Books by Jason Wilson

The Best American Travel Writing 2005 (The Best American Series)

by Jamaica Kincaid, Jason Wilson

The Best American series has been the premier annual showcase for the country's finest short fiction and nonfiction since 1915. Each volume's series editor selects notable works from hundreds of periodicals. A special guest editor, a leading writer in the field, then chooses the very best twenty or so pieces to publish. This unique system has made the Best American series the most respected--and most popular--of its kind.

The Best American Travel Writing 2005 includes

William Least-Heat Moon • Ian Frazier • John McPhee • William T. Vollmann • Simon Winchester • Tom Bissell • Madison Smartt Bell • Timothy Bascom • Pam Houston • and others

Jamaica Kincaid, guest editor, is the author of numerous award-winning works, including the memoirs My Brother and The Autobiography of My Mother and the novel Annie John. Her travelogue Among Flowers: A Walk in the Himalayas appeared in 2005. She lives in Vermont with her two children and a garden, in which she travels a great deal.

The Best American Travel Writing 2019 (The Best American Series ®)

by Jason Wilson

An eclectic compendium of the best travel writing essays published in 2018, collected by Alexandra Fuller. BEST AMERICAN TRAVEL WRITING gathers together a satisfyingly varied medley of perspectives, all exploring what it means to travel somewhere new. For the past two decades, readers have come to recognize this annual volume as the gold standard for excellence in travel writing.

The Best American Travel Writing 2021

by Jason Wilson, Padma Lakshmi

“The beauty of good writing is that it transports the reader inside another person’s experience in some other physical place and culture,” writes Padma Lakshmi in her introduction, “and, at its best, evokes a palpable feeling of being in a specific moment in time and space.” The essays in this year’s Best American Travel Writing are an antidote to the isolation of the year 2020, giving us views into experiences unlike our own and taking us on journeys we could not take ourselves. From the lively music of West Africa, to the rich culinary traditions of Muslims in Northwest China, to the thrill of a hunt in Alaska, this collection is a treasure trove of diverse places and cultures, providing the comfort, excitement, and joy of feeling elsewhere.
THE BEST AMERICAN TRAVEL WRITING 2021 INCLUDES KIESE MAKEBA LAYMON • LESLIE JAMISON • BILL BUFORD • JON LEE ANDERSON • MEGHAN DAUM LIGAYA MISHAN • PAUL THEROUX and others

Best American Travel Writing 2020 (The Best American Series ®)

by Robert Macfarlane, Jason Wilson

The year’s best travel writing, as chosen by series editor Jason Wilson and guest editor Robert Macfarlane.

Writing, reading, and dreaming about travel have surged, writes Robert MacFarlane in his introduction to the Best American Travel Writing 2020. From an existential reckoning in avalanche school, to an act of kindness at the Mexican-American border, to a moral dilemma at a Kenyan orphanage, the journeys showcased in this collection are as spiritual as they are physical. These stories provide not just remarkable entertainment, but also, as MacFarlane says, deep comfort, “carrying hope, creating connections, transporting readers to other-worlds, and imagining alternative presents and alternative futures.”
The Best American Travel 2020 includes
HEIDI JULAVITS • YIYUN LI • PAUL SALOPEK • LACY JOHNSON •
EMMANUEL IDUMA • JON MOOALLEM • EMILY RABOTEAU and others

Cry Like a Man: Fighting for Freedom from Emotional Incarceration

by Jason Wilson

As a leader in teaching, training, and transforming boys in Detroit, Jason Wilson shares his own story of discovering what it means to “be a man” in this life-changing memoir.

His grandfather’s lynching in the deep South, the murders of his two older brothers, and his verbally harsh and absent father all worked together to form Jason Wilson’s childhood. But it was his decision to acknowledge his emotions and yield to God’s call on his life that made Wilson the man and leader he is today.

