Top 10 Great Travel Novels
Published on May 12, 2008 - 67 Comments
It’s hard to find great travel writing, but it’s out there. Part of the reason for this is that so much travel writing is also considered nature writing or narrative non-fiction. Part of the reason is that the field is so competitive because of a lot of good authors competing for a relatively small market space. But there is a wide array of great travel fiction out there, and here is my list of the best ten travel novels I’ve read over the past couple years.
This is one I actually found in the “Christian” Non-Fiction section, which can be unfair. There’s no question Miller is a Christian, but he’s a writer first and foremost, he’s not preachy, and his questioning of his own faith, of reasons for existence, of who and what he is or is becoming is reminiscent of the fantastic soul searching that came from the travel writing of the Beat generation. Miller’s account of his trip is great, going through the moments of beauty, the necessity of good road trip music, and admitting his moments of embarrassment and fear as freely as any other part of his journey.
The early reading of this book can be hard, because after the first few chapters there’s a lot of the Western perspective, the whining of living conditions and poverty, the type of scorn you don’t care to read from travel writing. I’m glad I read the rest, because like “Through Painted Deserts,” “Holy Cow” is about the author’s journey. Sarah evolves and changes chapter to chapter in front of you as she sheds the scornful nature of an atheist “too smart” to fall for superstition, and she opens up, traveling through India and sampling all the different religious beliefs and practices as she becomes a humble Theist who learns happiness, learns to grow, and learns that alien cultures can have a lot to offer the open traveler.
I first caught sight of this book at a Barnes and Noble on one of the feature tables. I was on winter break from Alaska and visiting family in Iowa. I picked up the book, sat down, and read the entire work in one sitting. Travel book, journalistic book, nature book, adventure book—whatever you call it, this is one heck of a read, and the debate this book causes is deep and passionate. As a wanderlust traveler, I understand the drive the main character feels, as an Alaskan, I understand the native perspective of irritation, of the lack of understanding that nature is brutal and especially Alaska needs to be respected as such.
The full title of this novel is Dark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Capetown. Paul Theroux is at his best in “Dark Star Safari,” where his skills of observation and his dry wit are on full display. Paul takes readers the length of Africa via overcrowded rattletrap bus, dugout canoe, cattle truck, armed convoy, ferry, and train in a journey that is hard to forget. There are moments of beauty, but there are also many moments of misery and danger. This is a narration of Africa that goes beyond the skin deep to dare to look at the deeper core of what is often referred to as “The Dark Continent.”
This is an auto-biographical travel journey taken by Heat-Moon in 1978. After separating from his wife and losing his job, Heat-Moon decided to take an extended road trip around the United States, sticking to “Blue Highways,” a term to refer to small out of the way roads connecting rural America (which were drawn in blue in the old Rand McNally atlases). So Heat-Moon outfits his van, named “Ghost Dancing” and takes off on a 3-month soul-searching tour of the United States. The book chronicles the 13,000 mile journey and the people he meets along the way, as he steers clear of cities and interstates, avoiding fast food and exploring local American culture on a journey that is just as amazing today as when he first took the journey.
There are tons of fantastic Bill Bryson books out there, and any one of them could hold this spot here. “The Lost Continent” is Bryson’s trip across America, visiting some common places (the Grand Canyon), but also exploring the back roads and looking for that familiarity that helps him remember home.
Probably one of the best travel writing collections released in recent memory, this collection is under the name Pico Iyer, who helped to edit this collection. These stories come from the “Wanderlust” section of Salon.com and create a varied tapestry of travel writing that will keep the reader flipping from one writer to another.
This is one of the all time modern classics in travel literature, as Peter Jenkins recalls the story of his 1973-1975 walk from New York to New Orleans. For many readers, this remains a rare travel book that grips you and keeps you. Known as a travel writer who will walk anywhere, including Alaska and China, Peter Jenkins says, “I started out searching for myself and my country and found both.” That sums up what travel writing should be all about.
This was a novel that helped John Steinbeck win a Nobel Prize in Literature. “Travels with Charlie” is a fantastic travel narrative that gets to the heart of travel, the point of the trip, and the strange confrontation and realization that the places and people you remember are gone once you are. As he revisits the places of his youth that many of his books are based on, he realizes on seeing old friends that they’re as uncomfortable with him being back as he is with being there. A great story about travel, about home, about mourning lost history, about aging, and about America—this should be required reading for every high school student.
