Tucson Festival of Books

Off the Beaten Path


These authors tell treacherous, courageous, and pioneering stories of adventurers whose offbeat travels capture our imaginations and all our senses.


Panelists
Nathalia Holt

Nathalia Holt, Ph.D., is The New York Times bestselling author of "Rise of the Rocket Girls," "The Beast in the Clouds," "The Queens of Animation," "Wise Gals," and "Cured." She has written for numerous publications, including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Atlantic, Slate, Popular Science, PBS, and Time....

Sam Kean

Sam Kean is The New York Times bestselling author of seven books, including "Dinner with King Tut," "The Icepick Surgeon," "The Bastard Brigade," and "The Disappearing Spoon." His stories have appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times Magazine, and Slate, and his work has been featured on NPR’s Radiolab, Science Friday, All Things Considered, and Fresh Air....

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Laurie Gwen Shapiro

Laurie Gwen Shapiro is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and journalist whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New York Times, New York, Slate and Aeon....


Books:
The Beast in the Clouds
The Roosevelt Brothers' Deadly Quest to Find the Mythical Giant Panda
Nathalia Holt
History / Biography
Atria/One Signal Publishers
July 2025
ISBN 9781668027745
288 pages
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Dinner with King Tut
How Rogue Archaeologists Are Re-Creating the Sights, Sounds, Smells, and Tastes of Lost Civilizations
Sam Kean
Science / Medicine / Technology
Little Brown
July 2025
ISBN 9780316496551
464 pages
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The Aviator and the Showman
Amelia Earhart, George Putnam, and the Marriage that Made an American Icon
Laurie Gwen Shapiro
History / Biography
Penguin Group
July 2025
ISBN 9780593295908
512 pages
Buy now