“Best American Travel Writing 2005” vs. “Best Travel Writing 2005”

Travel Blog  •  Jim Benning  •  03.06.06 | 2:13 PM ET

In Perceptive Travel, Tim Leffel compares the Houghton Mifflin anthology with the Travelers’ Tales collection. He prefers the latter. On The Best American Travel Writing 2005, edited by Jamaica Kincaid, he writes: “[S]logging through this collection was too often about as much fun as taking a Friday night seminar class at the university.” And on Travelers’ Tales Best Travel Writing 2005: “Get that one if you want to read stories that are fun, intriguing, and exuberant.” (Via Written Road.)

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1 Comment for “Best American Travel Writing 2005” vs. “Best Travel Writing 2005”

Jane 03.08.06 | 12:13 PM ET

While it might be true that Travelers’ Tales books are more fun, that shouldn’t be the only gauge of good travel writing. I find a lot of their stories interesting and engaging, but many of their collections feature sloppy storytelling and plain bad writing, much of it better fitted to a personal blog than a “Best of” collection.
Houghton Mifflin doesn’t always hit the mark, but on balance it has much better and more varied writing than Travelers’ Tales.

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