The beat generation was full of great travel narratives, and Jack Kerouac was the master of powerful, moving, passionate language that unfolded stories like few people have ever managed. While “On the Road” is the most often pointed to travel narrative by Kerouac, “The Dharma Bums” is a better book. Full of passion, interesting characters and stories, and the kind of passionate language and powerful prose that made the beat generation writers popular, this Kerouac book is extraordinary and deserving of its number one spot.
Contributor: Shane Dayton
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1. dangorironhide - May 12th, 2008 at 6:30 am
You imply in the intro that this list is travel fiction, yet you include ‘The Lost Continent’? It’s the only one on the list I’ve read anyway, Bill Bryson is amazing.
2. NikkiOfNy - May 12th, 2008 at 6:36 am
Sooo glad you included Jack Kerouac! He difinitely deserves #1.
Great list Shane!
3. Kreachure - May 12th, 2008 at 6:38 am
Not that I’m an expert on the subject, but I was disappointed to see that basically 7 out of the 10 choices on this list are about travels in the USA. Are you implying that only travel books about trips through “America” (or from American perspectives) are pretty much the only ones worth reading? Don’t you think that’s a little bit biased?
Perhaps it would be much better if the list were called “top 10 great American Travel books”…
4. NikkiOfNy - May 12th, 2008 at 6:38 am
Lol, *Definitely*
It’s to early!
5. DiscHuker - May 12th, 2008 at 7:01 am
kreach: geez. do we have to take offense at everything?
it doesn’t even seem like you have any suggestions for what should replace the “american bias”, just critiques.
6. Mikkle - May 12th, 2008 at 7:36 am
sweet, some new books to read this summer!
7. SlickWilly - May 12th, 2008 at 7:47 am
While an interesting list, this genre never stimulated me. I read some Jack Keruoac, but that was simply for having read Jack Keruoac. The beat authors in general intrigued me, not because On the Road and Dharma Bums are travel novels. I would venture to say that this list will not get too many comments.
8. Kreachure - May 12th, 2008 at 8:14 am
“it doesn’t even seem like you have any suggestions for what should replace the “american bias”, just critiques.”
Yeah, that’s why I said I’m not an expert.
9. islanderbst - May 12th, 2008 at 8:50 am
I hope number seven Dark Star Safari is good, I plan to pick that one up today if I can find it.
10. Jen - May 12th, 2008 at 8:56 am
haha, the whole time I was reading that I thought “what, no /Travels with Charlie/?!” …And then there it was.
11. Liverboy - May 12th, 2008 at 9:13 am
Sort of a travel book but also just a fun, funny commentary is “Innocents Abroad” by Mark Twain. Definitely worth reading and interesting to hear his thoughts on the Arabic world of the late 1800’s.
12. Robeywan - May 12th, 2008 at 9:30 am
dangorironhide, though I only read one of Bryson’s books: A Walk in the Woods, I know I must read more of his works. I honestly took 30 minutes to read his one and half page description of his out of shape hiking companion’s paring down of supplies, including much of his water. I would read one or two sentences, put the book down, laugh for a minute, re-read the same two sentences, laugh some more then try the next sentence.
13. carpe_noctem - May 12th, 2008 at 9:45 am
Interesting list, I love that you included Bill Bryson, some of his writing is incredible. If you like him, you have to read A Short History Of Nearly Everything, it’s amazing!
And not that i’m being nitpicky, but just in case you feel like correcting some typos, No. 7 you say Dark Star Safar, instead of Safari, No. 6 you refer to him as Heat-Mean, and you give the title of No. 2 as Travels with Charlie when the book displays Travels with Charley…
I completely don’t care if you leave it like that, I’m just pointing them out!
14. mr_evilmonkey - May 12th, 2008 at 9:48 am
The Beach by Alex Garland
15. kris - May 12th, 2008 at 9:57 am
Amazing collections and these books are worth reading!!!
16. stevenh - May 12th, 2008 at 10:01 am
pretty good list, but i’m not sure about the title… not all of these are novels.
