Travel Books

The Worst Hotel in the World

Frank Bures reflects on the hotels we love to hate -- and the book celebrating one of them

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Non-Places and the End of Travel

Non-Places and the End of Travel iStockPhoto

Frank Bures on airports, Dubai and Marc Augé's "Non-Places: An Introduction to Supermodernity"

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‘Murderers in Mausoleums’: What Counts Is Your Blood

Jeffrey Tayler's latest book is a masterful guide to the divisions that define so much of human civilization. Jason Daley explains.

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Plato Was a Backpacker

shadows, beach, plato Photo by Kent Wang, via Flickr (Creative Commons)

Frank Bures looks a long way back to fellow traveler Plato and the seeds of wisdom

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The Water Is Wide

Bronwen Dickey considers Tim Butcher's "Blood River: A Journey to Africa's Broken Heart," which takes readers deep into the Congo

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Unsentimental Journeys: Wrestling With Paul Theroux

Bronwen Dickey considers "Ghost Train to the Eastern Star: 28,000 Miles in Search of the Great Railway Bazaar"

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‘The Monster of Florence’: Murder and the Pursuit of Truth

Douglas Preston's latest book, the true story of a serial killer in Italy, shows that the world is far from exhausted for those who want to travel deep. Frank Bures tells why.

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‘The Worst Guidebook Writer Ever’?

Lonely Planet author Robert Reid reviews Thomas Kohnstamm's "Do Travel Writers Go to Hell?" and weighs in on the controversy surrounding it

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Baby on Board, Baby Abroad

Frank Bures ruminates on the art of travel with kids and the guidebooks aimed at helping parents through the experience

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‘Things Fall Apart’: 50 Years Later

For many, Chinua Achebe's classic novel serves as an introduction to Africa. But Frank Bures writes that the place it depicts is now hard to recognize.

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One Man’s Odyssey into ‘Eat, Pray, Love’

Elizabeth Gilbert's best-selling trans-global travel book is a fun read -- but don't expect Rolf Potts to embrace the fantasy

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The Road to Happiness

Frank Bures gets lost in Eric Weiner's "The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Place in the World"

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The Trouble With ‘Smile When You’re Lying’

Chuck Thompson's "Confessions of a Rogue Travel Writer" slams modern travel writing as mediocre, if not dishonest. Why this is the case is a question he -- like many critics -- can't seem to answer, observes Rolf Potts.

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Travel Books We Loved in 2007

Our contributors reveal their favorite reads from the past year. Believe it or not, they include a stain-removal guide.

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Borat: Touristic Guidings to Kazakhstan and U.S. and A.

In the new spoof travel guide by Sacha Baron Cohen's alter ego, Frank Bures says the joke is on, well, everyone.

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