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Better Than Fiction: True Travel Tales from Great Fiction Writers
- An exciting new anthology of travel literature - Features international authors, including Alexander McCall Smith, Joyce Carol Oates and DBC Pierre - Brings to life the idea that travel can inspire, entertain, enlighten and change lives
320 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2012
104 people are currently reading
1585 people want to read
About the author
Alexander McCall Smith
668 books12.7k followersAlexander McCall Smith is the author of the international phenomenon The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, the Isabel Dalhousie Series, the Portuguese Irregular Verbs series, and the 44 Scotland Street series. He is professor emeritus of medical law at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and has served on many national and international bodies concerned with bioethics. He was born in what is now known as Zimbabwe and he was a law professor at the University of Botswana. He lives in Scotland. Visit him online at www.alexandermccallsmith.com, on Facebook, and on Twitter.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 141 reviews
January 16, 2017
This book is a Lonely Planet collection of short stories - all travel related, and all by authors recognised as fiction writers. There are thirty two stories, some of the authors are well known to me, others I have never heard of. The authors are from varied places, but largely - UK, USA, Australia & NZ.
The stories are set in varied places, and are varied in their complexity and intensity - some are more about emotion and situation, others are about the adventure, the travel and the experience.
Of the thirty odd stories, I would say 10 are excellent, and 10 were not for me. The rest sit in between.
Those which are memorable having finished the book include Huaxi Watermill, by Arnold Zable; Adfrift in the Solomon Islands, by Mark Dapin; Confessions of a Coconut Soup Eater, by Steven Amsterdam; Sudan - the Scarface Express, by Joe Yogerst; The Fairbanks Shakespeare Camp, by Stefan Merril Block.
3 stars.
The stories are set in varied places, and are varied in their complexity and intensity - some are more about emotion and situation, others are about the adventure, the travel and the experience.
Of the thirty odd stories, I would say 10 are excellent, and 10 were not for me. The rest sit in between.
Those which are memorable having finished the book include Huaxi Watermill, by Arnold Zable; Adfrift in the Solomon Islands, by Mark Dapin; Confessions of a Coconut Soup Eater, by Steven Amsterdam; Sudan - the Scarface Express, by Joe Yogerst; The Fairbanks Shakespeare Camp, by Stefan Merril Block.
3 stars.
September 26, 2013
Reading travel literature is one of my favourite things to do. Unfortunately, some authors seem to believe that the subject matter, I.e the location, makes up for poor writing skills. Imagine how pleased I was to find this book of true travel stories written by really good authors. I loved it and can't recommend it highly enough and it illustrates that the quality of writing is more important than a destination. Good writers can bring any subject to life.
June 8, 2013
I liked some of the stories, but felt they were more bogged down with emotion than about quirky travel gaffes or interesting encounters. A couple made me cry, which is a good sign that the story connected, but not the global romp one might hope to get.
March 4, 2013
The writing was good, the stories...some good, some not. Overall, not a book I would recommend buying. Borrow it from the library.
February 24, 2019
Out of 32 stories, I really liked only 9. The rest were pretty good, not bad, just not that memorable nor good enough to make me want to buy this book.
The ones I really liked were:
Going South by Kurt Anderson
Kind of Blue by Sophie Cunningham
Huaxi Watermill by Arnold Zable
Quetzal by Frances Mayes
You, Me and the Sea by Steven Hall
A Tango with Freud by Alexander McCall Smith
The Thieves of Rome by M. J. Hyland
An Alpine Escape by Aliya Whitley
Who Wants a Girl? by Isabel Allende
The ones I really liked were:
Going South by Kurt Anderson
Kind of Blue by Sophie Cunningham
Huaxi Watermill by Arnold Zable
Quetzal by Frances Mayes
You, Me and the Sea by Steven Hall
A Tango with Freud by Alexander McCall Smith
The Thieves of Rome by M. J. Hyland
An Alpine Escape by Aliya Whitley
Who Wants a Girl? by Isabel Allende
July 14, 2018
It wasn’t. Better than fiction, that is.😉
I was disappointed in this collection of travel stories. There were a few I really liked (especially Bryce Courtenay’s “Getting Travel Dirt Under Your Fingernails” as well as Cunningham’s “Kind of Blue,” Finch’s “A Small World After All,” and Kelman’s “Before the Monsoon”), but overall, there just wasn’t enough depth to each story for me. There was also a bit too much of the Westerner using locals as props for a story, which bothered me a lot (“Chasing Missionaries” in particular). I was looking for more reflection, more exploration of how travel can change us and deepen our perception of the world. Travel so often does that for me, and I missed that depth in this collection.
