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1,000 Places to See Before You Die, updated ed. (2010) (1,000 Before You Die) Review

It's important to be magnanimous when dealing with a book such as this. Anybody asked to put together a 1000 of anything is always going to come up with a different list to anybody else, even their best buddy. So while there are some issues with the items selected (more on that later) I'm going to start this review by focussing on the positives.

And there are a number of them. The book isn't a massive hardcover tome and it's written by someone who obviously loves the idea of travel itself and much of it is written in a breezy and somewhat gushing style. Now I may have issues with gushing at times but a love of travel is something that is its own best defence. The author has set this book out quite logically via geographic area and further broken down each part of the world into national groupings arranged alphabetically. As such it's easy to just flick through and find nations you are interested in or have already visited to have a look at the authors thoughts or suggestions. Of course as I touched on in my opening paragraph there are always going to be sites that some people will feel were left out unfairly but anyone who buys this book and expects to treat it as some sort of ego stroking checklist is missing the point by a country mile. This book is designed as much to celebrate travel and throw a stack of ideas at the reader (at least 1000 ideas, to be exact). Each entry is admittedly fairly perfunctory and there really is no other way it could be without writing a series of books of Tolkien like proportions.

There are some downsides however. While I am more than happy to admit that there are some signature hotels around the world, the Caledonia, Raffles etc, I found the constant banging on about hotels detracted from the breezy nature of the book by the very monotony of it. And the author is obviously a `foodie' of epic proportions given the gushing over this restaurant or that. It got annoying to be perfectly blunt. Again, there are probably some places that are banner items but name checking chefs is a sure fire way to obsolescence.

The only other main gripe would be the plethora of North American sites. It was a touch unbalanced. I note that there is a 1000 for North America now, and it would be lovely if in future this world edition was remastered - to use musical phraseology.

Despite these quibbles overall I found this a fun read, it was amusing to peruse and mentally tick places off and it certainly will get you and your mates arguing for this or that site and it will also whet your appetite for more travel. Which is kind of the reason your thinking of buying this book isn't it?

1,000 Places to See Before You Die, updated ed. (2010) (1,000 Before You Die) Overview

Introducing the Eighth Wonder of travel books, the New York Times bestseller that's been hailed by CBS-TV as one of the best books of the year and praised by Newsweek as the "book that tells you what's beautiful, what's inspiring, what's fun and what's just unforgettable everywhere on earth."

Packed with recommendations of the world's best places to visit, on and off the beaten path, 1,000 Places To See Before You Die is a joyous, passionate gift for travelers, an around-the-world, continent-by-continent listing of beaches, museums, monuments, islands, inns, restaurants, mountains, and more. There's Botswana's Okavango Delta, the covered souks of Aleppo, the Tuscan hills surrounding San Gimignano, Canyon de Chelly, the Hassler hotel in Rome, Ipanema Beach, the backwaters of Kerala, Oaxaca's Saturday market, the Buddhas of Borobudur, Ballybunion golf club-all the places guaranteed to give you the shivers.

The prose is gorgeous, seizing on exactly what makes each entry worthy of inclusion. And, following the romance, the nuts and bolts: addresses, phone numbers, websites, costs, and best times to visit—all updated for 2010 with the most current information.

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Customer Reviews

Excellent service. - M. Fermoyle - Royal Oak, MI.
The product was as advertised, very satisfied with what I purchased and the sellers service.

SUCH FUN!. - Adrienne M. Rosenthal - Walnut Creek,CA.
Such a fun book to peruse!. In fact, special to write down places to visit when in that country, etc. Of course there are some things that are a bit of a fantasy...but worth having the book. Anyone that truly can afford all the hotel and/or restaurants probably don't need the book because they would have a private tour/driver!. But those of us "common folk" can afford to pick and choose along with a Rick Steves type book!. We took notes on various places and each and every one added to our trip!. A great gift for someone who enjoys traveling. Not necessarily to be used as a substitute for Frommers or Rick Steves etc. But before each trip you will be glad you consulted it!.( a tip: when there is a hotel or restaurant, look in the lobby or have a drink or dessert so you can cross it off your list! (Dubai, however one of the hotels charges 0 per person to look in the lobby if you don't have a restaurant or room reservation ...just skip that one!)

Good Book - E. Kanemoto -
I actually saw German version of this book first (I currently live in Germany) and then became to know there was English version. The book gives my husband and I guidance to choose where we should visit and what we should see amongst millions of great places in the world. We are not hard-core world travelers but do enjoy going on a trip from time to time. I borrowed the book from the library but we've got to get one for ourselves; it is fun to mark the places we have visited.

It may be true that the choice of the 1000 places are not thoroughly or evenly covered all over the world/region. But it is okay for me, if I want to get more information I will research other resources. The usefulness of this reference book for me is to help me pick up places I might want to visit and what to see or experience in the limited amount of time and resources. Yes, the book tells us what to experience as well; I am going to see the Berlin Philharmonie Orchestra next month. I cannot wait!

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Thursday, September 16, 2010