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Lonely Planet Travel Literature
Tales from Nowhere
Offers stories focusing on journeys, discoveries, and adventures in travel destinations way off the beaten path.
288 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2006
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521 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews
June 5, 2008
This is not the best selection of travel essays I've ever read. There are some well-known travel writers included -- Pico Iyer, Simon Winchester, et al -- but collection feels overly dictated by an editor's directive. Each piece is of a certain length (often, I felt, too short), a certain tone (not too upbeat, not too downbeat), has a certain clever (not necessarily good) ending.
I have issues with the premise of the collection. The idea of Western writers traveling to actual places and labeling them "nowhere" strikes me as arrogant. By the middle of this book, it seems any place that makes traveling difficult or is not up to Western, developed standards is a "nowhere." Entire countries are written off in this way, and I wished for more enlightened travelers to be guiding me instead of those included here.
I have issues with the premise of the collection. The idea of Western writers traveling to actual places and labeling them "nowhere" strikes me as arrogant. By the middle of this book, it seems any place that makes traveling difficult or is not up to Western, developed standards is a "nowhere." Entire countries are written off in this way, and I wished for more enlightened travelers to be guiding me instead of those included here.
October 26, 2009
This book is amazing. You will laugh, you will cry, you will remember your own misadventures. I have been reading lots of short stories lately, but this book is definitely being added to my permanent collection. It's the kind of book that you're reading to your friends and family members over the phone. It's the kind of book that you wish you had written, even though it's not actually possible, since it's a collection of short stories from all of today's best travel writers.
My absolute favorite was "The Worst Country in the World" by Simon Winchester. Any of us who have traveled much have probably had the same conversation that he and his friends had at a pub one evening that led to he and his travel photographer being sent on assignment to the country that they had decided had all the essential elements: a) no scenery b) awful food, c) dreadful people, d) a terrible regime, e) a wrecked economy, f) uncontrolled hordes of hostile and pestilential local fauna, and g) in all other senses no redeeming feautres whatsoever. I won't spoil it by telling you what actual country they decided upon, but it wasn't Iraq, or India, or Angola, or Canada. Or Libya, or cambadoia, or Albania, or North Korea, or east Germany, or Honduras. Suffice it to say there were many contenders in West Africa. The author and the photographer barely escape with their lives after nearly facing death in their visit to Nowhere.
I also loved The Living Museum of Nowhere and Everywhere by Rolf Potts, and not just because he's a fellow alumnus of George Fox University. He describes a weekend visit to his sister's in Minneapolis, Kansas that is just as much a journey as his two year sojourn to the remote corners of Myanmar, where he discovers a museum dedicated to George Washington Carver, the famed African American botanist.
But there wasn't a story in the book that isn't worth reading, and I invite you to pick up a copy and dream of going nowhere also.
My absolute favorite was "The Worst Country in the World" by Simon Winchester. Any of us who have traveled much have probably had the same conversation that he and his friends had at a pub one evening that led to he and his travel photographer being sent on assignment to the country that they had decided had all the essential elements: a) no scenery b) awful food, c) dreadful people, d) a terrible regime, e) a wrecked economy, f) uncontrolled hordes of hostile and pestilential local fauna, and g) in all other senses no redeeming feautres whatsoever. I won't spoil it by telling you what actual country they decided upon, but it wasn't Iraq, or India, or Angola, or Canada. Or Libya, or cambadoia, or Albania, or North Korea, or east Germany, or Honduras. Suffice it to say there were many contenders in West Africa. The author and the photographer barely escape with their lives after nearly facing death in their visit to Nowhere.
I also loved The Living Museum of Nowhere and Everywhere by Rolf Potts, and not just because he's a fellow alumnus of George Fox University. He describes a weekend visit to his sister's in Minneapolis, Kansas that is just as much a journey as his two year sojourn to the remote corners of Myanmar, where he discovers a museum dedicated to George Washington Carver, the famed African American botanist.
But there wasn't a story in the book that isn't worth reading, and I invite you to pick up a copy and dream of going nowhere also.
October 27, 2018
This book is definitely an interesting read, but some of the stories are rather problematic. Here is a quote from Lost in Beijing, “For the first time in my life I felt the discomfort of being a minority. With my red hair and pale skin, I was an oddity, a point of interest, a freak” (Richmond, p.85). I truly doubt that! With the values of colonialism and racism pervading almost every society that has had contact with white people this is not the case. I find white consciousness to be so present in this book. It’s the classical colonial perspective of “white saviour goes to exotic land to save the poor naive people.”