As the founder of one of the country’s most esteemed youth organizations, Wilson has decades of experience in strengthening the physical, mental, and emotional spirit of boys and men. In Cry Like a Man, Wilson explains the dangers men face in our culture’s definition of “masculinity” and gives readers hope that healing is possible.

As Wilson writes, “My passion is to help boys and men find strength to become courageously transparent about their own brokenness as I shed light on the symptoms and causes of childhood trauma and ‘father wounds.’ I long to see men free themselves from emotional incarceration—to see their minds renewed, souls weaned, and relationships restored.”

Battle Cry: Waging and Winning the War Within

by Jason Wilson

In a culture that tells men to suppress instead of express, join bestselling author, speaker, and leader Jason Wilson (featured in the award-winning ESPN documentary The Cave of Adullam) as he calls us to unlearn society's definition of masculinity and discover the power of engaging with our emotions.
For decades, Jason was losing the war within--the internal battle that many men wage on a daily basis. He struggled to combat his toxic thoughts and emotions, communicating without composure, and ultimately hurting himself and his loved ones.
When Jason began to release years of unresolved trauma, he learned how to acknowledge his emotions and express them in a healthy way. He discovered that he was strengthened by transparency and vulnerability, which taught him to forgive, trust, and love without limitations.
Soon, Jason's newfound practices began to heal his relationships and transform his life. Throughout his journey of opening up, Jason became a better husband, father, and leader--and you can, too.
Supported by Biblical teachings, the lessons that Jason shares in Battle Cry teach us that we can all be empowered to break through what we've been through. Jason calls us to become better versions of ourselves, equipping us with the mental and spiritual weapons needed to redefine modern masculinity and showing us how to: embrace our emotions rather than be ruled by them win internal battles before they become external wars break free from misconstrued masculinity and embrace our humanity communicate more effectively with the people in our lives heal trauma from our past in order to live our fullest lives in the present

Battle Cry proves that it's possible to live beyond the limitations of your mind and finally experience the full life you've always longed for. What are you waiting for? It's time to win the war within.

Boozehound

by Jason Wilson

While some may wonder, “Does the world really need another flavored vodka?” no one answers this question quite so memorably as spirits writer and raconteur Jason Wilson does in Boozehound. (By the way, the short answer is no.) A unique blend of travelogue, spirits history, and recipe collection, Boozehound explores the origins of what we drink and the often surprising reasons behind our choices.

In lieu of odorless, colorless, tasteless spirits, Wilson champions Old World liquors with hard-to-define flavors—a bitter and complex Italian amari, or the ancient, aromatic herbs of Chartreuse, as well as distinctive New World offerings like lively Peruvian pisco. With an eye for adventure, Wilson seeks out visceral experiences at the source of production—visiting fields of spiky agave in Jalisco, entering the heavily and reverently-guarded Jägermeister herb room in Wolfenbüttel, and journeying to the French Alps to determine if mustachioed men in berets really handpick blossoms to make elderflower liqueur.

In addition, Boozehound offers more than fifty drink recipes, from three riffs on the Manhattan to cocktail-geek favorites like the Aviation and the Last Word. These recipes are presented alongside a host of opinionated essays that cherish the rare, uncover the obscure, dethrone the overrated, and unravel the mysteries of taste, trends, and terroir. Through his far-flung, intrepid traveling and tasting, Wilson shows us that perhaps nothing else as entwined with the history of human culture is quite as much fun as booze.

Godforsaken Grapes: A Slightly Tipsy Journey through the World of Strange, Obscure, and Underappreciated Wine

by Jason Wilson

There are nearly 1,400 known varieties of wine grapes in the world—from altesse to zierfandler—but 80 percent of the wine we drink is made from only 20 grapes. In Godforsaken Grapes, award-winning travel writer Jason Wilson looks at how that came to be and embarks on a journey to discover what we miss.

Stemming from his own growing obsession, Jason Wilson moves far beyond the “noble grapes,” hunting down obscure and underappreciated wines from Switzerland, Austria, Portugal, France, Italy, the United States, and beyond. In the process, he looks at why these wines fell out of favor (or never gained it in the first place), what it means to be obscure, and how geopolitics, economics, and fashion have changed what we drink.

