The inconveniences of travel have been sufficiently enough studied for me not to linger on the subject, quips the author of How to Talk About Books You Haven't Readat the outset of this provocative, philosophical guide. Building a case that reading and imagination can be superior to experience, here literature professor Pierre Bayard cites Immanuel Kant, who walked the same path every day and almost never left his hometown; Jayson Blair, who used spurious accounts of his travels in his New York Timesreportage; and Marco Polo, who may or may not have reached China, and claimed to have seen unicorns along the way. Bayard also chronicles some of his own experiences, and offers practical advice in case you find yourself in a room with people who actually feel it is necessary to travel.