There are quite a few stories I enjoyed, but I think it is so important to have a critical eye when reading these accounts. The stories I liked were: Meeting Echo, The Finest Cake in Sri Lanka, Grounded in In Binh, The Coptic Priest, In the Wake of Albatrosses, The End of the Road, Into the Darkness.
I would have listed more, but I stopped reading the book when I was 48% through. I hate not finishing books, but it felt like I was forcing myself to continue.
There are quite a few stories I enjoyed, but I think it is so important to have a critical eye when reading these accounts. The stories I liked were: Meeting Echo, The Finest Cake in Sri Lanka, Grounded in In Binh, The Coptic Priest, In the Wake of Albatrosses, The End of the Road, Into the Darkness.
I would have listed more, but I stopped reading the book when I was 48% through. I hate not finishing books, but it felt like I was forcing myself to continue.
January 31, 2021
Šī grāmata ietver dažādu autoru esejas. Te lasāmas Anthony Sattin, Danny Wallace, Jason Elliot, Pico Iyer u.c.Tiešām negaidīti stāsti par negaidītām vietām, pieredzēm, brīnumiem. Iespēja ceļot caur grāmatu, stāstiem, autoru acīm. Grāmata ilustrē katra autora sajūtu, uzburot bildes caur stāstiem, par ikdienu, par ikdienišķi neikdienišķām ceļotāju pieredzēm. Sajūtas tiek ierakstītas katrā lappusē. Lasītāju dažādajām gaumēm nenoliedzami tīkama grāmata!
September 13, 2022
Some of the stories are really beautiful and well written. I enjoyed “Meeting Echo”, “The finest cake in Sri Lanka”, “Secrets of the Maya”, “Postcard from the edge”, “A picture of a village” and my absolute favourite “A visit to Kanasankatan”.
January 26, 2018
Excellent book! Includes 30 travel stories spanning all corners of the world. Vivid and descriptive writing. Definitely recommend!
January 20, 2021
My aunt suggested I read this book and I'm so glad I did. It's short pieces of travel writing - most of them beautifully crafted and evocative - about places you might consider to be nowhere. There's one set in an airport when delayed (which I could really relate to); one in the middle of the ocean; one in death valley; the Australian outback; Sri Lanka; China; Vietnam etc. Exotic places as well as others much closer to home. The last one is really clever. I love the different styles of the writers and their thoughts on what it means to be in the middle of nowhere - how it affects your view of life - and how nowhere inevitably ends up being somewhere pretty special - often because of the unexpected people you meet.
December 16, 2011
A very good remedy to an over-worked, over-studious and over-retailed holiday season. Not quite like hopping a plane yourself, but a reminder that the world continues to be a wild and varied place that, by and large, has no notion of your busy, insular routine. Some of the excellent stories include visits to Beijing, Thailand, Cambodia, Afghanistan, and Louisiana.
August 30, 2008
I agree with Kate I felt it was a well written book of anicdotes of places where people feel they are in the middle of nowhere. Even if they are in the middle of a crowd, it really highlights different experiences of nowhere, emotional or physical.
September 21, 2016
A collection of travel stories by different authors. Some hits, some misses.
January 5, 2024
A book with a bunch of collections of stories from around the world. I would say only about 25% of them are actually worth reading and interesting.
Perth - "The state of Western Australia covers one-third of the continent, is nearly four times the size of Texas, and has a smaller population than Nevada. Seventy-five per cent of those people line in Perth, the most geographically isolated city of its size in the world, and another handful live in gorgeous Margaret River country to Perth's South."
"As a country, Australia is either completely relaxed or deeply in denial. No worries, Australians say, with the same frequency that Americans say 'yeah' and 'uh' and 'OK' and 'duh' combined. 'No worries', 'no problems', 'no dramas whatsoever', 'no catastrophes of any magnitude'."
"The Australians think of Kangaroos as tourist attractions, disease carriers, pets of nuisances."
Jerusalem - "I wanted to explore the rest of the country and chose Jericho on the West Bank in the Jordan Valley as my first stop; it is considered by many to be both the oldest city in the world (dating from 700 BC) and the lowest city on earth (250 meters below sea level)."