I was disappointed in this collection of travel stories. There were a few I really liked (especially Bryce Courtenay’s “Getting Travel Dirt Under Your Fingernails” as well as Cunningham’s “Kind of Blue,” Finch’s “A Small World After All,” and Kelman’s “Before the Monsoon”), but overall, there just wasn’t enough depth to each story for me. There was also a bit too much of the Westerner using locals as props for a story, which bothered me a lot (“Chasing Missionaries” in particular). I was looking for more reflection, more exploration of how travel can change us and deepen our perception of the world. Travel so often does that for me, and I missed that depth in this collection.
April 9, 2013
I picked this up from the new non-fiction shelf at my library-- fully expecting to read a few tales but not ALL of them while I waited for books on hold to arrive. Instead, I read them all. True, some are better than others but I made note of at least six authors I'd like to learn more about and I admired the bravery of many more. This was a vicarious trip around the world.
August 7, 2017
There were a few thoughtful and compelling stories, but most of it was shallow and full of humble-bragging. (I'm reminded again of how often traveling/the ability to travel is a status symbol.) I really liked the story about the sad guy saving a beached shark in the rain.
November 24, 2020
...learning is just a gradual revelation of how deep one's ignorance really is. To give up to not knowing, to be uncertain of the name of things: that space is the place where possibility lives....
from Kind of Blue by Sophie Cunningham p24
The concept is great and the collection lives up to its name. With so many short pieces, not one was a dud; not one failed to arouse my interest. I especially appreciated the short bios that accompanied each piece. I treated myself to one adventure a day, attempting to keep the stories from conflating.
The contributions from the authors I already knew did not disappoint. I especially loved Off the Beaten Track in Malawi by Marina Lewycka who gives us this generous conclusion on p88...the kindness of our hosts more than made up for any discomforts.
It is wonderful to read a collection by those who share that attitude. Stories of catastrophe or more usually, near-catastrophe, abound, but there are no whiners. Even when sharing her first dismal visit to San Quentin, Joyce Carol Oates is not whinging but trying to place the experience in some kind of context.
For always you think, too late- I have made a mistake in coming here. Why did I come to this terrible place? p173
If you have travelled at all outside of your comfort zone, you may know this feeling. JCO went on to get over it and to facilitate programs and opportunities for the inmates there.
For a great many of us our travel mindset has changed from seeing to doing or from observing to participating...Bryce Courtney Getting Travel Dirt Under Your Fingernails p239
No matter how fastidious you may have been at the start.
About half of the authors were unknown to me, and I have already ordered a few of their fiction from the library by those whose adventures I particularly enjoyed.
Time is made up of stories and memories-together they make up a new story.
from Nuestro Pueblo by Tia Obreht p319
People are so often lonely because they build walls instead of bridges.
from Mumbai:Before the Monsoon by Stephen Kelman p283
from Kind of Blue by Sophie Cunningham p24
The concept is great and the collection lives up to its name. With so many short pieces, not one was a dud; not one failed to arouse my interest. I especially appreciated the short bios that accompanied each piece. I treated myself to one adventure a day, attempting to keep the stories from conflating.
The contributions from the authors I already knew did not disappoint. I especially loved Off the Beaten Track in Malawi by Marina Lewycka who gives us this generous conclusion on p88...the kindness of our hosts more than made up for any discomforts.
It is wonderful to read a collection by those who share that attitude. Stories of catastrophe or more usually, near-catastrophe, abound, but there are no whiners. Even when sharing her first dismal visit to San Quentin, Joyce Carol Oates is not whinging but trying to place the experience in some kind of context.
For always you think, too late- I have made a mistake in coming here. Why did I come to this terrible place? p173
If you have travelled at all outside of your comfort zone, you may know this feeling. JCO went on to get over it and to facilitate programs and opportunities for the inmates there.
