THE WORLD UP CLOSE A Cyclist’s Adventures on Five Continents <i> by Kameel B. Nasr (Mills & Sanderson: $9.95) </i>

In recent years, the bicycle travelogue has developed into a genre of its own, a genre to which Kameel Nasr contributes remarkably little. The wonders of Africa, Asia, North and South America fail to elicit anything more from him than banalities. In his formula adventures, he rides into the countryside to meet the real people, which suggests that cities are inhabited by automatons and doppelgangers. Nasr offers a few complaints about the roads and weather but loves every country and its people, and they always treat him as an honored guest rather than a stranger. It’s probably more fun to ride some of these trails than to read about them in “World Up Close.”