The Best American Travel Writing 2006 (The Best American Series) (Paperback)

~ Jason Wilson (Editor), Tim Cahill (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Declares Cahill (Jaguars Ripped My Flesh) in his introduction to the seventh edition of Houghton's annual collection, "Story is the essence of the travel essay." So perhaps it's no surprise to see several contributions from writers with literary reputations. Gary Shteyngart revisits his native St. Petersburg for the holidays; George Saunders takes a surreal journey through Dubai; and Alain de Botton explains why he loves "boring and bourgeois" Zurich so much. But more traditional travel writers make their presence felt as well. Outside columnist Mark Jenkins hikes across the steppes from Afghanistan into China; in another article from that magazine, Michael Behar finds himself getting shot at by natives in the rain forests of West Papua. Airplanes come in for a lot of ribbing: P.J. O'Rourke jokes his way through a sneak peek at the jumbo-sized Airbus A380, while David Sedaris bears the resentment of his seatmate on a crowded flight after refusing to switch places with her husband. In a charming touch, the anthology begins and ends with stories about food: Chitrita Banerji's reflections about a Calcutta wedding feast are book-ended by Calvin Trillin's marvelous New Yorker piece about spending a week in Ecuador indulging his love for "thick and hearty" fanesca soup, a perfect mix of exotic locale and elegant prose. (Oct. 11)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Series editor Jason Wilson muses on travelers' "endless quest for the authentic," and guest editor Cahill considers the nature of travel writing itself; both agree the best travel tales are told in the first person. And indeed, voice and story are the criteria here, for the concept of travel includes both Ian Frazier's thoughtful exploration of why he left Ohio and P. J. O'Rourke's gimlet-eyed appraisal of the behemoth Airbus A380. Other standouts include Michael Behar's troubling account of a guided tour promising first contact with indigenous people in West Papua, Indonesia, and George Saunders' exuberantly introspective junket to Dubai, an oil country retooling itself as the Disney/Vegas of the Middle East. But that's just scratching the surface. Cahill notes that "We seem to be in a golden age of American travel writing," suggesting one reason for the depth and quality here. Whatever the reason, The Best American Travel Writing series has become so reliable that reviewing it would seem almost unnecessary--except that reviewers want to read it, too. Keir Graff
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books; 1st edition (October 11, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618582150
• ISBN-13: 978-0618582150
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #235,645 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars my travel writting text book--and a good read too!, June 13, 2007

By	Carlton F. Schwan (Port Clinton, OH USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

It is a little bit hard to review this book because I have read most of the series and like them all. This is no exception and I thought that there are a few things that I can add.
As always a good/great selection of material and most/all are great reads. As has been stated elsewhere if you do not like one, you can skip it. However, I never skip a story. I sort of think that I might not finish one, but then I do and am glad that I did.
Not only do I like the stories, but I think of the book as a study guide for an aspiring travel writer. Thus far I have limited my travel writing by sneaking it into other nonfiction wrting that I do (I recommend this technique). I may never seriously go down the travel writting road, but the idea helps me notice things that I might not otherwise.
Here is a specific tip. Be sure to read the forematter of the book--the foreword and introduction. They are good reading too.
One small point. Compared to the others in the series that I have read, this edition would have to qualify for an R rating because of the story about prostitution in Costa Rica. I liked the story--and you can, of course, skip it if you do not like it--but I fell obligated to mention it. There was one other place (that I forget right now) that made me think the same thing.
As soon as I finished this book, I went out and bought one from the sports series!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not your ordinary holiday, December 31, 2006

By	Lynn Harnett (Marathon, FL USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Travel writing, in this annual "Best of" series, has nothing to do with vacationing. Well, almost nothing.

GQ sends the very witty George Saunders to wallow in some of the most excessive luxury resorts in the most decadent and opulent city in the Middle East (the world?), Dubai. And the equally entertaining Calvin Trillin goes to Ecuador for Easter to eat the traditional Holy Week soup, fanesca, and practice his Spanish idioms.

But most of these lively, first person stories express only the most glancing acquaintance with "vacation" as we know it.

Some are profiles, like Kevin Fedarko's ride down the rapids of the Grand Canyon with writer, conservationist and outdoorsman Martin Litton, still an opinionated, controversial adventurer at 87.

Several deal with the specifics of air travel, including a typically hilarious, squirmy ordeal from David Sedaris, Sally Shivnan's lyrical view of flying cross country in a window seat and P. J. O'Rourke's humorous and informative portrait of France's Airbus A380.

Some are reflective, like Alain De Botton's appreciation of his native Zurich's essential, orderly bourgeoisie and Ian Frazier's journey from his small Ohio hometown to a hitchhiking epiphany when "I quit living in Hudson and began to live in the world."

Many take us to places we're unlikely to go. Qaddafi's Libya, for instance, where venturesome Kira Salak follows loosely, and sometimes nervously, in the footsteps of Scotsman Hugh Clapperton who explored Libya and crossed the Sahara in 1824, when it was rather a different place. Or Papua, New Guinea, where Michael Behar goes on a strange, uncomfortable tour to make "first contact" with undiscovered indigenous people.

Whether witty, clever, musing, or adventurous, what all these pieces have in common is an acute and reflective sense of observation and really good writing.

Like all the volumes in this series, the pieces are culled from a vast array of periodicals, including the Internet, but the final selection tends to be from major publications, like "The New Yorker," and "Outside." Series editor Wilson chooses his top 100 and the guest editor (Cahill) winnows it down to the last 25 or so. Cahill, a founding editor of "Outside" magazine, emphasizes "literate writing" and storytelling in his approach and the result is a provocative and fascinating portrait of some of the more interesting corners of the world.

-- Portsmouth Herald

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great selection of excellent travel articles, April 18, 2007

By	B. Bishop (Nashua, NH USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I bought this book to supplement a travel writing course. I read many of the travel articles and found them interesting and well-written. It was especially helpful to read these articles without the pictures that must have accompanied many of them -- the writing for the most part was superb.