What I'm liking so far is that Orlean doesn't talk about herself. It's really refreshing to feel as if we're getting the stories of the people & places unfiltered. Of course, she does filter - she spent three weeks in a supermarket in Queens to get one (longish) article, and couldn't put it all in. But she didn't put herself in, taking up the valuable column inches that someone like Bill Bryson would waste with his ego.

I also like that these essays are articles with provenances. The supermarket story is from 1992, we're informed. The future predicted by Herb and Toney has come to pass. The story is interesting as a slice of history, not as a snapshot of reality..

And now I'm done. And sad to close the book. Each essay is a gem indeed. Orlean also provides an afterward, updating us on the people & places - a feature that obviously should be included in this kind of book but seldom is, and I so I say Thank You to her. And I hope she's written something else for me to read. ( )

I really loved this book. Not so much a travelogue, but really stories of the lives of people where she traveled. Or experiences she had with these people. Just fascinating. Great for an armchair traveler. ( )

I love reading travel books while I’m traveling. Sometimes when I read them and don’t have a big trip on the horizon it’s just an exercise in frustration. I read this one on a plane to Australia, which was perfect. There’s even one part about Orlean’s trip to Sydney during the 2000 Olympic games!

The book is a compilation of short stories and essays that have been published as articles in other magazines. It was a good mix of the author covering big events, exploring small towns, or trying new things in a foreign place. Orlean has a skilled way of finding fascinating gems. There are essays set all over the world, but even if you haven’t been there you can see what she sees. You’re flipping through records in Paris or talking to a cranky Australian about the traffic caused by the Olympics. There weren’t any essays that I think will stick with me forever, which is why my rating isn’t higher, but they were fun trips to take along with the author.

“All the while, the girls kept talking about their schedule. It was as if the strangeness of where they were and what they were doing was absolutely ordinary: as if there were no large, smelly drunk sprawled in front of them, as if it were quite unexceptional to be three Scottish girls drinking Australian beer in Thailand on their way to Laos, and as if the world were the size of a peanut-something as compact as that, something is easy to pick up, shell, consume, as long as you were young and sturdy and brave.” ( )

Great writer. Susan Orlean introduces us to people and places we will never have a chance to see. Full of laughter, wisdom and insight. Thank you Susan for a terrific read and a fantastic journey. ( )

lots of fun. and actually learned a lot. ( )