Best American Travel Writing 2018 - Couverture souple

Praise for THE BEST AMERICAN TRAVEL WRITING "The Best American Travel Writing has been the gold standard for short-form travel writing from newspapers, magazines and the Internet since its inception 15 years ago.  This year’s guest editor – a different one is chosen for each volume – is none other than the godfather of contemporary American travel writing, Paul Theroux.  A generation of travel writers owes a debt to Theroux’s immersive, first-person narratives, captured with unflinching, sometimes merciless candor...In essay after essay, a theme runs through this volume – people journey, sometimes great distances, often enduring great hardship, only to be redeemed by human connection."—New York Times Book Review "Will gratify both armchair travelers and the most seasoned and fearless thrill-seekers...refreshingly original stories, alternately humorous, nostalgic, exhilarating and horrifying...A thrilling, surprising collection—one of the best in the series."—Kirkus "Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat, Pray, Love, 2006), guest editor of the latest volume in this always rich yearly anthology, boldly avers that she chose travel stories that "were told the most marvelously in 2012." To her, each piece "contains awe in strong enough doses to render the reader enchanted, delighted, compelled, or forever unsettled." Such strong billing is not misleading, as readers will learn when they step into the pages of such delights as John Jeremiah Sullivan’s beautifully eloquent "A Prison, a Paradise" (from the New York Times Magazine), about travel to Cuba ("I’ve never stood on a piece of ground as throbbingly, even pornographically, generative"); Colleen Kinder’s "Blot Out" (from Creative Nonfiction), a punchy, even scary, account of a Western woman trying to pass as Muslim on the streets of Cairo; David Sedaris’ hilarious account of dentistry in Paris, "Dentists without Borders" (from the New Yorker); and Marie Arana’s gripping and sobering report on gold mining in Peru, "Dreaming of El Dorado" (from Virginia Quarterly Review). All the pieces included here are treasures of excellent writing, regardless of genre."—Booklist "Bold and questioning writer and world traveler Vollmann is at the helm of the thirteenth edition of this superb travel annual, which has always been distinguished by its stellar guest editors. Guided by his uncreasing curiosity about complex places and authentic voices, Vollmann has chosen 19 electrifying essays...Vollmann's 'best' assemblage profoundly extends the reach of the ever-vital and enlightening art of travel writing."—Booklist (starred)   "The latest intriguing batch of travel writing from the venerable series. [T]hese stories...undoubtedly bring a taste of adventure to readers...they open a window onto the strange, seedy and beautiful world, offering readers glimpses into places that many will never see or experience except through the eyes and words of these writers. Mostly engaging, diverse tales of offbeat travel adventures."—Kirkus  

Praise for The Best American Travel Writing Series: "The Best American Travel Writing has been the gold standard for short-form travel writing from newspapers, magazines and the Internet since its inception 15 years ago.  This year’s guest editor – a different one is chosen for each volume – is none other than the godfather of contemporary American travel writing, Paul Theroux.  A generation of travel writers owes a debt to Theroux’s immersive, first-person narratives, captured with unflinching, sometimes merciless candor...In essay after essay, a theme runs through this volume – people journey, sometimes great distances, often enduring great hardship, only to be redeemed by human connection."—New York Times Book Review "Will gratify both armchair travelers and the most seasoned and fearless thrill-seekers...refreshingly original stories, alternately humorous, nostalgic, exhilarating and horrifying...A thrilling, surprising collection—one of the best in the series."—Kirkus  

Everyone travels for different reasons, but whatever those reasons are, one thing is certain: they come back with stories. Each year, the best of those stories are collected in The Best American Travel Writing, curated by one of the top writers in the field, and each year they “open a window onto the strange, seedy, and beautiful world, offering readers glimpses into places that many will never see or experience except through the eyes and words of these writers” (Kirkus). This far-ranging collection of top notch travel writing is, quite simply, the genre’s gold standard.