The Best American Food and Travel Writing 2024

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Call Number: 808.066 Be
On Shelf At: Downtown Library

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Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	808.066 Be	4-week checkout	On Shelf

"'Food and travel are natural companions,' writes guest editor Padma Lakshmi. From this pairing comes 'the possibility of seeing anew, of examining how we make and assign meaning.' The essays in this year’s Best American Food and Travel Writing circle the world--from Dakar in Senegal, to Michoacán in south-central Mexico, to the Camino de Santiago in Spain--and deepen our understanding of our place in it. An ode to the American grilled cheese spurs the desire to find beauty in the smallest daily activities. An obsessive odyssey for the perfect Chinese food blossoms into a heart-wrenching search for a lost childhood. Bold and insightful, joyful and moving, this collection celebrates the experiences that connect us all." -- Provided by publisher.

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Good for Many Palates submitted by Meginator on June 16, 2025, 3:26pm Though guest editor Padma Lakshmi makes a compelling argument that food writing and travel writing are inherently intertwined, this anthology is heavily skewed toward the former and even most of the travel-heavy essays relate directly or indirectly to food; these essays tackle many topics from many different angles, but readers looking specifically for travel-centric storytelling may be a bit disappointed by the thematic (im)balance. I found this collection to be a bit more uneven than expected; while the outstanding pieces are incredibly thorough and moving, imagining expansive definitions of food and travel and using them as a unique lens through which to view the world, many of the essays feel mundane and bland. Lakshmi's own introductory comments offer a more compelling food- and travel-adjacent story than several of the featured works manage to do, which makes the book feel like somewhat of a letdown. However, the best pieces of writing here are absolutely outstanding and worth seeking out. I was initially skeptical of the decision to include a pair of pieces by the same author, but they are both exceptionally interesting and provide a few interesting points of comparison with each other while being inherently complementary and thus enhancing the reading experience. Likewise, I appreciate the inclusion of a relatively straightforward piece of reporting on the *Titan* submersible implosion, which sits in stark contrast to more personal narratives but still holds its own as a powerful piece of investigative and inquisitive writing. The collection's standout essay is undoubtedly Mosab Abu Toha's "Unsafe Passage", an account of the author's attempts to flee Gaza that leaves an unforgettable lasting emotional impression while inviting questions about what the idea of "travel writing" might encompass in its broadest sense. Despite a few misfires, this collection's group of standout stories make it well worth seeking out; it's easy enough to skip or skim over the duds, and the exceptional pieces have the capacity to change the way you approach subjects as seemingly mundane as the avocado and as obviously crucial as state-sponsored genocide. In the end, this collection offers enough to chew on to make it very worthwhile.