For a great many of us our travel mindset has changed from seeing to doing or from observing to participating...Bryce Courtney Getting Travel Dirt Under Your Fingernails p239
No matter how fastidious you may have been at the start.
About half of the authors were unknown to me, and I have already ordered a few of their fiction from the library by those whose adventures I particularly enjoyed.
Time is made up of stories and memories-together they make up a new story.
from Nuestro Pueblo by Tia Obreht p319
People are so often lonely because they build walls instead of bridges.
from Mumbai:Before the Monsoon by Stephen Kelman p283
December 9, 2022
Favorite essays: Going South by Kurt Andersen, Kind of Blue by Sophie Cunningham, The Mountain Mine by Carol Birch, Quetzal by Frances Mayes, Off the Beaten Track in Malawi by Marina Lewycka, Adrift in the Solomon Islands by Mark Dapin, and Sudan: The Scarface Express by Joe Yogerst (loved this one).
April 5, 2013
What a great collection.Travel stories by great writers. What more could you ask for? I live vicariously through travel essays and I love them. It is fascinating for me to learn about another culture, even if it is second-hand, plus I love reading about how that experience changes the writer.
Most of the time, I'm jealous of the person's experience and opportunities, but there are some stories in here that make me think, "Have you lost your frickin' mind?!" [Sudan: The Scarface Express by Joe Yogerst] I will caveat that by saying, I am not someone who does extreme anything. Not that I don't like adventure or trying something new. I just prefer living instead of walking the razor's edge of sanity and common sense.
Anyway, great book.
Most of the time, I'm jealous of the person's experience and opportunities, but there are some stories in here that make me think, "Have you lost your frickin' mind?!" [Sudan: The Scarface Express by Joe Yogerst] I will caveat that by saying, I am not someone who does extreme anything. Not that I don't like adventure or trying something new. I just prefer living instead of walking the razor's edge of sanity and common sense.
Anyway, great book.
January 11, 2015
I just. No. You guys! You made it sound so good. And then it wasn't. At all. There are only a handful of good or decent stories. The others are anecdotes that either lack structure or make too much of nothing or self-aggrandize the author. I am so disappointed.
March 11, 2013
Very inconsistent but has a few gems. Many are not stories so much as anecdotes. My favorites were Joyce Carol Oates, DBC Pierre, and Frances Mayes.
June 8, 2013
Like any book of short stories some were stronger than others, but overall it was an enjoyable read.
December 4, 2013
Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Maybe all the more so as I picked it up as a free book at a popular coffee shop! Inspiring and well written.
September 29, 2019
An interesting collection of non-fiction travel stories by mostly fiction authors. I did not enjoy this collection as much as A Moveable Feast: Life-Changing Food Adventures Around the World but still enjoyed it. What's great about these collections is that they are like a sampler platter of interesting writers and people and often I make note of names/books to read in the future. Particularly liked "Confessions of a Coconut-Soup Eater", "Arriving in Luxembourg" and "You, Me and the Sea".
March 19, 2021
The traveler’s tales genre is alive and well. This book has a little of everything—Antarctica, revolutions, disappearing resorts, death, that one preachy author, train escapes, mangoes. My favorite story was the guy who picked up a live shark off the beach in England to put it back in the sea—twice! He missed the first time! I read that one aloud and my whole family enjoyed it.
April 14, 2018
This is the perfect book to read over an extended period of time. Read a few chapters - or just 1 - put it down and come back to it whenever! Authors whose fiction I've never experienced as well as authors I'm familiar with writing about their travel experiences . . . what could be better?!?!
July 16, 2021
Bit of a mixed bag as you might expect, I particularly liked 12 of the 32 including Allende, Gemmell, Iyer, Dapin, Hyland, Jones & Lewycka ... and Jan Morris was the stand out for me.
January 12, 2018
A great selection of all sorts of non fiction travel stories from fiction writers. Many of these will put you right on the streets of Mumbai, an Antarctic base or some other exotic place.
January 25, 2013
In his introduction to Better Than Fiction True Travel Tales From Great Fiction Writers, Don George says that despite owning a collection of guidebooks, two novels on Greece, “..proved to be the best guides of all, immersive, enlightening introductions to the landscape, people, and culture I was discovering….As I have learned over and over in my wanderings, some of the best travel writing is fictional.” He certainly will get no argument here.
