my travel writting text book--and a good read too!

books:


	• The Best American Travel Writing 2006 (The Best American Series) Houghton Mifflin, 2006 - 352 pages average customer review:based on 9 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

my travel writting text book--and a good read too!

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!

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Literary Travels

I wasn't able to travel this summer, so I was more or less stuck in my small town in the middle of Oklahoma. Luckily, a handful of well-chosen books escorted me to exotic--and some very familiar--ports of call, this book, 2006's Best American Travel Writing being one of the most memorable. This is a wonderfully diverse collection of writings, featuring what many of us think of as "exotic" travel narratives, as well as my favorite kind of travel writing, essays that question the nature of travel and what we learn in the process of leaving the familiar behind.

One of the gems of this collection is Alain de Botton's piece, "The Discreet Charm of the Zurich Bourgeoise." I, too, am fascinated by the comfortable, efficient towns and cities in the world, ones that are rarely tourist destinations, but are fascinating in their own, discreet way. This piece is very similar to his book, The Art of Travel, as he juxtaposes Pieter de Hooch's paintings and their seemingly unremarkable domestic world with his love for the sedate charms of Zurich. It won't appeal to the National Geographic type of tourist, but this is what makes travel writing such a vital genre to me--and why I buy books like this.

Other high points include Sean Flynn's portrayal of American sex tourists in Puerto Rico, Ian Frazier's beautiful memoir of small town Ohio, Michael Paterniti's remarkable piece about befriending a Ukranian giant, Kira Salak's tour of modern-day Libya, George Saunder's enthusiastic (and humorous) account of Dubai, and by far the most laugh-out loud selection of all, Christopher Solomon's "Let's Ski Korea," which is everything you expect and more.

I always delight in these Best American... volumes, and the Travel Writing remains my favorite to read and re-read. Tim Cahill did an amazing job in selecting these works, and I look forward to "traveling" in them whenever the simple pleasures of Ada, Oklahoma become rather less poetic.

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Loved it, as usual!

Enjoyed getting to experience other cultures through the eyes of the traveler while myself being the armchair traveler.

So good I passed it on to others

The David Sedaris selection about flying makes this book worth buying. I was on an airplane while reading his chapter and was laughing so hard that my seatmate kept giving me weird looks.

Great selection of excellent travel articles

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.

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reviews: page 1, 2

Tim Cahill writes in his introduction to The Best American Travel Writing 2006, "'Story' is the essence of the travel essay. Stories are the way we organize the chaos in our lives, orchestrate voluminous factual material, and -- if we are very good -- shed some light on the human condition." Here are twenty-six pieces that showcase the best travel writing from 2005, filled with "keen observations that transform ordinary journeys into extraordinary ones" (Library Journal).

Mark Jenkins journeys into a forgotten valley in Afghanistan, Kevin Fedarko takes a wild ride through the rapids of the Grand Canyon, and Christopher Solomon reports on the newest fad to hit South Korea: downhill skiing. For David Sedaris, a seemingly routine domestic flight is cause for a witty rumination on modern airline travel. Alain de Botton describes the discreet charms of Zurich, and Ian Frazier recalls leaving the small Midwestern town he called home. Michael Paterniti gives a touching portrait of the world's tallest man -- eight and a half feet and growing, while P.J. O'Rourke visits an airplane manufacturer to see firsthand how the French make the world's biggest passenger plane. George Saunders is dazzled by a trip to the "Vegas of the Middle East," Rolf Potts takes on tantric yoga for dilettantes, and Sean Flynn documents a seedier side of travel -- the newest hotspot in the international sex trade.

Culled from a wide variety of publications, these stories, as Cahill writes, all "touched me in one way or another, changed an attitude, made me laugh aloud, or provided fuel for my dreams. I wish the reader similar joys."

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