Even if you don’t like the genre I would recommend “A Search in Secret India” by Paul Brunton. Brunton was a journalist who visited India on a spiritual quest in the 1930’s. His descriptions of his adventures are facinating and thought provoking.
ok, not a novel but a worthy inclusion to this list.
17. james - May 12th, 2008 at 11:02 am
Definitely pleased to see a Bryson title in the list, his Down Under was incredible.
18. Dan - May 12th, 2008 at 11:03 am
Fair list, but it should be titled “travel books” not travel novels.
19. Pele - May 12th, 2008 at 11:05 am
While I’m sure it is not as good as the book, the movie “Into the Wild” is incredible. I recommend you pick it up next time you want to rent a movie.
20. Lando - May 12th, 2008 at 11:24 am
um, fear and loathing in las vegas? Come on!
21. victor - May 12th, 2008 at 11:27 am
Would The Grapes of Wrath(Steinbeck) fall under this somehow?
22. downhighway61 - May 12th, 2008 at 11:33 am
Great list, I love travel novels!
I’m in the middle of reading Lost Continent, so far I like it.
Now I have a new list of books to get.
23. mzfly - May 12th, 2008 at 11:50 am
I have only read “Into the Wild” and “Travels with Charley” but this list bring up some interesting choices to look for. I have always wanted to have one of those soul searching, road trip, life changing experiences.
24. SamL - May 12th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
Great list, no doubt. The Kerouac choice is a great one. I have only one suggestion for an omitted book: “The Long Walk” by Slawomir Rawicz is a story about the said author and about 5 other guys escaping from a SIberian concentration camp during WWII and ending up in India. A real fascinating read that I highly suggest.
25. dizit - May 12th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
This is, essentially, a great list.
All of Jon Krakauer’s books deserve to be included:
Into the Wild
Into Thin Air
Eiger Dreams
Iceland
The inclusion of Kerouac surprised me. His books, while all absolutely fabulous and worth reading, are fiction. Both Dharma Bums, On the Road and Big Sur, while they should be required reading, are fiction. Fiction is all Kerouac wrote.
As for Steinbeck…he is just so incredible. I’d read a milk carton he wrote. O.K., in a pinch, having no other reading at hand, I have read milk cartons, but you catch my drift.
I do have more I could add, but I won’t. If I start, I may not be able to stop.
26. Randall - May 12th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
I’m not sure about the consistency of this list….as others have pointed out, not all of these are “novels” per se….
AND, if you broaden it to include travel books that are not “fiction” but are also not mere travel guides…. books that are memoir-like in nature… then you left off some great ones.
For instance:
Henry Miller’s “The Colossus of Maroussi” OR Miller’s “The Air-Conditioned Nightmare.”
DH Lawrence’s “Twilight in Italy” OR his “Sea and Sardinia” (which by coincidence I’m reading right now)
Lawrence Durrell’s “Bitter Lemons” (great book)
How about Alexis De Toqueville’s “Democracy in America”?
or Bruce Chatwin’s books?
And there’s always Pausanias…
Or, on the novel side, you could have included Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness.”
27. stevenh - May 12th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
dizit: there is confusion in list land…
travel books vs travel novels
Krakauer (non-fiction) vs. Kerouac (fiction). The title is ‘novel’, why does Kerouac suprise you?
Randall: thank you for reminding me about “Democracy in America” - Haven’t read it in about 10 years. it’s due for a re-visit.
Shane Dayton:
Definition of novel - “extended fictional work in prose”.
28. copperdragon - May 12th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
this list is kinda one-dimensional.
what about travel through space?
Although Hitchhiker’s Guide is fiction, it is a must-read travel adventure.
I’m sure there are a few books written by past astronauts as well, on the merits and dangers of space travel. And we may need that info sooner than you think.
what about time travel?
Admittedly, no one has traveled thru time for real as of yet, The Time Machine and others are excellent reads.
29. copperdragon - May 12th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
for that matter, what about ocean or air travel?
30. Lokelani - May 12th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
I love Donald Miller! He is an honest, witty, and provocative writer. I was pleasantly surprised to see him on this list. Yay!
31. jedawrdcooper - May 12th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
You say that Donald Miller’s book being in the “Christian” is unfair, because it’s not like he’s preachy. I think that only a minority of Christians are preachy, only they’re the ones who get all the press (similar to any other religion–only the extremists are noted, and then all are pigeonholed).
Also, H2G2 would fit perfect, since as the intro and the list title state, these are novels (i.e. fiction).
32. Nelia - May 12th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
Personally, I think A Walk in the Woods is by far Bryson’s best, but I am glad to see one of his books made the list.
Interesting list. I’ve always liked travel books, it reminds me that I still have a lot of traveling to do.
33. Nikkiofny - May 12th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
I’m pretty sure most of Kerouacs books are non-fiction.
On The Road and Dharma Bums (among others) are part of his “Legend of Duluoz” series which are based on his life. The names (including his own) were changed but it’s all true.
34. Philmont237 - May 12th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
“Travels” by Michael Crichton is good too.
35. mexmark - May 12th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
Has anyone here read Shadow of the Wind? It has nothing to do with travel but i think its an amazing book.
36. Mom424 - May 12th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Shane;
I for one, have no bitching, complaining, or grammar correction for you. It clearly states in the forward that these are *personal favorites* that you have actually read (not researched)during the last couple of years. Maybe jfrater could change the title to My favorite…in order to please the naysayers.
I’ve never been particularly interested in Travel books but I will now pay more attention when I’m at the used book store in town.
Thanks and good job reading so many of any sort of book in the last couple of years. (I’m sure if this is just the travel section we can look forward to some more lists?)
37. goof_ball - May 12th, 2008 at 7:16 pm
ive never read any of these
38. Laura - May 12th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
A great travel book is The voyage of the Beagle, by C. Darwin. I just love it (ok, I’m a biologist, but I have to admit that I cannot say the same for The origin of the species, which I found terribly boring)
39. Useless - May 12th, 2008 at 8:35 pm
also, Evasion. Published by CrimethInc books
40. RXL - May 12th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
this list needs “on foot through africa” by ffyona campbell.
41. Hat - May 12th, 2008 at 10:09 pm
I suggest you change the title of this list. Only one of the books here –ONE– is a novel: Kerouac’s “The Dharma Bums.” I’d explain how a novel is necessarily fiction, but the author of the list refers in the introduction to “a wide array of great travel fiction”! Good Lord, have we become so illiterate that we no longer know the difference between fiction and non-fiction? Call them travel books, or travel naratives, or travelogues, but don’t call them novels or fiction. I suppose I should be happy that people are reading at all.
PS: @ #33, Nikkiofny, no, most of Kerouac’s books are not non-fiction. Although they are often based on his life, they are still fiction. There’s a difference.
42. Cyn - May 12th, 2008 at 10:26 pm
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43. braaaaaa - May 12th, 2008 at 10:55 pm
does jfray do nothing atall now but take other peoples ideas for lists and make money off of them?
44. chandramouli - May 13th, 2008 at 12:15 am
Hey what about ‘The Motorcycle Diaries’ by Che ?
Its one of the best books i’ve ever read..
45. rangga - May 13th, 2008 at 2:47 am
The Scorpion-Fish, by swiss writer Nicolas Bouvier. One of my all-time favorite.
46. Mom424 - May 13th, 2008 at 4:57 am
braaa; Jfrater didn’t write this list. He/we have many contributing list writers. If this is plagiarized, provide the link and he will remove it.
I don’t think this is, Shane has provided other lists before, he (possibly she) doesn’t cheat.
47. kowzilla - May 13th, 2008 at 5:52 am
One travel book that I would really recommend is Killing Yourself to Live by Chuck Klosterman. It is ostensibly about him driving across America to visit various places that rock stars have died. (ex: The site of the Lynard Skynard plane crash and Kurt Cobain’s house) But it is really about his love life, the our understanding of death, Radiohead, Kiss solo albums, the unexpected uniqueness of Christian morality film-making and (to a lesser extent) prehistoric mammoths of the American west.
Here’s a wikipedia article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K.....True_Story
and an amazon link:
http://www.amazon.com/Killing-.....amp;sr=8-4
48. romerozombie - May 13th, 2008 at 5:57 am
I watched some of Into The Wild, and that part where Emile Hirsch howls back at the wolves, that just made me cringe. I don’t get that. I’m English, so maybe I’m living up to an old stereotype.