The book, Better than Fiction, a collection of 30+ travel experiences from fiction writers, will introduce you to the writing style of a crowd of writers.The collection includes authors from many countries, so you are almost guaranteed to hear a voice that is new to you. The best of the essays are very personal experiences with meticulous description of place.
Two stories in this book are worth the entire price and then some. Isabel Allende, whose novels depict locations with almost startling clarity, writes about a trip to India that spurred her to start a foundation to help young women and girls. Her story squeezed my heart.
The second entry in Better than Fiction that I truly loved was Suzanne Joinson’s Chasing Missionaries. She relates a research trip to Kashgar , a rebellious section of western China, looking for background for A Lady Cyclist s Guide to Kashgar. She has 2nd thoughts about leaving her baby behind with her husband when riots break out. Foreigners are supposed to leave. She stays longer than she should. The story is gripping and her telling of it skillfully underplayed.
First thing you know, you will succumb to the lure of these masterful writers and go off to explore the corners of the world they so enticingly recreate.
This review is part of one I wrote at A Traveler's Library, read the entire review here.
The book, Better than Fiction, a collection of 30+ travel experiences from fiction writers, will introduce you to the writing style of a crowd of writers.The collection includes authors from many countries, so you are almost guaranteed to hear a voice that is new to you. The best of the essays are very personal experiences with meticulous description of place.
Two stories in this book are worth the entire price and then some. Isabel Allende, whose novels depict locations with almost startling clarity, writes about a trip to India that spurred her to start a foundation to help young women and girls. Her story squeezed my heart.
The second entry in Better than Fiction that I truly loved was Suzanne Joinson’s Chasing Missionaries. She relates a research trip to Kashgar , a rebellious section of western China, looking for background for A Lady Cyclist s Guide to Kashgar. She has 2nd thoughts about leaving her baby behind with her husband when riots break out. Foreigners are supposed to leave. She stays longer than she should. The story is gripping and her telling of it skillfully underplayed.
First thing you know, you will succumb to the lure of these masterful writers and go off to explore the corners of the world they so enticingly recreate.
This review is part of one I wrote at A Traveler's Library, read the entire review here.
March 7, 2018
A book of 32 travel stories written by published (some renown) authors. The places, time periods, and topics vary greatly. There are many by Australian authors featured, which introduced me to many I didn't know. Some stories were poignant, as with Isabel Allende's "Who Wants a Girl?" set in India. Others were disturbing, funny, or inspirational.
Quotes:
from Kind of Blue by Sophie Cunningham
….now I see that learning is just a gradual revelation of how deep our ignorance really is. To give up to not knowing, to be uncertain of the name of things: that space is the place where possibility lives and in my mind it shimmers bright as a blue summer sky.
from "A Small World After All" by Charles Finch
I guess the lesson is you can’t go everywhere. You should still go everywhere you can.
An Alpine Escape by Aliya Whiteley
But a random line on a map took us to a place where we could find the courage we needed. And I’ve begun to understand the purpose of travel; a few days of seeing the world in a different way gives us the confidence to face whatever waits for us at home. Even mountains.
Read this for the White Lake Township Library's reading challenge: read a book of essays.
It did make me want to go somewhere soon!
Quotes:
from Kind of Blue by Sophie Cunningham
….now I see that learning is just a gradual revelation of how deep our ignorance really is. To give up to not knowing, to be uncertain of the name of things: that space is the place where possibility lives and in my mind it shimmers bright as a blue summer sky.
from "A Small World After All" by Charles Finch
I guess the lesson is you can’t go everywhere. You should still go everywhere you can.
An Alpine Escape by Aliya Whiteley
But a random line on a map took us to a place where we could find the courage we needed. And I’ve begun to understand the purpose of travel; a few days of seeing the world in a different way gives us the confidence to face whatever waits for us at home. Even mountains.
Read this for the White Lake Township Library's reading challenge: read a book of essays.
It did make me want to go somewhere soon!
