Customer Reviews

The Best Women's Travel Writing 2007: True Stories from Around the World

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

THIS IS A POSTING OF A REVIEW THAT APPEARED IN THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS
12:00 AM CST on Sunday, December 2, 2007
Joy Tipping
Some of the best travel writing - well, writing, period, that I've read this year lurks among the pages of The Best Women's Travel Writing 2007, edited by Lucy McCauley for the Travelers' Tales series.
This marvelous collection boasts 32 essays from writers you've heard of - Barbara Kingsolver, Frances Mayes - and many more you probably haven't, but will definitely seek in the future.
Witness Kayla Allen's humorous take on "Flirting in Paris."
Trapped in an existential funk, she finds salvation in the glances of a stranger that telegraph, "I have a magnifying glass into your soul. I wish to nibble your ear."
Her heart responds: "We share a beautiful, tortured existence. I'll trifle with your arm hair."
Ms. Allen's fantasies, like the other pieces in this collection, play out as an allegory on the nature of travel itself: the willingness to step outside one's comfort zone, into an abyss that may be, thrillingly, both restorative and terrifying.

Book arrived in excellent condition. It is easy to pick up and read a short portion then go on to other business you have to complete. I am now reading the 2008 version of this. Still find these books ideal when you have short snipits of time and want a good and uplifting read.

This roundup of women's travel stories is both entertaining and enthralling. While the anthology includes tales by Frances Mayes and Barbara Kingsolver, the real gems are from the (relatively) unknown writers such as Kayla Allen, Laurie Weed and Kari Bodnarchuk. You'll get inspired, laugh-out-loud and simply shake your head at some of these (miss)adventures.

I read this while on a month-long trip to India and I found these gals to be the perfect traveling companion during my journey!