Pearson (creative writing, Old Dominion U., Virginia) has traveled around the world by ship on two separate occasions as a professor with the Semester at Sea college program. Here he narrates those travels, combining recollections from the ships' visits to 18 countries including Japan, China, Malaysia, India, Kenya, Brazil, Cuba, Burma, Croatia, and Spain, incorporating history and remarks on the literary portraits of his destinations. Closing pages offer a reading list by country as well as route maps. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)