Lonely Planet’s The Cities Book

by Erik Olsen on

Prepare to be dazzled…and to give the biceps a nice workout at the same time. Lonely Planet has released a new book…a tome, really…that takes a quick and dirty and luscious view of many of the world’s great cities. And a couple of the crappy ones too. The book, called simply Lonely Planet The Cities Book ($31.50 on Amazon)  is a monster, with the hardcover edition weighing in at almost five pounds. But that is five pounds of eye-savoring goodness. This is not a book you’re going to take with you; this is a book you’re going to keep on your coffee table and salivate on after a long day of work with dreams of long-term international escape flitting about your brain.

The book covers 200 of what the editors call “the most vibrant, diverse, hypnotic and chaotic cities in the world”, which have been given esteemed rank by the people who, presumably, know what they are talking about :namely, Lonely Planet’s staff, authors, and readers. The book contains factoids and information on each city that is enough to whet your whistle, but may also send you to Wikipedia to learn more. Several of the sample sections are: Vital statistics, which provides the city’s strengths (i.e. great views, beaches, interesting culture) and weaknesses (i.e. stodgy cuisine). There are also interesting bits like “Starring role in” which lists the various movies or poetry or books that the cities have been featured in (i.e. Auckland was the place where The Chronic (what?!) cles of Narnia was filmed).

They have obviously made ample use of the Lonely Planet Images stock photo library, because the book is sumptuously illustrated with photos that do a fine job giving you an immediate visual impression of a place. In all honesty, the biggest problem is that you want more. You want the pictures for each city to go on for pages and pages rather than just one or two.

Probably the best part about the book is learning a little bit about cities you’ve never heard of, or know only a little about. (Kyviv, Dhaka, Abuja).

This book would make not only a fine gift, but also a superb addition to your coffee table. It’s the kind of book that you can thumb through as you’re forced to endure some dreary TV show that your wife wants to watch (or was that just me?).

Lonely Planet Diving & Snorkeling series

by Erik Olsen on

This is pretty cool. Willy over at Divester alerts us to the good news that the folks at Lonely Planet will soon be publishing updated versions to five of the volumes in its Diving & Snorkeling series. This happens in September and will be a welcome enhancement to these guides, some of which have seemed a bit dated.

The new/updated titles are:

Free Audio Books

by Erik Olsen on

I posted recently about a site where you can download and read some classic books for free. Of course ,unless you read on your computer or on some handheld device, you’re likely to kill a tree if you want to print them out, so it is our hope you will be sparing. But here’s another idea: why not LISTEN to your books.

Now, I’ve also posted numerous times about the service over at Audible.com and how great it is. I’ve been a subscriber for a long time and get my monthly book and radio show with enthusiasm and glee. But here is a site where you can get some classic books for your ipod or other device for free. The book selection is solid, with some really excellent classics that you will be happy to add to your collection. These could make great listening while on the road or on a long flight.

Literary Ireland: The Literary Pub Crawl

by Neil Woodburn on

Walking tours, as the term implies are cultural tours which involve walking.  Pub Crawls, on the other hand, usually involve a more horizontal form of walking–whether the participants intend this or not.

And then there is the Literary Pub Crawl.  This would be a combination of the above where scholarly and inebriated meet head on, in a collision of grey matter and sudsy matter.

As far as I know, there is only one city on this planet that offers such high-brow/low-brow activity.  This would of course, be Dublin. 

Dublin’s Literary Pub Crawl retraces the steps of Ireland’s most famous writers–Oscar Wilde, James Joyce, and Samuel Beckett among others–as they sallied forth from one pub to another.  The tour is lead by a group of actors who portray the illustrious scribes and takes 2 hours to cover eight pubs and Trinity College.  The price is €8 per person and no, it does not include beer.

Literary Ireland: Dublin’s Author Museums

by Neil Woodburn on

Few cities on this planet have been blessed with the rich literary history that has embraced Dublin over the ages.  The roll call of famous writers who have called Ireland’s capital home is like a mental jaunt through any college literature course; James Joyce, WB Yeats, Samuel Beckett, Oscar Wilde, Jonathan Swift, and George Bernard Shaw.  The list goes on and on.

The Irish greatly revere their men of letters which means that Dublin is awash with tributes, monuments and even pub crawls which honor these great writers. 

But where to start?  Fortunately, The India Times recently ran a rather in-depth article covering the literary landmarks which Dublin has to offer the erudite traveler. 

The wise and scholarly can loiter in the James Joyce Centre, peruse hand-written manuscripts in the Dublin Writers Museum, visit various writers’ homes, and catch a play at the famous Abbey Theatre which launched so much of Beckett’s work. 

Oh, and just in case you find yourself in Dublin with a low-brow philistine, The India Times also delves briefly into less scholarly tourist sites which should prove more entertaining to the simple-minded.  And then, of course, there are the pubs as well. 

Tomorrow we continue our brief tour of Literary Ireland with a walking tour of dives and haunts made famous by Ireland’s literary greats.