It's time to get off the beaten path. Inspiring equal parts wonder and wanderlust, Atlas Obscura celebrates over 700 of the strangest and most curious places in the world.
Talk about a bucket list: here are natural wonders—the dazzling glowworm caves in New Zealand, or a baobob tree in South Africa that's so large it has a pub inside where 15 people can drink comfortably. Architectural marvels, including the M.C. Escher-like stepwells in India. Mind-boggling events, like the Baby Jumping Festival in Spain, where men dressed as devils literally vault over rows of squirming infants. Not to mention the Great Stalacpipe Organ in Virginia, Turkmenistan's 40-year hole of fire called the Gates of Hell, a graveyard for decommissioned ships on the coast of Bangladesh, eccentric bone museums in Italy, or a weather-forecasting invention that was powered by leeches, still on display in Devon, England.
Created by Joshua Foer, Dylan Thuras and Ella Morton, ATLAS OBSCURA revels in the weird, the unexpected, the overlooked, the hidden and the mysterious. Every page expands our sense of how strange and marvelous the world really is. And with its compelling descriptions, hundreds of photographs, surprising charts, maps for every region of the world, it is a book to enter anywhere, and will be as appealing to the armchair traveler as the die-hard adventurer.
Anyone can be a tourist. ATLAS OBSCURA is for the explorer.
1 of 1 copy available
-
Creators
-
Publisher
-
Release date
September 20, 2016 -
Formats
-
OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9780761189671
- File size: 135373 KB
-
EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9780761189671
- File size: 135374 KB
-
-
Languages
- English
-
Reviews
-
June 1, 2016
In 2009, science journalist, memory champion, and author (Moonwalking with Einstein) Foer cofounded with Dylan Thuras a website called Atlas Obscura, which aimed to crowdsource descriptions of intriguing, off-the-beaten-path places all over the world (coauthor Ella Morton is an associate editor at the website). The enormously successful concept has spawned multiple events and efforts, the latest of which is this title that lists more than 700 of the best entries the website has received--the criteria for inclusion aren't very clear, but the places, people, phenomena, and things included form a collection of the weirdest and most wonderful the world has to offer. Arranged by region, the entries, which vary in length from several per page to a full page each, are accompanied by color photographs and maps, and sometimes by sidebars on such pleasantries as "Parasitic Worms and Their Effects on Humans." VERDICT With entries on Kiev's death masks, Singapore's Thieves Market, Villisca Ax Murder House in Iowa, and a boiling lake in Dominica (a three-hour hike from the nearest road), this is a travel guide for the most adventurous of tourists; otherwise, it's a wonderful browse that will be relished by armchair travelers who enjoyed Brandon Stanton's Humans of New York and Frank Warren's PostSecret.--Henrietta Verma, formerly with Library Journal
Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
-
Starred review from September 15, 2016
A sophisticated adult answer to Ripley's Believe It Or Not!, this unusual atlas manages to surprise and delight on every page. Drawing on material from the ever-expanding website of the same name, this ersatz tour guide to the fabulously interesting secret corners of the globe is arranged geographically by continent and country. Each entry details a wonder of the natural world, architecture, sculpture, taxidermy, or other general curiosities. These share space with unique festivals and ephemeral occasions, noted on maps scattered throughout. Whether describing a Canadian museum that showcases world history through shoes, a pet-casket company that will also sell you a unit for your severed limb, a Greek snake festival, or a place in the Canary Islands where inhabitants communicate through whistling, the authors have compiled an enthralling range of oddities. Featuring full-color illustrations, this hefty and gorgeously produced tome will be eagerly pored over by readers of many ages and fans of the original website. This referency title will be a big hit in the circulating stacks, where armchair travelers and lovers of the unusual alike will snap it up.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)
-