Laurie McAndish King

Award-winning author

An Elephant Ate My Arm

More true stories from a curious traveler

It’s here! Now!
Available on May 1, 2021 …

These stories remind us we live in a world full of wonders! The locations are marvelous: a man-eating lake, the forest home of a three-eyed cannibal, the first labyrinth, a portal to the Uncannny Valley, the perfect site for watching eagle sex…

Even better, the stories raise all kinds of interesting questions—about free will, domestication, compressing time, extinction, memento mori, and rewriting history, for starters. And the provocative discussion questions make this a perfect read for book clubs.

 

An Elephant Ate My Arm is now available from these booksellers:

Elephant from Book Passage

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Elephant from

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Praise for An Elephant Ate My Arm …

Hilarious, informative, sometimes profound.

—Linda Watanabe McFerrin

Author of Navigating the Divide and The Hand of Buddha

Laurie is your pal, your sister, your your shadow-person who does the adventure with you and says just the thing you wish you’d said. 

—Allen Fish

Director, Golden Gate Raptor Observatory

These stories remind me of what I miss most about travel—connecting more deeply to people and places, local food and wildlife.

—Kimberley Lovato

Travel journalist and author of Quartraits: Portrait of a Community in Quarantine

Insightful travel tales that combine a love of nature with astute observations about the human condition. Bonus: Provocative discussion questions that make this a perfect read for book clubs!

—Judith Horstman

Author, The Scientific American Healthy Aging Brain

Delightful and intriguing … delivers cultural details with panache and a funny bone on the side.

—Lisa Alpine

Author of Dance Life

A delightful excursion to magical places and once-in-a-lifetime experiences! Each chapter will spur you on to hit the road and discover the wonders and life lessons of travel.

—Pamela Burke

Journalist and Founder of The Women’s Eye website and podcasts


 

Your Crocodile has Arrived

More true stories from a curious traveler

Whether your taste runs to crocodiles or chocolate, ancient relics or flying saucers, you’re sure to find entertainment and illumination in this collection of 21 true stories. Join in as the author…

  • Makes a pilgrimage to see a 2,500-year-old tooth.
  • Checks out the world’s largest earthworms — some are as much as twenty feet long.
  • Receives a full-body chocolate massage.
  • Participates in a shamanic ayahuasca ritual.
  • Learns the secrets of alien spaceship propulsion — from an Ivy-League astrophysicist.
Your Crocodile has Arrived is available from these booksellers:

Crocodile from Book Passage

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Crocodile from IndieBound

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Crocodile from Amazon

Praise for Your Crocodile has Arrived …

An ideal guide to some of the lesser-known wonders of the world.
—Thomas Swick

Author, The Joys of Travel: And Stories That Illuminate Them

King is relentlessly inquisitive, and her curiosity propels her to … revelatory discoveries in Your Crocodile has Arrived.

—Michael Shapiro

Author, A Sense of Place: Travel Writers Talk About Their Craft, Lives, and Inspiration

Wonderful evocative writing, irresistible narrative voice.
—Philip O. Chomak

Author, Beside the Point: Close Encounters in the Global Classroom

King’s powerful piece on saving wild elephants is a moment you should not miss—even if it hurts.

—Natalie Lefevre

Editor, Ethical Traveler

To see and portray beauty and sorrow in the same lens is King’s gift.

—Joanna Biggar

Author, That Paris Year

King … doesn’t seem to have a death wish, but she does appear to enjoy exploring the exotic and pushing her limits. …the author takes us on adventures few have braved.
—Susan Alcorn

Author, We're in the Mountains Not Over the Hill: Tales and Tips from Seasoned Women Backpackers

[“The Dumpling Men of Taipei” is] a perfect little gem, filled with sharp and observant writing.

—Kimberley Lovato

Author, Unique Eats & Eateries: San Francisco

… “tres charmant,” in the best sense of the word, which originally meant to enchant. Each story reads like a veritable treasure in the Cabinets of Curiosity that she deftly describes in her story set in a strange museum in St. Petersburg.