Thailand - "The area at the intersection of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos, infamously known as the Golden Triangle, had been a vortex of the opium trade, cross-boarder battles, tribal insurgencies , and general mayhem for generations."
Easter Island - "When I reminded her that resources were so scarce on the island that in the nineteenth century people had been reduced to eating one another and the population had dwindled to barely more than one hundred, she looked not fortified t all."
China - "Pringles are everywhere in China. I don't know how or why, but there they are, on sale in myriad flavours next to baskets of live grub beetles and strands of dried roots and bound coils of copper wiring."
Russia - "You must be wondering where the men are, right? Men are a dying breed here. They are drinking themselves to death all around us; they are no longer fit to be partners for women. Alcoholism is also largely responsible for the high make mortality rate that, in combination with a falling birth rate may reduce Russia's population by a third in the next fifty years - a demographic calamity unparalleled in peacetime."
"But the best part of the adventure is that when we finally arrive in that other place, we rarely find just what we had expected. The world is far more complex, and people are fare more complicated, than most of our imaginations can accommodate."
Perth - "The state of Western Australia covers one-third of the continent, is nearly four times the size of Texas, and has a smaller population than Nevada. Seventy-five per cent of those people line in Perth, the most geographically isolated city of its size in the world, and another handful live in gorgeous Margaret River country to Perth's South."
"As a country, Australia is either completely relaxed or deeply in denial. No worries, Australians say, with the same frequency that Americans say 'yeah' and 'uh' and 'OK' and 'duh' combined. 'No worries', 'no problems', 'no dramas whatsoever', 'no catastrophes of any magnitude'."
"The Australians think of Kangaroos as tourist attractions, disease carriers, pets of nuisances."
Jerusalem - "I wanted to explore the rest of the country and chose Jericho on the West Bank in the Jordan Valley as my first stop; it is considered by many to be both the oldest city in the world (dating from 700 BC) and the lowest city on earth (250 meters below sea level)."
Thailand - "The area at the intersection of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos, infamously known as the Golden Triangle, had been a vortex of the opium trade, cross-boarder battles, tribal insurgencies , and general mayhem for generations."
Easter Island - "When I reminded her that resources were so scarce on the island that in the nineteenth century people had been reduced to eating one another and the population had dwindled to barely more than one hundred, she looked not fortified t all."
China - "Pringles are everywhere in China. I don't know how or why, but there they are, on sale in myriad flavours next to baskets of live grub beetles and strands of dried roots and bound coils of copper wiring."
Russia - "You must be wondering where the men are, right? Men are a dying breed here. They are drinking themselves to death all around us; they are no longer fit to be partners for women. Alcoholism is also largely responsible for the high make mortality rate that, in combination with a falling birth rate may reduce Russia's population by a third in the next fifty years - a demographic calamity unparalleled in peacetime."
"But the best part of the adventure is that when we finally arrive in that other place, we rarely find just what we had expected. The world is far more complex, and people are fare more complicated, than most of our imaginations can accommodate."
May 2, 2018
While the writing quality is good and well edited, all of the contributors hail from first-world Western nations, privileged and educated with high social upward mobility. Their stories "gaze" at "the others" with same old boring Orientalist intent hoping this "otherness" could solve their sheltered first-world problems. Some stories reflect a self consciousness through humour but still fail to be real, some are downright self-indulgent. Take Art Busse's piece, while it was exquisitely written, the characters are just bunch of self-pitying pathetic yippies. Gee, just break up already, I really don't want to hear every bit of your thought process and how sad and sorry that girlfriend of yours is.
And if I'm going to read another "We were going to DO South East Asia this summer...", I think I might just throw the book out of the window!
And if I'm going to read another "We were going to DO South East Asia this summer...", I think I might just throw the book out of the window!
December 4, 2021
Travel tales from journeys to nowhere in particular, which could be Easter Island or in the Shanghai International Airport.
An excellent anthology. Really interesting and well written pieces that you can't just plow right through, as each ends you can't immediately move onto the next but need time to leave that particular nowhere.
Highly recommend to all travel readers. Particularly enjoyed, 'The Worst Country in the World' - Simon Winchester, 'Animals, the lot of us' - Alana Semuels, and 'A visit to Kanasankatan' - Jason Elliot.