A combination of travel memoir and epicurean adventure, Godforsaken Grapes is an entertaining love letter to wine.

The Best American Travel Writing 2013

by Jason Wilson

Number-one New York Times best-selling author of Eat, Pray, Love and Committed: A Love Story, Elizabeth Gilbert transports readers to far-flung locales with this collection of the year’s lushest and most inspiring travel writing.

Godforsaken Grapes A Slightly Tipsy Journey through the World of Strange, Obscure, and Underappreciated Wine

by Jason Wilson

There are nearly 1,400 known varieties of wine grapes in the world--from altesse to zierfandler--but 80 percent of the wine we drink is made from only 20 grapes. In Godforsaken Grapes, Jason Wilson looks at how that came to be and embarks on a journey to discover what we miss.



Stemming from his own growing obsession, Wilson moves far beyond the "noble grapes," hunting down obscure and underappreciated wines from Switzerland, Austria, Portugal, France, Italy, the United States, and beyond. In the process, he looks at why these wines fell out of favor (or never gained it in the first place), what it means to be obscure, and how geopolitics, economics, and fashion have changed what we drink. A combination of travel memoir and epicurean adventure, Godforsaken Grapes is an entertaining love letter to wine.

The Best American Travel Writing 2015

by Jason Wilson, Andrew McCarthy

In his introduction, guest editor Andrew McCarthy says that the best travel writing is “the anonymous and solitary traveler capturing a moment in time and place, giving meaning to his or her travels.” The stories in The Best American Travel Writing 2015 demonstrate just that spirit, whether it is the story of a marine returning to Iraq a decade after his deployment, a writer retracing the footsteps of humanity as it spread from Africa throughout the world, or looking for love on a physics-themed cruise down the Rhone River. No matter what the subject, the writers featured in this volume boldly call out, “Yes, this matters. Follow me!”
The Best American Travel Writing 2015 includes

Iris Smyles, Paul Theroux, Christopher Solomon
Patricia Marx, Kevin Baker, Benjamin Busch, Maud Newton
Gary Shteyngart, Paul Salopek,
and others
ANDREW MCCARTHY, guest editor, is the author of the New York Times best-selling travel memoir The Longest Way Home. He has served as an editor at large at National Geographic Traveler and been named travel journalist of the year by the Society of American Travel Writers. He is also an actor and director.

JASON WILSON, series editor, is the author of Boozehound: On the Trail of the Rare, the Obscure, and the Overrated in Spirits and the digital wine series Planet of the Grapes. He has written for the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, the Philadelphia Daily News, and many other publications. He is the founding editor of The Smart Set and Table Matters.

The Best American Travel Writing 2016

by Bill Bryson, Jason Wilson

Why do I travel? Why does anyone of us travel? Bill Bryson poses these questions in his introduction to The Best American Travel Writing 2016, and though he admits, “I wasn’t at all sure I knew the answer,” they are questions worthy of examination. While the various contributors to this collection all travel for different reasons, one thing is for certain—they come back with stories. Whether traversing the Arctic by dogsled, attending a surreal film festival in North Korea, or strolling the streets of a fast-changing Havana, their insights into the world and the human condition are illuminating and enthralling, providing an answer: This is why I like to travel.

The Best American Travel Writing 2016 includesMichael Chabon, Alice Gregory, Paul Theroux, Dave Eggers, Helen Macdonald, Sara Corbett, Stephanie Pearson,Thomas Chatterton Williams, Pico Iyer, and others

BILL BRYSON, guest editor, is the best-selling author of A Walk in the Woods; A Short History of Nearly Everything; One Summer: America, 1927; The Road to Little Dribbling; and numerous other books.

