The Best Travel Writing 2005

Travelers’ Tales has just released their second-annual Best Travel Writing anthology, which includes selections from the likes of Pico Iyer, Murad Kalam, Mark Jenkins, Susan Orlean, and Michael Shapiro. I’m honored to announce that my Vietnam tale, “Circuit Broken”, is also included in the mix.

Though publicity for the book is just now beginning (see below), Foreword Magazine has already given the tome a 5-star review. “The twenty-seven authors featured in this book are travelers all,” writes reviewer Carol Haggas. “From Bali to the Balkans, Cambodia to California, Spain to Saudi Arabia, the locations range from the sensational to the sublime, united by the authors’ talents for imaginatively bringing to life that sense of place that lies at the genre’s core.”

I have yet to receive my own copy of the anthology, but I did enjoy the online introduction chapter, wherein Tom Miller warns against the standard cliches of travel writing. “Be skeptical of writers who talk of snow-capped peaks, bustling marketplaces where the beadwork is always intricate, and shy but friendly natives,” Miller writes. “You