Rowan Oak, William Faulkner's home, is flanked by oak and cedar trees in Oxford, Miss. (By Robert Jordan, AP)

Take a journey to literary America. "Visiting literary landmarks is a great way to get a sense of the imaginative power of the American landscape," says Douglas Brinkley, director of the Eisenhower Center for American Studies in New Orleans. "There's something especially evocative about visiting the sites where an author wrote a book. It makes the story jump out at you."

Walden Pond and Concord, Massachusetts

"Walden Pond is where Henry David Thoreau conducted his experiment in solitude and self-sufficiency," Brinkley says. "The book Walden helps us know how to think about ourselves, nature, self-reliance and the need to simplify." Don't miss nearby Concord, which Brinkley calls "a cradle of American literary men and women." A must-see: Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, where Thoreau is buried alongside Ralph Waldo Emerson, "America's premier man of letters." Nathaniel Hawthorne and Louisa May Alcott also are buried there.

Salinas, California

'He described (Walden) pond so intimately,' Brinkley says about the immortalized spot where Henry David Thoreau started an 'experience in living.' He's buried in Concord, Mass., alongside Ralph Waldo.(1945 file photo by AP)

The Grapes of Wrath is my candidate" for great American novel of the century, Brinkley says. John Steinbeck's stories about America come alive in Salinas. "You can visit Steinbeck's boyhood home, and take drives to look at the beautiful hill country and rugged California coast." The new National Steinbeck Center houses photographs, archives and exhibits. There's also the annual Steinbeck festival in August.

Hannibal, Missouri

Mark Twain, pen name for Samuel Clemens, immortalized Hannibal, Brinkley says. "He spent his boyhood along the Mississippi and featured Hannibal in many of his writings" such as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Today, visitors can see the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum or the Tom and Huck Monument, or cruise down the Mississippi on the Mark Twain riverboat.

Red Cloud, Nebraska

Brinkley calls Willa Cather the great American master of the Great Plains. "So much of her narrative emanates from Red Cloud. To see the farmlands is to get a feel for what life was like there for immigrants and farmers." Visit the Willa Cather House and the Cather Historical Center, which has letters, first-edition books and other memorabilia from the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning One of Ours.

Oxford, Mississippi

William Faulkner once called Oxford "my own little postage stamp on native soil." He lived at Rowan Oak, his restored antebellum mansion, from 1930 until his death in 1962. "He wrote his great novels As I Lay Dying and Absalom, Absalom! there. You can really understand the things Faulkner valued, like history, tradition and myth. It's all there in his effort to restore Rowan Oak to antebellum grandeur."

Glen Ellen, California

Even more than his books, Jack London's greatest creation was his life, Brinkley says. The author of Call of the Wild did his best writing in the Sonoma Valley. He built an incredible 26-room ranch called Wolf House. It later burned down, but you can still see the stone foundations." Wolf House is on the grounds of Jack London State Historical Park, where you also can see his grave and his home, and where "you can get a sense of London as adventurer and literary icon."

Milledgeville, Georgia

Although born in Savannah in 1925, Flannery O'Connor spent her writing life here. At Georgia College, where she studied, the library has a display about her life in Milledgeville. "You can also visit her home, called Andalusia. She loved peacocks, and they still roam the property." The author of Wise Blood is buried next to her father in Memory Hill Cemetery.

Lowell, Massachusetts

Lowell, a textile mill town on the Merrimack River, is the birthplace of On the Road's Jack Kerouac. "Here you can visit his boyhood home and his burial site." The town has erected a riverbank commemorative park that features dozens of Kerouac's quotes. "Visit the French-Canadian community that was such an influence on him."

Sauk Centre, Minnesota

While in the hometown of Nobel Prize-winning author Sinclair Lewis, you can tour his boyhood home and the Lewis Interpretive Center. "There's a Main Street in town, and it's the one he wrote about. Park on Main and do a Sinclair Lewis walking tour. You can see the things he wrote about, the parks, homes and storefronts. So much of it has stayed the same, so it really brings the America of the '20s and '30s to life."

Middlebury, Vermont

"There can be nothing more inspiring than reading Robert Frost's poetry in autumn and winter and then visiting Vermont," Brinkley says. "His poetry evokes the same woods and rural landscape." Sites to visit in Middlebury, where a writer's conference is held annually, include Frost's writing cottage (just a short walk from Middlebury College, where he also taught).