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Atlas Obscura, 2nd Edition: An Explorer's Guide to the World's Hidden Wonders: 1

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Books such as the The Dance of Death were being bound in human skin as late as the 1890s. Many of these books now belong to libraries, including the John Hay Library at Brown University, the library of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, and potentially the Cleveland Public Library and the library of Harvard Law School. Foer's work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Slate, and The Nation. In 2007, the quarterly art & culture journal Cabinet began publishing Foer's column "A Minor History Of." The column "examines an overlooked cultural phenomenon using a timeline." While it is unclear exactly how this skin book got to the Athenaeum, anecdotal evidence suggests it was donated by John Fenno, Jr.’s daughter sometime in the 19th century. There it sits today, describing the life of the man it is also made from. Expand Your Palate: Explore the world through your taste buds by trying new and unusual foods. Seek out restaurants or markets specializing in international cuisine. Be adventurous and sample dishes with exotic ingredients or from lesser-known cultures. Expand your culinary horizons and engage in cross-cultural connections.

A travel guide for the most adventurous of tourists . . . a wonderful browse [for] armchair travelers who enjoyed Brandon Stanton’s Humans of New York and Frank Warren’s PostSecret.” —Library Journal First off, a confession. I didn't read the whole book. Normally I'd hold off on a review, but due to the unique structure of this book I feel comfortable giving my review without completing it.

Customer reviews

Atlas Obscura is a guide to the stranger things in the world. Organized geographically, it traces historical artifacts, quirky art, and cultural remains. The goal is to expose a side of the world that is normally invisible to both tourists and locals alike. The resulting book is a bit of a geographic Wunderkammer. Connect with Like-minded Individuals: Join clubs, organizations, or online communities centered around shared interests, hobbies, or exploration. Attend meetups, workshops, or seminars where you can connect with others who value curiosity and adventure. Engaging with like-minded individuals can provide new perspectives and opportunities for collaborative exploration. Encourage Serendipity: Embrace the unexpected and allow yourself to stumble upon hidden gems. Take spontaneous detours, strike up conversations with strangers, or choose activities randomly to foster serendipitous discoveries. Embracing the element of surprise can lead you to fascinating places, people, and experiences. Born in Lancaster, Massachusetts in 1809 to a struggling family, Allen fell into a life of crime at the age of fifteen, after a chance meeting with a master thief. He spent most of his life in and out of different jails: while incarcerated, he would read books, learn trades, and get on well with everyone, but as soon as he got out, he would return directly to burglaring and highway-robbing. Eventually, he died of tuberculosis at the state prison in Charlestown, MA. Foer is married to Dinah Herlands, a medical student at Yale, whom he met while an undergraduate at Yale.

The funny thing is, though my parents were sure to take me to several tourist destinations while we were abroad, I usually didn't seek out such places myself. This was especially true in Italy, where my friends and I would go explore the extensive tunnel systems under the city of Brindisi, and visit beach-side World War II bunkers where we would look for (and find) old shell casing from a time when our grandfathers might have been storming the beach. This was also true when I lived in England, where our favorite thing to do was to break into an old, supposedly haunted 12th-century priory, complete with trap doors in the floors and passageways hidden within the walls. They are real. I found them and walked through them myself. But I never did get to the Roman Colosseum, nor did I ever visit the Tower of London. Maybe I had an aversion to doing the touristy things because I LIVED there. Yes, the stay was temporary, no more than three years, but these places were "home" for me. So I didn't feel like a tourist. I'd much rather go watch the bums roll each other on Carnaby Street (affectionately known as "Cannabis Street" to us teenagers and, which has become way more commercialized now than when I was a kid hanging out there in the mid-'80s) than step foot in Madame Tussauds (I even had to cheat to see how to spell that). I've had hookers proposition me on Leicester Square, watched hungry bands busk on the tubes, and, yes, watched bums roll each other in alleyways. This was my idea of "touristing". Atlas Obscura may be the only thing that can still inspire me to leave my apartment. . . . This resource is essential for exploring the world and engaging adventure with wit and style (often from the comfort of my bed).” This second edition takes readers to even more curious and unusual destinations, with more than 100 new places, dozens and dozens of new photographs, and two very special features: twelve city guides, covering Berlin, Budapest, Buenos Aires, Cairo, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Moscow, New York City, Paris, Shanghai, and Tokyo. Plus a foldout map with a dream itinerary for the ultimate around-the-world road trip. More a cabinet of curiosities than traditional guidebook, Atlas Obscura revels in the unexpected, the overlooked, the bizarre, and the mysterious. Here are natural wonders, like the dazzling glowworm caves in New Zealand, or a baobob tree in South Africa so large it has a pub inside where 15 people can sit and drink comfortably. Architectural marvels, including the M. C. Escher–like stepwells in India. Mind-boggling events, like the Baby-Jumping Festival in Spain—and no, it’s not the babies doing the jumping, but masked men dressed as devils who vault over rows of squirming infants.Atlas Obscura is like a more high brow version of the Weird U.S.: Your Travel Guide to America's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets books. Its authors aren't trying to scare you or perpetuate urban myths, they're interested in real world weird. Something that is just as rich and full of history as the Roman colosseum or the great pyramids or the Eiffel Tower. Shortly I’ll be heading out on a book tour, with visits planned at dozens of schools across the country. I will also be speaking at bookstores and libraries in Milwaukee, Chicago, Minneapolis, New York, Washington, D.C., Denver, and Salt Lake City, among others. If I’ll be in your city, I wholeheartedly invite you to come out and see me—kids and adults alike. Seek Out Natural Wonders: Take time to explore the natural phenomena around you. Plan hikes, nature walks, or camping trips in local parks, forests, or nature reserves. Seek out geological wonders like caves, waterfalls, or canyons. Marvel at the beauty of nature and its ability to create breathtaking landscapes.

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