An excellent anthology. Really interesting and well written pieces that you can't just plow right through, as each ends you can't immediately move onto the next but need time to leave that particular nowhere.
Highly recommend to all travel readers. Particularly enjoyed, 'The Worst Country in the World' - Simon Winchester, 'Animals, the lot of us' - Alana Semuels, and 'A visit to Kanasankatan' - Jason Elliot.
May 28, 2020
Ive had this book on my shelf since 2009. Quarantine 2020 felt like a great time to actually read it through. I want to give it more stars but that would be just because I want to. The truth is that these are stories by you and me. They aren't fancy they don't need to me. Many were probably conceived from travel journals and that's just great too. Reminds me of traveling at that time which was after 911 and before wifi all over. Was a beautiful time to get lost in NOWHERE!
June 27, 2023
A collection of 30 short stories from some of today's best travel writers describing their trips and most importantly their experiences to specific places around the globe. From the jungles of Borneo to the rolling hills of Tuscany, this book features some really well written and engaging pieces, each one with its own style. Perfect for a mental escape or some travel inspiration. Also recommended for any aspiring travel bloggers/writers.
March 2, 2020
I only gave this book 3 stars because for the most part, it was well written, but some authors writing skills weren’t quite up to par. This book should have been thoroughly exciting and a real page-turner; What I was expecting. But instead, I found it a struggle to finish. Great stories, just not too memorable...
August 28, 2020
Maybe it was the frame of mind i was reading it. Maybe it was because i was nowhere. I loved this book and the stories that reminded me of previous travels. Of that feeling of being nowhere. Of making that nowhere somewhere. Of returning changed. Of wanting to find a new nowhere to lose myself in all over again.
February 26, 2023
Actually, I haven't read this book. I couldn't. The print type on the copy that I have is so small it is unreadable. I have never, ever seen a book with type so small.
The only reason I can come up with is that it must be more profitable to use tiny typeface. It certainly isn't a benefit to the reader.
How strange to print a book that is unreadable. Profits over people, once again.
The only reason I can come up with is that it must be more profitable to use tiny typeface. It certainly isn't a benefit to the reader.
How strange to print a book that is unreadable. Profits over people, once again.
November 13, 2023
La mayoría de historias son contadas desde las voces de hombres blancos europeos que van en busca de lo exótico, la otredad... refiriéndose esto siempre a lo no occidental, y dando la sensación de "salvador blanco". Me ha dado un poquito de pereza, la verdad... Este tipo de relatos de viaje con dejes coloniales se quedan ya un poco antiguos.
May 24, 2017
Some of the tales stood way out in front of the others. However, anyone with a taste for visiting different places will likely be intrigued by some of the stories. By far, my favorite was 'North of Perth'.
January 31, 2020
Of the half dozen lonely planet anthologies I’ve read, this one has the most engaging stories, fun experiences, and vivid writing whether it’s in Middle America, an airport, the slum neighborhoods of London, or the middle of a Pacific jungle.
June 30, 2021
Wonderful! I want to steal this book from the library so I can put it on the 'special' shelf. I kept quoting large segments of this to friends, probably against their desire.
Each entry is profound, moving, reflective and memorable.
Each entry is profound, moving, reflective and memorable.
September 12, 2024
Some were decent but most were bad. Either the writing was boring, the story was dull or the writer just felt like a bad person! Slog to get through. I did enjoy the pig island one because I hadn’t heard of it for a while and forgot about it and enjoyed the Australian one but that’s about it.
February 12, 2019
Some of the stories I liked very much, some I found boring or didn't like the writing style. Overall, it's a nice book for people who like travel and exotic places.
February 9, 2020
Not as good as the Kindness of Strangers - but maybe also because I felt a bit too in limbo too
May 16, 2020
This book made me travel the world when I fiscally cannot. Naturally I did not enjoy every story but I did not expect that either.
August 22, 2020
Interesting collections of travel essays. It wasn’t a brilliant travel book but it was fascinating to read about the different authors’ journeys through certain places of “nowhere”.
May 21, 2023
Great read for armchair travelling. Some cracking stories.
June 23, 2024
It literally took me a year to finish this one. A lot of the stories were too complex, out of theme, and too overly complicated for my taste.
August 6, 2024
This book is a collection of short stories. Some taught me how to think about travel, some sated my desire for adventure to remote locations, many left me smiling.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews