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Average Customer Rating:

Disappointing

Customer Rating:

I first came across Susan Orlean when, after watching the film Adaptation (Superbit Collection), I bought the book upon which it was based, Ms. Orlean's The Orchid Thief: A True Story of Beauty and Obsession (Ballantine Reader's Circle). Although I found the latter to be wordy, I went on to read two collections of Ms. Orlean's shorter pieces: My Kind of Place: Travel Stories from a Woman Who's Been Everywhere and Saturday Night. In both cases, the topics were (to me) quite interesting, but by some sort of magic, Ms. Orlean managed to make her descriptions of them tedious. [I am aware that she writes for the New Yorker, and that admirers of that magazine now consider me a cretin]. Liking her choice of topics, I bought this book, thinking that she would have managed to choose some interesting travel pieces, but failing to realize (stupid me) that she was most likely to appreciate monotonous writing like her own. In fact, there are no traditional (or nontraditional, for that matter) travel pieces in this collection, a fact that Ms. Orlean makes clear in her introduction: "My rules (for selecting a piece) were very uncomplicated: one, the stories had to take place somewhere in the physical world, and two, I had to like them a lot." In other words, any essay on any topic would qualify as long as Ms. Orlean liked it. So, if you've enjoyed Ms. Orlean's writing in the past, you'll probably enjoy this book. On the other hand, if you have not or are not familiar with Ms. Orlean, you'll probably do better elsewhere. The one piece in the book I found riveting was "High in Hell" by Kevin Fedarko, which appeared in GQ managine. For me, that piece justified the cost of the book, although it did not justify the tedium of reading the other articles.

A depressing entry in an otherwise great series

Customer Rating:

For those of you looking for travel writing as a form of appealing escapism, avoid this book. Susan Orlean is either clinically depressed or prefers to roll around in the more tragic underbelly of the world's great places. Those of us who travel know that the world is a far from perfect place and that great poverty and cruelty exist in the world, but is it really necessary to throw it in our faces, essay after essay after essay? I mean, seriously, essays children surviving on scavanging on mountain-high mounds of garbage? Drug-induced stupors in Djibouti? Hunger induced cannibalism in the Andes? Even the few fluff pieces she picked are depressing, i.e., surviving off of processed foods on Swan Island. What a depressing entry in an otherwise great series. Someone get that woman a Prozac subscription stat.

my first year

Customer Rating:

I've long been a fan of the various Best American books, but this was my first year to read the travel writing, but I figured, Susan Orlean, okay. My mistake. Most of the pieces were tedious, though I did enjoy Jason Anthony, Ian Frazier, Steve Friedman, Nando Parrado (but didn't he already write this), and my two favorites, though I'm not sure I'd call them travel writing, Andrew Solomon and Jonathan Stern. It's because of them two that I'll probably pick up next year's edition.

Fun, Fast, Diverse -- Highly Recommended	Customer Rating:
This is the fifth in this series that I have read. Only one other (I think it was 2002) was this good. I love this series and give it as Christmas gifts every year. This editor had exactly the right point of view in compiling these stories.

Excellent collection	Customer Rating:
I loved this year's collection, edited by Susan Orlean. Many great essays, but the highlight is definitely Elizabeth Gilbert's report of a two week eating/walking tour through Provence via rural trails.