49. Noodle The Cat - May 13th, 2008 at 7:06 am
Bill Bryson’s, A Walk In The Woods and In A Sunburned Country should be number 1 and 2 on the list. I’ve had the pleasure to hear him read these books on cd. If you get the chance, hearing him read is the best! In a Sunburned Country is chock full of entertaining information on every page. He starts the book out by talking about all the wildlife that can kill you there.
I don’t see Into the Wild as a travel book.
50. Soofie - May 13th, 2008 at 10:58 am
I have a suggestion for a book that is very different from the others in the list. Please find and read Mary Kingsley’s book “Travels in West Africa” (mine is ISBN 0-460-87394-6). It is the hilarious and true account of a Victorian lady’s travels on her own down the Congo in 1893, at time when no woman would even think of such an undertaking. Dressed as she would have been at home in England, she hacks her way through jungles, gets fired upon by natives, smacks a hippo on the nose with her umbrella and is saved from death by impalement in a spear filled pit trap by her voluminous petticoats. To name but a few wonderful adventures. She was a truly remarkable, and very eccentric, lady.
I know it’s a very old(fashioned) book and not very pc, but I loved it and I’m sure many of you will.
51. jfrater - May 13th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
braaaaaa: I do not publish lists that have been published elsewhere. Is there a reason I should publish only lists I write myself? Cracked doesn’t. No one else does. Why must I? The lists I publish are all unique - either written by myself or other people who submit their original lists to me for publication here.
Additionally, the first thing I do when I get up is check the site. After that I start preparing the list of the day and spend the rest of the day publicizing the site and managing the admin of the site - the stuff I try to hide from you all - the servers, the caches, etc.
I pay nearly $500 a month for this site - for hosting - that is about to double as I increase the bandwidth. Would you prefer it if I paid for that out of my own pocket and took no income from the site? Do you want me to be a servant to my readers? If you want 100% original text written by me every day I am happy to give it if you pay the $500 hosting fees. How about it? Email me at jamie at frater dot com and I will stop publishing other peoples lists and write them all myself. I am 100% certain you will not email me and probably won’t comment on the site under the same nickname again.
I put in close to 14 hours a day on this site and I don’t ask for money - I just show ads. Just because you don’t see the work doesn’t mean it isn’t happening. When you have a 3 million + visitor site a month which requires no work, let me know - I am obviously so inexperienced that your advice would be a great asset for me
52. jfrater - May 13th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
So, rant aside, I didn’t write this list, and there is one book that should be on it that isn’t; The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles - it is a brilliant novel about a couple that travel through north Africa - the couple are separated and the wife ends up being a “wife” in a harem. It is a brilliant work by yet another beat generation writer.
I am sad it has not been mentioned yet!
53. Drogo - May 14th, 2008 at 3:04 am
Some trivia about “Blue Highways.”
William Least had two buddies go along on the trip with him. When they were travelling through the south it was very hot, and the van didn’t have air conditioning. They drove at night when it was cooler, and slept during the hot day. They were invited by Native Americans to stay at the reservation. One of them (an Elder?) gave each of the guys an honorary Native name. He gave Least the name “Heat Moon” because when they travel at night, they travel “by the heat of the moon”. I don’t remember the other guys NA names, but they were in the same theme.
54. Spart - May 14th, 2008 at 4:56 am
The acsent of Rum Doodle by WE Bowman
Set the tone for humour in travel writing, that until it was published, had been a fairly linear narrative style of literature.
Hey jfrater - its ok, noone thinks you are taking the p*ss, its a great site, and one that I have been enjoying for months. Relax. Mansgot to make a crust, we all understand that.
55. madgett - May 16th, 2008 at 6:31 am
An interesting list and I surely will read some of those I do not know yet.
Ceterum censeo: I cannot help to notice that the list is very centred on the US.
Other great travel books, most of them not novels:
Marco Polo: ‘The travels of Marco Polo’
It is more than doubtful if Polo ever went to China since he omits so many important details. Nonetheless this one is a classic that inspired thousands of other travelers and traveling writers.
Johann Gottfried Seume: ‘Spaziergang nach Syrakus im Jahre 1802′ (A walk to Syracuse in 1802) A german classic, Seume is the Grandfather of all authors travelling by foot. I couldn’t imediately find an english translation, but there hopefully exists one.
