation section was equally thorough and useful.

Much of the advice offered in Wanderlust and Lipstick could actually apply equally to both male and female travelers, but plenty of practical woman-only tips are woven throughout.

The sections on health, safety and packing are especially female-focused and well done, with the safety section including a blunt-spoken couple of pages on the near-inevitability of sexual harassment and how to handle it.

Photo by Meanest Indian

The only real disappointment, for me, was the brevity of the “Feasting” chapter. I could have used more detail, especially regarding regional varieties and signature dishes to keep an eye out for. But I suppose you could write an entire book on the Indian culinary experience alone!

To be clear: Wanderlust and Lipstick for Women Traveling to India is aimed squarely at a general audience. It covers all spending levels, and assumes no previous Third World travel experience in its readers.

The jaded backpacker set may roll their eyes in parts — at the introduction to squat toilets, for instance — but the reality is, India is a universe all on its own, and a particular challenge for female travelers.

This earnest primer would be a useful tool for any woman contemplating a visit to the subcontinent.

So of course we’re thrilled to see his first book, Where Am I Wearing?, hit bookstores everywhere.

Photo by gabyu

Luckily, when I was preparing to write this review, I never had to worry about that connection getting in my way. The book is such a pleasure to read that there was no conflict between my Matador loyalties and my obligation to give a fair review.

Where Am I Wearing? tells the story of Timmerman’s travels to Honduras, Bangladesh, Cambodia and China, in search of the workers who made his favorite clothes.

Price: $16.47 | BUY

Along the way, he interviews a supermodel-turned-activist, teaches children to play frisbee at the Phnom Penh city dump, and gets yelled at over a long-distance phone call by a corporate bigshot in California.

The end result of all these adventures is a compelling mixture of personal anecdote, humor and insight, all informed by extensive research into the history and economics of the global garment industry.

One thing should be made clear:

Where Am I Wearing? is neither an anti-sweatshop screed nor an in-depth economic analysis of global labor patterns.

Timmerman has obviously done a lot of background reading, and the book is highly informative, but the facts are woven into the story rather than being delivered in hard-to-digest, expository chunks.

Readers might also be surprised by the neutrality, or uncertainty, of the author at some points: being anti-sweatshop and anti-child labor, after all, has become the default position of nearly all progressive liberal types.

But what Timmerman discovers is that — surprise! — things on the ground aren’t that simple.

Photo by txd

He asks some tough questions, of himself and the people he meets, and is disarmingly honest about the answers he finds, however uncomfortable they might be.

So if WAIW? isn’t an anti-sweatshop rant or a regurgitation of global labor statistics, what’s it all about?

In a word: People.

The emphasis throughout the book is on the local people Timmerman meets: mainly workers, but also farmers, activists, bureaucrats, and even (gasp!) factory owners and management.

It’s about their daily routines, their dreams for the future, and their concerns today.

It’s also about the ways in which his meetings with these people change Timmerman himself, and his perspective as an average American consumer.

This book may be an unusual mixture of travelogue, history, economics and activism, but throughout, it remains consistently honest, funny and insightful.

Whether you’d like to learn more about the global garment industry, or you simply enjoy a good travel story, Where Am I Wearing? is worth cracking the spine on.

Community Connection:

Be sure to check out our accompanying Q&A with Kelsey Timmerman, over at Matador Life

Want to learn more about the global garment industry and responsible consumerism? Check out these recommendations:

Photo by Eneko Alonso

It’s such a fixture on the travel calendar that Matador named it one of the ten best parties in the world. We even published a feature guide to getting there (and getting out unscathed).

Of course, we’re not all going to make it to Pamplona next year, or even the year after that. And even if we could all go, we don’t all have the temperament to play tag with 6000 pounds worth of angry bulls. (I know I could never do it!)

For those of us who may never make the famous run, here are some alternative armchair thrills: a few good reads about the running of the bulls.

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

Hemingway’s first major novel helped entrench the running of the bulls in the popular consciousness. It’s a must-read for anyone interested in the Spanish festival.

Price: $10.20 | BUY

Pamplona: Running the Bulls, Bars and Barrios in Fiesta de San Fermin by Ray Mouton

Ray Mouton’s book emphasizes the sensory experience of attending Pamplona’s famous fiesta, with lush descriptions and more than 100 glossy photos. It also explores the history of the event, and how the American fascination with it has affected the tradition.

Price: $18.71 | BUY

Run To The Sun – Pamplona’s Fiesta de San Fermin by Jim Hollander

Finally, if you’re a fan of the coffee table book, then this is the one for you. Hollander spent 25 years snapping the photos in this book, so it captures not only the experience of the fiesta in any given year, but also its progression over time. It’s a labor of love, and quite simply, a work of art.

Price: $80.00 | BUY