The Best American Travel Writing

Brief Description: "Travel is not about finding something. It's about getting lost -- that is, it is about losing yourself in a place and a moment. The little things that tether you to what's familiar are gone, and you become a conduit through which the sensation of the place is felt." -- from the introduction by Susan Orlean The twenty pieces in this year's collection showcase the best travel writing from 2006. George Saunders travels to India to witness firsthand a fifteen-year-old boy who has been meditating motionless under a tree for months without food or water, and who many followers believe is the reincarnation of the Buddha. Matthew Power reveals trickle-down economics at work in a Philippine garbage dump. Jason Anthony describes the challenges of everyday life in Vostok, the coldest place on earth, where temperatures dip as low as minus-129 degrees and where, in midsummer, minus-20 degrees is considered a heat wave. David Halberstam, in one of his last published essays, recalls how an inauspicious Saigon restaurant changed the way he and other reporters in Vietnam saw the world. Ian Frazier analyzes why we get sick when traveling in out-of-the-way places. And Kevin Fedarko embarks on a drug-fueled journey in Djibouti, chewing psychotropic foliage in "the worst place on earth." Closer to home, Steve Friedman profiles a 410-pound man who set out to walk cross-country to lose weight and find happiness. Rick Bass chases the elusive concept of the West in America, and Jonathan Stern takes a hilarious Lonely Planet approach to his small Manhattan apartment. Table of Contents: Foreword by Jason Wilson ix Introduction by Susan Orlean xiii JASON ANTHONY. A Brief and Awkward Tour of the End of the Earth 1 from WorldHum.com RICK BASS. Lost in Space 8 from the Los Angeles Times Magazine KEVIN FEDARKO. High in Hell 24 from Esquire IAN FRAZIER. A Kielbasa Too Far 43 from Outside STEVE FRIEDMAN. Lost in America 54 from Backpacker ELIZABETH GILBERT. Long Day's Journey into Dinner 71 from GQ REESA GRUSHKA. Arieh 89 from the Missouri Review DAVID HALBERSTAM. The Boys of Saigon 107 from Gourmet PETER HESSLER. Hutong Karma 115 from The New Yorker EDWARD HOAGLAND. Miles from Nowhere 129 from The American Scholar IAN PARKER. Birth of a Nation? 148 from The New Yorker NANDO PARRADO. The Long Way Home 168 from Outside ANN PATCHETT. Do Not Disturb 184 from Gourmet MATTHEW POWER. The Magic Mountain 190 from Harper's Magazine DAVID RAKOFF. Streets of Sorrow 210 from Conde Nast Traveler GEORGE SAUNDERS. The Incredible Buddha Boy 219 from GQ GARY SHTEYNGART. Brazil's Untamed Heart 246 from Travel Leisure ANDREW SOLOMON. Circle of Fire 255 from The New Yorker JONATHAN STERN. The Lonely Planet Guide to My Apartment 288 from The New Yorker CYNTHIA ZARIN. Fantasy Island 292 from Gourmet Contributors' Notes 299 Notable Travel Writing of 2006 304Marc Notes: ISSN: 1530-1516--T.p. verso.; Presents an anthology of the best travel writing published in the previous year, selected from magazines, newspapers, and web sites.. Review Citations:

Wilson Public Library Catalog 12/31/2008 pg. 890 (EAN 9780618582181, Paperback)

Wilson Public Library Catalog 12/31/2008 pg. 890 (EAN 9780618582174, Hardcover)

Contributor Bio:  Orlean, Susan Susan Orlean has been a staff writer at "The New Yorker" since 1992. She is the author of seven books, including "Rin Tin Tin", "Saturday Night", and "The Orchid Thief", which was made into the Academy Award-winning film "Adaptation". She lives with her family and her animals in upstate New York and may be reached at SusanOrlean.com and Twitter.com/SusanOrlean.