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mattycakesbooks's review against another edition
4.0
Pretty decent collection of travel writing. I picked this mostly because of Bourdain, and I know he doesn't have much patience for flowery bullshit. The best selections were Peter Gwin's piece (his piece in the 2012 edition was one of the best as well), David Sedaris' piece (obviously), and Seth Stevenson's piece (funny travel writing at its best). There weren't any I particularly disliked, though I'm not a fan of Thomas Swick's stuff, either in this volume or the 2012 volume.
danchibnall's review against another edition
4.0
This collection was not as good as last year's collection, but it still had a few gems. One of my particular favorites was a travel essay written by a man who traveled down the Congo river on a huge ship. The fine line between luxury on the ship and the abject poverty on the banks of the river really opened your eyes.
nucleareaction's review against another edition
4.0
If only I could describe my travels half as well. Some pretty interesting trips and observations to boot.
tylerteacher's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
3.75
cinnachick's review against another edition
4.0
This is a fantastically curated anthology of travel writing. I loved the variety of styles of writers and will look up writings by a few of the writers to see what else they've done.
sreddous's review against another edition
4.0
This is an interesting collection of stories that go to a nice diverse range of places. It's lovely to get a little blurb from Anthony Bourdain (coincidentally, I purchased and read this book the month that he died), and then these stories range from more-educational, to funny, to somber.
If anything, I think these stories feel... a bit "temporary," as in, the framing of too many of them in my opinion are, like, "I visited this place." I get that this is a book about travel (implying traveling, not moving somewhere permanently), but it means that we get stories that tell us things like, "Wow, China sure is changing fast," and ... I'd like to know more about architecture! Or interactions with people who are living among that change! I personally like a lot of descriptive language with my travel books (a reason why I love Anthony himself so much!!) so I think I wish a lot of these stories were MORE padded-out.
But, in any case, this is a neat collection. A cool peek into a bunch of different places.
If anything, I think these stories feel... a bit "temporary," as in, the framing of too many of them in my opinion are, like, "I visited this place." I get that this is a book about travel (implying traveling, not moving somewhere permanently), but it means that we get stories that tell us things like, "Wow, China sure is changing fast," and ... I'd like to know more about architecture! Or interactions with people who are living among that change! I personally like a lot of descriptive language with my travel books (a reason why I love Anthony himself so much!!) so I think I wish a lot of these stories were MORE padded-out.
But, in any case, this is a neat collection. A cool peek into a bunch of different places.
martha_w's review
5.0
I loved this just as much as last year's edition. I definitely recommend this series!
ellstar's review
4.0
I really love this series and enjoy how year after year the focus and content changes. This selection honed in on the more desperate of travel fiction, more serious and war-torn than the previous year but also gave that excellent sense of wonder about the world. Even if it's wonder at how it all fell apart.
mkat303's review
3.0
Eh, some of the essays I liked, some I just couldn't get into. Maybe a 2-3 stars.
naomistrange's review
5.0
I loved this book! The stories shocked me, made me laugh, and brought tears to my eyes. These stories taught me that maybe I, too, can be a travel writer someday! :)