Synopses & Reviews
Already a best-selling addition to the series, this year's Best American Travel Writing is a far-flung collection chosen by travel writer extraordinaire Paul Theroux, who has selected pieces about "the spell in the wilderness, the letter home from foreign parts, the dangerous adventure, the sentimental journey, the exposé, the shocking revelation, the eyewitness report, the ordeal, the quest . . . Travel is an attitude, a state of mind." Theroux's most recent novel is Hotel Honolulu.
About the Author
JASON WILSON is the drinks columnist at the
Washington Post, the series editor of
The Smart Set, and the author of
Boozehound: On The Trail of the Rare, the Obscure, and the Overrated.
He teaches at Drexel University.
PAUL THEROUX is the author of many highly acclaimed books. His novels include The Lower River and The Mosquito Coast, and his renowned travel books include Ghost Train to the Eastern Star and Dark Star Safari. He lives in Hawaii and on Cape Cod.
Table of Contents
Contents
Foreword xi
Introduction by Paul Theroux xvii
Scott Anderson. As Long As We Were Together, Nothing Bad Could Happen
to Us 1
from Men's Journal
Russell Banks. Fox and Whale, Priest and Angel 20
from Esquire
Tim Cahill. Volcano Alley Is Ticking 29
from Men's Journal
Philip Caputo. Among the Man-Eaters 47
from National Geographic Adventure
Andrew Cockburn. Iran: Are You Ready? 75
from Condé Nast Traveler
Gretel Ehrlich. The Endless Hunt 88
from National Geographic Adventure
Michael Finkel. Desperate Passage 105
from The New York Times Magazine
Ian Frazier. Desert Hideaway 125
from The Atlantic Monthly
Peter Hessler. View from the Bridge 132
from The New Yorker
Pico Iyer. Why We Travel 142
from Salon Travel
Kathleen Lee. Into the Heart of the Middle Kingdom 152
from Condé Nast Traveler
Janet Malcolm. Travels with Chekhov 164
from The New Yorker
Lawrence Millman. Daughter of the Wind 189
from Islands
Susan Minot. This We Came to Know Afterward 199
from McSweeney's
Susan Orlean. The Place to Disappear 228
from The New Yorker
David Quammen. The Post-Communist Wolf 238
from Outside
Salman Rushdie. A Dream of Glorious Return 254
from The New Yorker
Edward W. Said. Paradise Lost 276
from Travel & Leisure
Bob Shacochis. Something Wild in the Blood 286
from Men's Journal
Thomas Swick. Croatian Rock 301
from South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Patrick Symmes. Miraculous Fishing 318
from Harper's Magazine
Jeffrey Tayler. Back in the USSR? 341
from Harper's Magazine
Marcel Theroux. The Very, Very, Very Big Chill 361
from Travel & Leisure
Brad Wetzler. Is Just Like Amerika! 366
from Outside
Jason Wilson. Dining Out in Iceland 380
from The North American Review
Simon Winchester. Beyond Siberia 401
from Condé Nast Traveler
Contributors' Notes 409
Notable Travel Writing of 2000 415
Kids Q&A
Read the Kids' Q&A with Susan Orlean