“Travel connoisseurs divide the world into those places they’ve been dying to visit or revisit and places they’d never set foot in but are glad someone else did. This year’s volume of travel writing . . . focuses mostly on the latter with derring-do dispatches.” — USA Today A far-ranging collection of the best travel writing pieces published in 2013, collected by guest editor Paul Theroux.  The Best American Travel Writing  consistently includes a wide variety of pieces, illuminating the wonder, humor, fear, and exhilaration that greets all of us when we embark on a journey to a new place. Readers know that there is simply no other option when they want great travel writing. "The Best American Travel Writing has been the gold standard for short-form travel writing from newspapers, magazines and the Internet since its inception 15 years ago.  This year’s guest editor – a different one is chosen for each volume – is none other than the godfather of contemporary American travel writing, Paul Theroux.  A generation of travel writers owes a debt to Theroux’s immersive, first-person narratives, captured with unflinching, sometimes merciless candor...In essay after essay, a theme runs through this volume – people journey, sometimes great distances, often enduring great hardship, only to be redeemed by human connection."  -- The New York Times Book Review "Will gratify both armchair travelers and the most seasoned and fearless thrill-seekers...refreshingly original stories, alternately humorous, nostalgic, exhilarating and horrifying...A thrilling, surprising collection—one of the best in the series." --Kirkus  The Best American Series In this era of “listicles” (“Ten Best Waterslides on Cruise Ships!”) and travel articles that are little more than boasting of luxury hotels and restaurants, guest editor Paul Theroux is more interested in “the traveler’s baptism of fire.” The stories in The Best American Travel Writing 2014 take readers from Somalian prisons to Greyhound bus terminals, from the rivers of the Alaskan wilderness to the vanishing rainforests of Brazil, and to so many places in between. At turns hilarious, riveting, and philosophical, the stories in this collection “illustrate the defiance of the traveler who, against the odd, sets off to find something new to write about.” The Best American Travel Writing 2014 includes Elif Batuman, Julia Cooke, A. A. Gill, Janine di Giovanni Peter LaSalle, Andrew McCarthy, Michael Paterniti, Stephanie Pearson Gary Shteyngart, Colson Whitehead, and others [INSERT AUTHOR PHOTO] PAUL THEROUX, guest editor, is the author of many renowned travel books, including The Last Train to Zona Verde, Ghost Train to the Eastern Star, Dark Star Safari, and The Great Railway Bazaar. His acclaimed novels include The Mosquito Coast, Hotel Honolulu, and The Lower River. JASON WILSON, series editor, writes the spirits column for the Washington Post and is the editor of The Smart Set. He is also the author of Boozehound. JASON WILSON,  series editor, is the author of Godforsaken Grapes, Boozehound, and The Cider Revival. He is the creator of the newsletter and podcast Everyday Drinking. Wilson has been the series editor of The Best American Travel Writing since its inception in 2000. His work can be found at jasonwilson.com. Paul Theroux  is the author of many highly acclaimed books. His novels include  Burma Sahib, The Bad Angel Brothers, The Lower River, Jungle Lovers,  and  The Mosquito Coast , and his renowned travel books include  Ghost Train to the Eastern Star, On the Plain of Snakes,  and  Dark Star Safari . He lives in Hawaii and on Cape Cod.