Better Than Fiction: True Travel Tales From Great Fiction Writers

Don George, Editor (2003)
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THE A5 BOOK REVIEW

One of the better travel writing anthologies is Better Than Fiction, a selection of articles on the beauty of travel from some popular and talented fiction writers.  Published by Lonely Planet and edited by the experienced travel journalist Don George, Better Than Fiction includes thirty-two stories from famous writers like Alexander McCall Smith, the author of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, Peter Matthiessen, and one of Australia's top selling novelists, Bryce Courtenay.  The backgrounds and styles are varied, but as Don George explains in the introduction, the common theme is the reverence for how travel enriches life and the lessons travel teach us about ourselves.  Some of the stories revolve around simple but interesting experiences, including Joyce Carol Oates' enlightening trip to San Quentin, Charles Finch's trip to the World Cup in Cape Town, and Kurt Anderson's narrative on his impromptu soccer match in the barrio in Mexico City.  Others dive deeper into true life-changing events, including a really heart-warming pieces by Nikki Gemmel on her trip to Antarctica and an article by Isabelle Allende on the trip to India that inspired her charitable foundation.  Well-known travel writers like Pico Iyer, Frances Mayes (author of Under the Tuscan Sun), and Jan Morris are also featured.  
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OTHER A5 RECOMMENDED TRAVEL WRITING COLLECTIONS - DON GEORGE

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INTERESTING LINKS:

  • Don George is arguably the world's leading editor of travel writing collections, having a long career as the Global Travel Editor for Lonely Planet and as a frequent contributor for National Geographic Traveler magazine.  Learn more about Don George here.
  • ​Nikki Gemmel is the author of five novels including Shiver (1997), the book inspired from her trip to Antarctica.  She has been described as a female Jack Kerouac, one of the fifty most important writers in the world by the French literary review "Lire", and a truly original new voice. 
  • Visit the Isabel Allende Foundation (www.isabelallendefoundation.org), a charity that provides support to nonprofit organizations that empower women through healthcare, education and protection from violence, exploitation and discrimination.