RPCV Writers in the best travel writing for 2010
That's good news -- RPCV writing being chosen from the best of travel writing for 2010. Surely, this merits an…
Edited by Bill Buford The Best American Travel Writing 2010 published by Mariner came out in early September and I wanted to mention it now in the first day of 2011. Of the twenty-one essays, from three to sixty pages, we have three by RPCV writers.
Peter Hessler (China 1996-98), “Strange Stones” is from The New Yorker and as always beautifully-written and detailed. His new book about China, Country Driving is reflected in this work. Our second writer in the collection is George Packer (Togo 1982-83). His story from The New Yorker is entitled, “The Ponzi State,” and is about the Florida housing boom and bust.
The third travel piece is Tom Bissell’s (Uzbekistan 1996-97), “Looking for Judas” that was published in the Virginia Quarterly Review and is about his off-the-beaten path in Jerusalem looking for THE spot where Judas killed himself, but mostly focuses on his impressions of well-armed Israelis and their heightened security awareness everywhere.
Also come out in September (and I wrote about this RPCV before) is Mohezin Tejani (Thailand 1978-80) piece called “Fruits of Childhood” that appeared in the collection: The Best Travel Writing 2010: True Stories from Around the World edited by James O’Reilly.
Not bad for one year of writings by RPCVs.
That’s good news — RPCV writing being chosen from the best of travel writing for 2010. Surely, this merits an article in the book review section of a large-circulation national newspaper (NYTimes, WaPost, LATimes, or some other; or better yet – in a syndicated column) to brag a bit about RPCV writing prowess, especially given that this is the 50th anniversary year of the whole big PC adventure worldwide!