Rating: 
Summary: An Outsanding Collection of Stories
Review: "Best American Travel Writing 2000" is the first edition in yet another outstanding entry in the "Best American" series. It is structured like other "Best American" books, with a series editor and a yearly guest editor putting their heads together and selecting two dozen or so of the best articles to be published in the field during the previous year. Bill Bryson was a very canny choice to be the first guest editor for the travel series, given his recent stature as one of the best selling travel writers around.The best articeles in the debut 2000 edition include Tom Clynes's account of a truck driver in the Australian Outback, a lament by David Halberstam on the yuppie-fication of Nantucket Island, P.J. O'Rourke's amusing piece about driving in India, and Mark Ross's harrowing first person account of the slaying of eco-tourists in Uganda by Interhamwe rebels. Some of the articles are amusing, some are scary, others are full of wonder, but they are all well written and informative. Anyone who enjoys good travel writing, or who simply likes good storytelling, ought to pick up a copy.
Rating: 
Summary: Not the "touristy" flavor of guidebook writing
Review: "The more we know of particular things, the more we know of God." this quote, attributed to the philosopher Benedict Spinoza (1632-1677), sets the tone for this wonderful inaugural edition of genuine travel writing. Here you will not find that bland "touristy" flavor of guidebook writing that often squelches my wanderlust. Jason Wilson, the series editor, tells us that it is through the "particular things, small things, the specific ways in which people act and interact, [that] is perhaps our best way of getting beyond the cliches that we tell each other about different places and cultures...." Whether we travel with Mark Ross in "The Last Safari" in Uganda, our hearts in our collective throat as he and members of his tour group are kidnapped and some even murdered by the rebel group Interahamwe, or hunker down with Alden Jones in "Lard is Good For You" as she teaches English in Costa Rica, struggling between her tourist self (longing to sleep on mildew-free sheets in the closest American hotel) and her traveler self (eating food prepared by her hosts using huge quantities of lard), we are right beside them struggling, living, breathing as they masterfully wring buckets of meaning from their experiences. As we savor the rich, densely textured prose, we are immediately transported to a particular landscape. Calling our travel agent is the next logical step.
Rating:
Summary: An amazing collection
Review: After reading this book, I decided I hate travel guides but love travel writing. Travel guides tell you where to go so that you'll run into more pasty, spoiled americans like yourself; travel writing gives you a sense of the land and the people. I loved this collection of essays because it took me to other places and educated me about their history and inhabitants. I learned about the yuppification of Nantucket, the bloody past of Zanzibar, ethnic conflicts in western China, a brutal kidnapping in Uganda, the environmental efforts in Bhutan. Some pieces are frightening; some are humorous. All are enlightening. My only complaint is that I wish more pieces by women had been included -- I would have liked to hear more about the experiences of women in exotic lands. All in all, a fine collection of essays.
Rating:
Summary: Breathless subway reading
Review: I bought this book to get a better idea of what is considered the best in travel writing...and looking back I don't think I was considering it a serious genre, but was rather expecting the sort of self-indulgent, tourist-oriented, glamorized type of article you might find in the average Conde Nast publication. But, with the exception of a few articles (conveniently located at the very end of the book), this collection was terrific. I may not get the titles completely right, but my favorites ranged between cheerful & sweet (Lard is Good for You), detailed and entertaining (night in Central Park), delightfully alcoholic (9am drinking in France), investigative and fascinating (politics in tibet), anthropologically rewarding (the area 50 km outside of Moscow), to downright harrowing (The Last Safari). I'm not going to rave about every piece, because some were too wide-ranging and unfocused for me, and several contributors seemed to have acquired an interest in 'protecting the environment,' but little information about what that actually means. Overall, if you love collected writings (some don't) and travel (which, oddly enough, some don't), you will enjoy this book. I'm already looking forward to next year's.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Collection of Stories
Review: I really enjoyed reading these stories, especially since it is winter in New England at the moment. This book contains a broad assortment of travel stories--they are all quite amazing. Some are laugh-out-loud funny while others have you petrified for the authors. A beautifully put together book.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but not great
Review: I thought a number of these accounts were engaging and/or amusing. Like the other reviewers, I thought the pieces on teaching in Costa Rica, surviving danger in Uganda and pondering the perfect morning drink were excellent. Too much of the rest seemed light and without focus. I guess every anthology has its duds, but for me too many of left me saying ho-hum. This book does contain an interesting riff on the "traveller" vs. "tourist" debate within "Storming the Beach." That made me very happy as most references to the topic, as in any Lonely Planet, are so horribly self-congratulatory.
Rating:
Summary: Great stuff
Review: I've always enjoyed Bill Bryson's writing, and I've equally enjoyed the pieces he chose for this collection. My favorites were Dave Eggers' "Hitchhikers Cuba" and "Lard is Good for You" by Alden Jones, set in Cuba and Costa Rica, two countries that I'm even more eager to visit after reading these essays. Funny, entertaining, informative stuff.
Rating:
Summary: Funny how an editor chooses stories written in his style
Review: If you like Bill Bryson's writing (and I do), you'll enjoy this book. The stories are, for the most part, light, entertaining and enjoyable. My favorite was the one about hitchhiking through Cuba! It wasn't until I moved on to the 2001 Best American Travel Writing edited by Paul Thoreau that I realized how much the stories reflect Bill Bryson's writing. As I worked my way through the book, the writing seemed to be uneven, but I did enjoy the book on the whole and do recommend it to anyone who's into travel literature.
Rating:
Summary: Travels well
Review: My wife and I came across this CD in preparation for a very long drive to northern Michigan over the July 4th weekend and I am thoroughly pleased with this most-random selection. Aside from David Halberstam's self-absorbed "Nantucket" which barely passes as travel writing let alone good, let alone fresh (it may have helped if he read this piece) the selections were excellent and varied. Bryson's reading of "Winter Rules" nearly had us off the road southbound on US 127 near Midland, and Adamson's reading of the the thoroughly politically/socially incorrect (and excellent) "Weird Karma" nearly put us into a barrier near Ann Arbor on US 23. Thank you Mr. Bryson et al for that travel moment. Best yet, the table was so wonderfully set by Bryon himself with his reading of "From the people who brought you the killing fields" by Patrick Symmes. I can only express my appreciation of this selection in the memories it brought back to my days in the 1980s and the wonderfully in-poor-taste song by the Dead Kennedys "A Holiday in Cambodia." Wonderful writing does that to you. We look forward to reading and hearing the 2001, 2002, and 2003 editions.
Rating:
Summary: More than Just Travel Tales
Review: The title is right: this is some of the best travel writing I have encountered. It's a collection of short stories, with travel as a common theme. Few are what I'd call tourist guides. Some of the first few stories stories are about sailboat racing, surviving a night in New York's Central Park, bus riding in Uganda, trucking in tropical Australia, selecting the Panchen Lama, and documentaries about wine and food. There's plenty of variety. These stories are like good meals: satisfying, pleasant and easy to digest. But they are not lightweight reading. One learns about places and practices that are strange and sometimes disturbing. It's a book to read in short sessions. I read it at home, in the evenings, but it would be a great to take on a trip.
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