JASON WILSON, series editor, is the author of Boozehound: On the Trail of the Rare, the Obscure, and the Overrated in Spirits; Spaghetti on the Wall; and the forthcoming Why Wine Matters. He has written for the Washington Post Magazine, The New Yorker, the New York Times, and many other publications, and has won awards for Best Food Column from the Association of Food Journalists four times.

Buenos Aires (Cityscopes)

by Jason Wilson

Sometimes dangerous and chaotic but always lively and cosmopolitan, Buenos Aires attracts tourists from all over the world. The largest city in Argentina, this South American capital crackles with passion for tango, soccer, art, and food. In this handy travel guide, Buenos Aires local Jason Wilson provides a window into the city’s history while also exploring its streets today.

Wilson offers a history of Buenos Aires’s beginnings as a Spanish colony in the sixteenth century, describing how it evolved from a port city for European trade to a booming, multicultural regional capital that became the leading destination for European immigrants. He examines the many swings between authoritarian and democratic governments the city has experienced during its history and sorts out the urban myths from the real story of the monuments, buildings, and people of Buenos Aires. The book also includes essays on present-day Buenos Aires―its parks, cemeteries, museums, and bookshops―to reveal what makes the city tick. Illustrated throughout with contemporary photos and compelling historical images, Buenos Aires provides useful references for travelers looking for restaurant, hotel, and itinerary ideas.

One of the first titles in Reaktion’s new CityScopes series, this social and urban history is an authoritative introduction and intimate guide to this vibrant, alluring city, past and present.

The Best American Travel Writing 2014

by Jason Wilson

"Travel connoisseurs divide the world into those places they've been dying to visit or revisit and places they'd never set foot in but are glad someone else did. This year's volume of travel writing . . . focuses mostly on the latter with derring-do dispatches." -- USA Today

A far-ranging collection of the best travel writing pieces published in 2013, collected by guest editor Paul Theroux. The Best American Travel Writing consistently includes a wide variety of pieces, illuminating the wonder, humor, fear, and exhilaration that greets all of us when we embark on a journey to a new place. Readers know that there is simply no other option when they want great travel writing.

The Best American Travel Writing 2017 (The Best American Series ®)

by Jason Wilson

“The Best American Travel Writing has been the gold standard for short-form travel writing from newspapers, magazines, and the Internet since its inception.” —New York Times Book Review

Everyone travels for different reasons, but whatever those reasons are, one thing is certain—they come back with stories. Each year, the best of those stories are collected in The Best American Travel Writing, curated by one of the top writers in the field, and each year they “open a window onto the strange, seedy and beautiful world, offering readers glimpses into places that many will never see or experience except through the eyes and words of these writers" (Kirkus Reviews). This far-ranging collection of top notch travel writing is, quite simply, the genre’s gold standard.

The Man the Moment Demands Master the 10 Characteristics of the Comprehensive Man

by Jason Wilson

Transform your life when you discover the essence of true masculinity and become the right kind of man for every challenge that lies ahead.

Men are lost and in crisis. In a world full of misinformation and broken relationships, they are unsure of the true meaning of manhood and grab on to distorted versions of masculinity that pull them into emotional incarceration. But there is hope and a path to freedom.

In The Man the Moment Demands, bestselling author and founder of the Cave of Adullam, Jason Wilson, will empower you to become the right man in every moment by embodying the ten characteristics of the comprehensive man: the Fighter, the Provider, the Leader, the Lover, the Nurturer, the Gentleman, the Friend, the Husband, the Father, and the Son. With The Man the Moment Demands, you'll learn how to:

• Unpack the impact of your past and unlock the power to shape your future
• Embrace transparency and express the full spectrum of your emotions while maintaining self-control
• Evolve beyond the "alpha male" myth through example, not intimidation
• Answer the question "Who are you?" to strip away the facade and live authentically

This is not just a transformative book; it's a blueprint and a rite of passage for those ready to rise and rediscover what it truly means to be a man--authentically human. One that will empower you to be the man the moment demands.

ECPA BESTSELLER