The Best Travel Writing: True Stories from Around the World

`The Best Travel Writing 2008` is the 5th volume in publisher Traveler's Tales annual series, begun in 2004. This volume is composed of 29 short pieces, many of them unpublished elsewhere. Given the quantity of pieces I was overall disappointed as only a handful stood out as being memorable. In particular I really enjoyed the piece by Catherine Watson ("Key to the City") and I hope to continue reading more of her collected travel pieces, for that discovery alone the book was worthwhile. I also greatly enjoyed Richard Goodman's "Tortola" about a solo trip to the West Indies that turns into an adventure with the local women and an American (Baltimore) beachcomber. Other standouts include Pamela Cordell Avis' "Philomen and Baucus", the familiar story of an expat moving to the French countryside told with grace, style and honesty. Tony Perrottet's "Mount Rushmore Revisited" is an informative and readable piece on the American Indian's view of a national landmark. Jann Huizenga's "Shoes Like Gondala's" is an excellent and funny look at Italian fashion from one American's perspective. What made the above few pieces work, and the rest not, is that they effectively told a complete story in a limited amount of space. Most of the works in this collection are fragments of experience that don't tell a complete story. A bunch were also poetic and difficult to read, highly stylized, although I know some readers appreciate it, I found it distracting. This is my first book in this series and I am not adverse to reading more volumes because I know there is gold to be discovered but I hope the vein runs thicker in other editions.

We're at our best, worst and most humorous when we travel. We can't help it. We're painfully human and while we may start out with the best of or reasonably good intentions, hopes, and semi-open minds we're bound to wake up one morning to the mutterings of a foreign language or in an interesting or even slightly bizarre location wondering just where exactly we might have left our underwear and asking ourselves, why is the goat winking? Traveling broadens our minds but not necessarily our butts because we usually end up walking or hiking more than we're used to and eating better when we're away from fast food joints and snack foods. It expands our intellects too even when we're not always ready for it, like say when we meet that someone somewhere who is truly by far, more wise and intelligent than any teacher or professor we ever ran across in high school or college. We listen and nod in appreciation and maybe smile then or later for the accidental insight. Who knows? Maybe we'll grin too at the realization that the only final exam we have in life is what we genuinely take away and effectively use regardless of its source. Travel also occasionally spanks our snotty misconceptions and gets us to take a time-out to rethink our ethno-centric ways or perhaps to appreciate what we have. The Best Travel Writing 2008 reminds us why we need to travel more. It does so with some great insight from some occasionally gifted writers. Hey, not all the pieces sparkle but they all shine and let's be honest, what's best for someone isn't always best for others. But you know what? You're bound to find one or two in this collection that will define the term for you. A good read and a good bargain.

This annual collection of great stories from the road comes from various award-winning writers - including Solas Awards winners - and represents the best in travel literature writing, making it a powerful pick for any library strong in travel writing. THE BEST TRAVEL WRITING 2008: TRUE STORIES FROM AROUND THE WORLD presents accounts of encounters from villages to mountains, cruisers to African cities, and is simply outstanding, involving reading for any armchair enthusiast. Diane C. Donovan California Bookwatch