Johann Wolfgang Goethe: ‘Italian Journey’
Germany’s larger than life poet breaks free and travels to Italy, land of his dreams.
Just one of hundreds of travel books on Italy from this period. The English were just as obsessed with the country.
Darwin’s ‘Voyage of the Beagle’ has already been mentioned in the comments. Equally good in my opinion is:
Alexander von Humboldt: ‘Personal Narrative of a Journey to the Equinoctial Regions of the New Continent’
Humboldt found a connection between Orinoco and Amazon. He is a very civilized writer who can describe in great detail.
Joseph Conrad: Most of his books involve the sea and seatravels. Two involving overwhelming journeys are ‘The shadow line’ and ‘Heart of darkness’.
I am tempted to list really old stuff like Arian’s ‘Campaigns of Alexander’. Let’s move on to the 20th century:
Eric Newbie: ‘A short walk in the Hindukush’
In the 1940s or 50s two Englishmen get obsessed with the idea of climbing some remote mountain in the Hindukush, although they have no climbing experience whatsoever. After taking a wekend crashcourse in Wales they set out on their adventure. The book is a wonderful read.
Bruce Chatwin: ‘In Patagonia’
I find this one even better than the famous ‘Songlines’. Chatwin follows his childhood dream and travels to Patagonia. A book full of stories and interesting people on the way.
Just one more:
W.G. Sebald: ‘The rings of Saturn’.
Sebald travels through the East of England. A book on melancholy, beautifully written and full of strange Photos.
So many books, so little time to read and travel.
56. NoPunyNerd - May 16th, 2008 at 6:34 am
Soofie, you might like “A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains,” by Isabella Bird, another 19th century British traveller.
Armchair travel is one of my favorite genres and this is one of my all-time favorite books. Kingsley’s book sounds interesting … I’ll definitely look for it.
57. NoPunyNerd - May 16th, 2008 at 6:45 am
Drogo, I’ve always heard that Heat-Moon took his pen name because his father, who had Native American ancestors and called himself Heat Moon, nicknamed his first son Little Heat Moon, and his second son — William — Least Heat Moon. He added the hyphen because he got tired of being called Mr. Moon.
58. Drogo - May 17th, 2008 at 1:54 am
NoPunyNerd, my info came from the author himself, during a TV interview. He then said his name is William Least, and he decided to keep “Heat-Moon” by tacking it on to the end of his name, as (sort of) a pen-name.
59. indy - May 17th, 2008 at 6:03 pm
Here’s a vote for Pirsig’s “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.”
60. Josh - May 18th, 2008 at 11:30 am
I love Bill Bryson’s works. A Walk in the Woods and Lost Continent are two of my favorites, but also the one about his travels in Europe is quite good. I am from the same section of the Appalachian mountains that he hiked through in North GA/Western NC, and he is all too right about his descriptions of the locals.
He wrote a wonderful book on the development of the English language that I absolutely devoured, but then again, I’m a linguistics nut.
I have to avoid reading Bryson’s works on public conveyances, because I will inevitably start giggling to myself and nodding and smiling, which rather alarms the flight attendants these days.
61. Jay - May 18th, 2008 at 11:53 pm
Where on the list is Gulliver’s Travels? That guy went to the most exotic countries in the world and had the most fantastic adventures!
62. ptd123 - May 20th, 2008 at 12:57 am
I was reading this list when I came across In The Wild and someone mentioned the movie, I have it here so went and watched it, it was a great movie and I recommend it highly. I hope to get hold of the book too. not sure about the other one’s as I haven’t read any of them
63. ptd123 - May 20th, 2008 at 1:03 am
Also I just bought Bitter Lemons by Lawerence Durrell so Randall I hope it is a good one his brother Gerald Durrell wrote heaps of hillarious books, as he collected animals for zoos this made for great stories.
64. midnightdj - May 28th, 2008 at 8:11 am
Several of these are not novels, but non-fiction. “Travels With Charlie” and “The Lost Continent” being two of them for sure…
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66. Leningrad cowgirl - June 10th, 2008 at 9:12 am
I also agree with some of the comments that the title of list is misleading since it mainly features USA travel diaries and is not geographically very diverse. There are so many fantastic non-american books that could make it to this list!