Condé Nast Traveler turns 20 this year, and to celebrate the magazine has released “The Condé Nast Traveler Book of Unforgettable Journeys: Great Writers on Great Places” ($16, Penguin Paperback Original), a paperback packed with enough compelling reading for one good overseas trip or a couple of weekend getaways. As editor in chief Klara Glowczewska writes in the introduction, these are “deeply felt, beautifully told tales of time spent in some of the world’s most desirable and fascinating places,” so don’t expect tawdry confessions or cuss-filled narratives calculated to impress; what is shared here is from older, wiser writers who weave context and layer adjectives. Robert Hughes in Barcelona, Francine Prose in the Czech Republic, Simon Winchester in the Philippines – each with something real to say. And well said.
