The Best American Travel Writing 2014

by Jason Wilson (Editor), Paul Theroux (Editor)

Overview

“Travel connoisseurs divide the world into those places they’ve been dying to visit or revisit and places they’d never set foot in but are glad someone else did. This year’s volume of travel writing . . . focuses mostly on the latter with derring-do dispatches.” — USA Today

A far-ranging collection of the best travel writing pieces published in 2013, collected by guest editor Paul Theroux. The Best American Travel Writing consistently includes a wide variety of pieces, illuminating the wonder, humor, fear, and exhilaration that greets all of us when we embark on a journey to a new place. Readers know that there is simply no other option when they want great travel writing.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780544330153
Publisher:	HMH Books
Publication date:	10/07/2014
Series:	Best American Travel Writing Series
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	8.20(w) x 5.40(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

PAUL THEROUX’s renowned travel books include The Last Train to Zona Verde, Ghost Train to the Eastern Star,Dark Star Safari, and The Great Railway Bazaar. His acclaimed novels include The Mosquito Coast,Hotel Honolulu, and The Lower River.

JASON WILSON writes the spirits column for the Washington Post and is the editor of The Smart Set. He is also the author of Boozehound.

Table of Contents

Foreword ix

Introduction xviii

Poisoned Land Elif Batuman 1

Amigos Julia Cooke 13

Life During Wartime Janine Di Giovanni 28

America the Marvelous A. A. Gill 37

Christmas in Thessaloniki Arnon Grunberg 42

Fifty Shades of Greyhound Harrison Scott Key 55

Au Train de Vie: That Voice You Hear When Traveling Peter Lasalle 63

460 Days Amanda Lindhout with Sara Corbett 84

Clear-Eyed in Calcutta Andrew McCarthy 106

This Must Be the Place Michael Paterniti 109

Love in the Time of Coca Stephanie Pearson 124

Birthplace of the American Vacation Tony Perrottet 134

Excuse Us While We Kiss the Sky Matthew Power 144

Dream Acres Steven Rinella 158

Now We Are Five David Sedaris 165

My New York: A Romance in Eight Parts Peter Selgin 176

Sun King Bob Shacochis 195

The Last of Eden Alex Shoumatoff 204

Maximum Bombay Gary Shteyngart 224

A Moving Experience Thomas Swick 233

Born on the 9th of July Patrick Symmes 241

In the Abode of the Gods Jeffrey Tayler 256

Loving Las Vegas Colson Whitehead 274

Open Water Sean Wilsey 280

Contributors' Notes 301

Notable Travel Writing of 2013 306

Editorial Reviews

Paul Theroux, the author often acclaimed as the dean of travel writers, earned that title with classics including The Great Railway Bazaar, The Old Patagonia Express, Riding the Iron Rooster, and The Last Train to Zona Verde. Thus, he has the perfect credentials to preside over the newest installment of the Best American Travel Writing annual for the second time; the first was in 2001. This paperback and NOOK original contains more than 300 pages of travel essays that span the world. Editor's recommendation.

Theroux has lamented travel literature that…glorifies spa treatments at posh resorts or the compiling of 10-best lists in lieu of some of travel's more hard-won rewards. In the end, what captures Theroux, and what fills this volume, are compelling yarns from the road—the more arduous the better…it's entries like Amanda Lindhout's harrowing, heroic account of being kidnapped in Somalia…and Michael Paterniti's transcendent recollection of finding his corner of the sky in northern Spain that give the 2014 edition of Best American Travel its meat…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.

The New York Times Book Review - Andrew McCarthy

"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."  —The 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 

From the Publisher

2014-09-14
A lavish and often revelatory assortment of travel writings. Adventure off the beaten track is the guiding theme of this latest collection in the long-running series, and most of the contributors deliver it on a level that will gratify both armchair travelers and the most seasoned and fearless thrill-seekers. These writers provide dispatches from all corners of the globe—from South Sudan to Paris to Brazil to Calcutta to the Adirondacks—and in most cases, they deliver refreshingly original stories, alternately humorous, nostalgic, exhilarating and horrifying. On the whole, the quality of the writing is high, with only two or three descents into bombastic machismo. Elif Batuman pursues a mysterious local kidney disorder in Croatia; Stephanie Pearson explores the lesser-known areas of Colombia; Amanda Lindhout describes her "460 Days" as a prisoner of Somali insurgents; Michael Paterniti explores an extraordinary type of cheese in an adaptation from his outstanding memoir, The Telling Room (2013); and Matthew Power, who died tragically this year, plunges into the world of "urbex," the exploration of secret places in some of the most-visited cities of the world. Not all the essays will be to everyone's taste, but in most cases, this is a matter of personal preference, not quality. One low point is Harrison Scott Key's strained comedy on traveling by Greyhound, in which he finds only the caricatures he went looking for. Some pieces provide contemplative breaks in the action, including Thomas Swick's "A Moving Experience," which considers how unexciting travel can be. In the foreword, series editor Jason Wilson provides another fine essay about rediscovering his first great wine experience, and second-time editor Theroux introduces the book with thoughts on his own career of risky explorations and the pleasures of reading about the most challenging "adventures and ordeals—the traveler's baptism of fire." Other contributors include A.A. Gill, David Sedaris and Colson Whitehead. A thrilling, surprising collection—one of the best in the series.

Kirkus Reviews

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