—Phil Cousineau

Author, The Art of Pilgrimage, The Book of Roads, and The Painted Word


 

Book cover for Lost, Kidnapped, Eaten Alive!

Lost, Kidnapped, Eaten Alive!

True stories from a curious traveler

What happens when a practical midwestern gal sets off to explore the world? Laurie McAndish King’s travels seem innocent in the planning stage, but surprising adventure follows as she finds herself…

  • Accidentally marrying a Maasai warrior in Kenya.
  • Tracking lions — on foot — without a gun in Botswana.
  • Attempting to eat a horse in southern Italy.
  • Sampling the world’s most expensive coffee — which is brewed from the excrement of a small mammal in Bali.

Whether she is lost in Melbourne, kidnapped in the Tunisian desert, or eaten alive by the blood-sucking denizens of tropical north Queensland, King’s stories — quirky, poignant, occasionally unsettling, and often quite funny — promise to entertain and inspire you.

Lost, Kidnapped, Eaten Alive! is available from these booksellers:

Buy LKEA from Book Pasage

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LKEA from IndieBound

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LKEA from Amazon

Praise for Lost, Kidnapped, Eaten Alive!

King brings uncommon heart and soul to her travel stories … a rollicking ride.
—Michael Shapiro

Author, A Sense of Place: Great Travel Writers Talk about their Craft, Lives, and Inspiration

“French Kiss” is sexy and funny—a great combination.

—Jim Benning

Deputy Travel Editor, BBC.com

Part cultural tour, part prayer to the natural world … circles the globe with lively adventures and intimate insights.
—Publisher's Weekly

An engaging, meticulously observed journey that brings other cultures alive.
—Kirkus Reviews

Insightful and humorous, full of … passion, perception and surprise. And yes, she can eat a horse!
—Connie Burke

Editor, Venturing in Ireland

This wonderful story of human endurance and perseverance [“Silk from Ashes”] is masterfully told… The author’s touch is light and endearing, and her story stays with you.
—Society of American Travel Writers

Lively and intimate vignettes … read like a close friend’s postcards-turned-keepsakes. A suspenseful and joyous romp around the world!
—Tressa Berman

Author and anthropologist

Transports readers to faraway places with vivid details of cultural quirks, real people, flora, fauna, and food.
—Camille Cusumano

Author, Tango, An Argentine Love Story


Other Books

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Laurie’s writing has appeared in travel anthologies published by Lonely Planet, Travelers’ Tales, Wanderland Writers, and others:

        • Travel Stories of Wonder and Change (Bay Area Travel Writers, 2020)
        • Wandering in Greece: Athens, Islands and Antiquities (Wanderland Writers, 2020)
        • Wandering in Cuba: Revolution and Beyond (Wanderland Writers, 2018)
        • Wandering in Andalusia: The Soul of Southern Spain (Wanderland Writers, 2016)
        • Wandering in Cornwall: Mystery, Myth and Transformation in the Land of Ancient Celts (Wanderland Writers, 2015)
        • Wandering in Paris: Luminaries and Love in the City of Light (Wanderland Writers, 2013)
        • Travel Stories from Around the Globe (Bay Area Travel Writers, 2012)
        • Wandering in Bali: A Tropical Paradise Discovered (Wanderland Writers, 2012)
        • Animal Addict’s Guide to Global Volunteer Travel (Dog’s Eye View Media, 2011)
        • Wandering in Costa Rica: Landscapes Lost and Found (Wanderland Writers, 2010)
        • The Best Women’s Travel Writing 2009 (Travelers’ Tales, 2009)
        • Venturing in Italy: Travels in Puglia, Land Between Two Seas (Travelers’ Tales, 2008)
        • Venturing in Ireland: Quest for the Modern Celtic Soul (Travelers’ Tales, 2007)
        • 30 Days in Italy: True Stories of Escape to the Good Life (Travelers’ Tales, 2006)
        • The Thong Also Rises (Travelers’ Tales, 2005)
        • The Kindness of Strangers (Lonely Planet, 2003) edited by Don George, and with a preface from His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Other contributors include Jan Morris, Simon Winchester, Pico Iyer, and Tim Cahill.