March 18, 2017
A great travel book by a singular author can offer one a great vacation from home. But this mixed bag didn't have the same effect on me as would a singular vision in which the author's life might change, the writer's perspective of the world might be illuminated (and hopefully for the better). Charles Finch, one of the author's represented here among these stories, sums travel up best for me: "I guess the lesson is you can't go everywhere. But you should still go where you can." I so that I'm always ready, I keep a well-stocked back-pack in the closet by the front door. I picked up that habit years ago when I lived in California where one should always be "earthquake-prepared". Now I am always travel-prepared and it's a nice feeling to know I'm ready to go!
April 23, 2013
Some of the travel tales were a pure pleasure to read, others were mediocre.
wish-list
March 6, 2014to find - thanks for the hattip Renee
:O)
:O)
June 7, 2016
Some lovely stories in here. Quite good for a work book.
August 18, 2017
The game ended as sunset approached and church bells struck seven. I'm pretty sure we didn't play for a regulation 90 minutes. The thin air at seven-thousand-feet-plus was rough on us boys from the low plains. And we lost decisively – Mexico City 5 (I think), Omaha 2 – but we scored, twice, playing their national pastime on their street. We were breathless, sweaty, filthy, bloody, bruised and totally, deeply, existentially gratified.
I obtained this book as a downloadable freebie from a card I picked up in Starbucks freebie, and then it stayed in iBooks on my iPad for a long time, as I prefer to read ebooks on my Kindle. Finally, however, I was challenged to read and review for the Go Review That Book! group, and I decide to read it on holiday this summer.
Lonely Planet's decision to ask fiction writers to contribute non-fiction travel tales to a book has worked out really well, and I found this book so much better than I had expected! I was hooked from the very first story, a wonderfully nostalgic tale of a road trip to Mexico with a group of friends the summer between school and college, during which they made an unexpected connection with the locals after giving a boy a lift.
There are stories that take place in all corners of the world, ranging across every continent, including Antarctica, and even one place that has never existed. There are encounters with witches and beggars, with criminals in and outside prison, and memories of trips taken long ago with former friends and lovers.
There may have been the odd story that didn't resonate with me, but the vast majority did, and I will end with another of my favourites, a story of a day spent exploring an old mine in Ireland, easily accessible then but long ago blocked off by barbed wire.
I saw light ahead and went towards it. It was falling from up high onto a rock wall, a bright triangular patch of sunlight that threw the jags of rock into high relief. I turned off the flashlight and approached with awe. A green cave landscape was illuminated, a copper lake of turquoise water that glinted in the sunshine, a small shaly beach, a far-flung outcrop of rock, almost white in the glare. You could get to the outcrop by going round the side and crouching low where the rock hung out over the water, but the ground there was scree-like and sloping and the water looked deep.
I was underneath one of the big open shafts. The walls glittered. The water flowed out of the lake, round the rock and away down a channel about three feet across, meandering towards a grand arched darkness in the distance. I'm bad at judging distances, but you could have swum in the lake, rowed a boat.
I obtained this book as a downloadable freebie from a card I picked up in Starbucks freebie, and then it stayed in iBooks on my iPad for a long time, as I prefer to read ebooks on my Kindle. Finally, however, I was challenged to read and review for the Go Review That Book! group, and I decide to read it on holiday this summer.
Lonely Planet's decision to ask fiction writers to contribute non-fiction travel tales to a book has worked out really well, and I found this book so much better than I had expected! I was hooked from the very first story, a wonderfully nostalgic tale of a road trip to Mexico with a group of friends the summer between school and college, during which they made an unexpected connection with the locals after giving a boy a lift.
There are stories that take place in all corners of the world, ranging across every continent, including Antarctica, and even one place that has never existed. There are encounters with witches and beggars, with criminals in and outside prison, and memories of trips taken long ago with former friends and lovers.
There may have been the odd story that didn't resonate with me, but the vast majority did, and I will end with another of my favourites, a story of a day spent exploring an old mine in Ireland, easily accessible then but long ago blocked off by barbed wire.
I saw light ahead and went towards it. It was falling from up high onto a rock wall, a bright triangular patch of sunlight that threw the jags of rock into high relief. I turned off the flashlight and approached with awe. A green cave landscape was illuminated, a copper lake of turquoise water that glinted in the sunshine, a small shaly beach, a far-flung outcrop of rock, almost white in the glare. You could get to the outcrop by going round the side and crouching low where the rock hung out over the water, but the ground there was scree-like and sloping and the water looked deep.
