Books by John Gimlette

2. John Gimlette, Elephant Complex: Travels in Sri Lanka .  An informative and entertaining look at an under-covered country.  (If you’d like a critical review instead, try this one , but I followed up on some of the criticisms and was not persuaded by the attempted takedown.) This NYT article suggests (correctly) that now is the time to visit Sri Lanka.

John Gimlette, Wild Coast: Travels on South America’s Untamed Edge .  This book covers Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana.  A revelation, I loved it.  Could Gimlette be my favorite current travel writer?

2. Paradise with Serpents , by Robert Carver.  The only question is whether this is the first or the second best book on Paraguay in the English language; here is the other contender .