The Best American Travel Writing 2008

It was worth the money spent on it. The condition matched the one listed. I would definetly buy from the seller again.

This volume, as part of a "best of" series, is limited by the writings available during the nomination window for this edition (presumably, 2007). So the designation of "the best" is relative to what is available during this time period. Nevertheless, there are some interesting and entertaining, as well as sobering, articles included here. Of particular interest are: - "Extreme Chocolate", on the history of dark chocolate - "Hope and Squalor at Chungking Mansion", about a unique building and its residents in Hong Kong - "Wheels of Fortune", about driving and renting cars in China - "Next Stop, Squalor", about "poverty tourism" - "Journey into Night", by David Sedaris... need I say more? - "The Golden Man", by Paul Theroux... ditto There is a focus to these stories, describing the lavish and the stricken, the gluttony and the obscure. These writers, at least for these essays, tend to contribute little to the communities that assist them in making a living. "Dark Passage," about modern day pirates, which I first read in National Geographic with its superb photographs, lost relatively little sans pictures. Poverty tourism has always been around, but it's current popularity, whether as a side trip during an African safari or a trip to India, is disturbing. I've been interested in the "donate your old clothes to poor people in Africa" - charity? scam? - for quite a while now. From "The River is a Road": "Our neighbor Lucy sold the secondhand clothing worn by almost everyone on the barge and along the river: the ubiquitous American T-shirts donated to charities and dumped on the African market" (p. 136). I'm still trying to get a handle on this issue. And the article by Jeffrey Taylor ("The Woman in the Kuffiya") tries to make the reader sense his lusting for a woman wrapped in robes and an Arab scarf: "I was soon wondering at just how little I had seen of her charms, yet how exciting I had found them. The fiercest lust smolders under wraps, but expires in the open. The oft-maligned Islamic custom of purdah does much to preserve passion in its most urgent and ineffable form" (p. 232). This excuse for the deprivation of a woman's choice makes this tale a sad choice for this volume. Emily Maloney described herself in "Mr. Tingler": "I told the Israeli that I sort of liked violence..." which she then tried to explain. And I learned of a new phrase in Theroux's piece: Mark Twain describing the Book of Mormon as "chloroform in print." Ouch! This may not be the best of travel writing, but if you appreciate the genre, parts will certainly be entertaining.

I loved almost every piece in this collection. The River is a Road is amazing. Dark Passage is amazing. David Sedaris' piece... amazing. I read through this way too quickly. Must go back and really savor some I went over too fast!

The problem of misprinting disclosed by Terri Ph.D. below seems to have been fixed. I received my copy of this book today, and it contains none of the problems she discussed. Thanks to Terri Ph.D. for the helpful warning, but the problem appears to have been corrected, so don't be discouraged now from purchasing this excellent collection.