Land's End: A Walk in Provincetown Book

From the author of the bestselling, Pulitzer Prize-winning novel THE HOURS comes a celebration of one of the nation's hidden treasures: Provincetown. "It is the only small town I know of where those who live unconventionally seem to outnumber those who live within the prescribed bonds of home and licensed marriage, respectable job, and biological children," Cunningham writes, having lived there for more than twenty years. Known for its beautiful beaches, quirky shops, and wild nightlife, Provincetown is a place of deep and enduring history - as well as an inspiration for such artists and writers as Tennessee Williams, Eugene O'Neill, and Mark Rothko who, like Cunningham, found in it's beautiful landscape and unconventionality an escapist paradise.

Publishers Weekly

Cunningham (The Hours) takes the reader on a leisurely, idiosyncratic tour of the fabled town at the tip of Cape Cod. He makes the rounds of his favorite haunts, from the beaches, marshes and dunes to businesses like the halfheartedly modernized Adams Pharmacy, which has a soda fountain from the 1940s; the Marine Specialties store, a repository of the overlooked, the lost, the surplus, the irregular, the no-longer-needed, and the outmoded; and the Atlantic House, a bar that is sexy in a damp, well-used way. The fish and whales that live in the ocean around the town have a place in his excursion, as do the dogs, cats, skunks, opossums and occasional coyotes that wander the streets. People interest him most, however the old-timer who sits in his yard, shouting, Hello hello hello, to everyone who passes by; the disheveled man who walks the main street night and day; and the more famous eccentrics, the refugees, rebels, and visionaries who have been coming to the town for nearly 400 years. There is also a large gay population, and Cunningham is especially fascinated by this community's flamboyant individuals, who add color even to the local A&P. His quirky guide, part of the Crown Journeys series, presents a very personal view of Provincetown, but at the same time it manages to convey the peculiar, inscrutable intensity characterizing the love so many people have for the place. (Aug.) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.