I was underneath one of the big open shafts. The walls glittered. The water flowed out of the lake, round the rock and away down a channel about three feet across, meandering towards a grand arched darkness in the distance. I'm bad at judging distances, but you could have swum in the lake, rowed a boat.
October 21, 2023
I’ve been reading travel fiction lately, and bought this volume in audiobook form. I listened to it on the road. It’s a collection of nonfiction stories written by fiction writers. Many portrayed exotic locations, and some struck me as well written.
Most of the authors extracted deeper meanings from their trips, or tried to draw conclusions about humanity’s drive to travel. Some authors had already taken aspects of their trip and used it in previous fiction works. In some cases, the authors excelled at describing the places they visited. In other cases, not so much.
My two favorite stories were “Going South” by Kurt Anderson and “Sudan - the Scarface Express” by Joe Yogerst. Few of the rest stuck with me.
Reality often lacks the excitement and drama of fiction, and I wish the anthology’s editors had allowed the authors to spice up the stories by fictionalizing them.
That said, the stories kept me attentive while on the road and passed the time well.
Most of the authors extracted deeper meanings from their trips, or tried to draw conclusions about humanity’s drive to travel. Some authors had already taken aspects of their trip and used it in previous fiction works. In some cases, the authors excelled at describing the places they visited. In other cases, not so much.
My two favorite stories were “Going South” by Kurt Anderson and “Sudan - the Scarface Express” by Joe Yogerst. Few of the rest stuck with me.
Reality often lacks the excitement and drama of fiction, and I wish the anthology’s editors had allowed the authors to spice up the stories by fictionalizing them.
That said, the stories kept me attentive while on the road and passed the time well.
July 24, 2022
I picked this book up a few years ago, cause it sounded like something good to read on holiday or something. Well, Covid hit and there were no holidays! By impulse I picked it from my shelf to read a couple of weeks ago and it actually turned out to be a very enjoyable experience.
As with most anthologies, I did not love every story, but of the 32 stories, 26 were 5 or 6 stars, which is pretty good going by my book. All these stories are non-fiction centred around travel, which is a subject I apparently love. I enjoyed these slices of countries and experiences. All these authors are fiction authors and a lot of them were Australian. Just an observation!
I will keep this book as a reference for some of the authors whose stories I enjoyed most, as there was only one author I had read from before and only a handful I had heard of. Yes, I do like a good anthology!
As with most anthologies, I did not love every story, but of the 32 stories, 26 were 5 or 6 stars, which is pretty good going by my book. All these stories are non-fiction centred around travel, which is a subject I apparently love. I enjoyed these slices of countries and experiences. All these authors are fiction authors and a lot of them were Australian. Just an observation!
I will keep this book as a reference for some of the authors whose stories I enjoyed most, as there was only one author I had read from before and only a handful I had heard of. Yes, I do like a good anthology!
December 31, 2022
Didn't really live up to its name, for me. The stories spanned a wide range of places (remote China, Luxembourg, Antarctica, and even a tour of San Quentin prison), eras and perspectives, but only a few really grabbed my interest.
Favourite was "It's a small world after all" by Charles Finch, in which he recounts his attempt to meet fans of as many nationalities as possible at the World Cup in South Africa. Quote: "In my experience there are three kinds of trips that have a lasting effect on a person. First, there's the trip that confronts you with the natural world, forcing you to see yourself very small, as if from a great distance; second, there's the trip that comes at a crucial time in your life [...]; and third, there's the trip that shows you other human beings who are different from you, how they live, what they do."
Favourite was "It's a small world after all" by Charles Finch, in which he recounts his attempt to meet fans of as many nationalities as possible at the World Cup in South Africa. Quote: "In my experience there are three kinds of trips that have a lasting effect on a person. First, there's the trip that confronts you with the natural world, forcing you to see yourself very small, as if from a great distance; second, there's the trip that comes at a crucial time in your life [...]; and third, there's the trip that shows you other human beings who are different from you, how they live, what they do."
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