▷▷▷▷▷ Check Out 101 Places Not to See Before You Die for $7.82

101 Places Not to See Before You Die Review

Author Catherine Price has put together an eclectic collection of places that she, and several guest contributors, recommend that we don't bother visiting.

You might be saying, "But the world is out there to be explored: good, bad, and ugly." And I admit we were somewhat skeptical of the book's intent at first.. .but then came the chuckles and that led to laughing right out loud. After all, how can one read a book that includes "The Testicle Festival" (held each year at the Rock Creek Lodge outside Missoula, Montana) or "The Amsterdam Sex Museum" and not laugh?

I disagree with many of Price's slam-dunks on places; for instance, she seems to have written off the whole state of Nevada -- a place where we recently completed one of the best road trips imaginable; or the Mummy Museum in Guanajuato, Mexico (so. . .it's not for the squeamish, but we thought it was interesting). Several items such as the smell of the (San Francisco Bay Area) BART rapid transit train carpet or 'an AAA meeting when you are drunk' seem almost to be 'fillers' and detracted from excellent tales such as the night spent at a Korean temple (that one had me laughing out loud).

However, she's included a good number of places -- such as The Gum Wall tucked away in an alley near Seattle's Pike Place Market -- that I'd never heard of before.

Each place gets no more than 2- 3 pages in the book making it a great over-all quick read. It might be the perfect gift for some travel-fanatic friend of yours who always is looking for some new off-beat destination; or for one who prefers the armchair to airline seats.

101 Places Not to See Before You Die Feature

ISBN13: 9780061787768
Condition: New
Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed

101 Places Not to See Before You Die Overview

Because bad places make good stories
The Testicle Festival • Garbage City • Rush Hour on a Samoan Bus • Y our Boss's Bedroom • Ibiza on a Family Vacation • Stonehenge • The Road of Death • A North Korean Gulag • Fucking, Austria • And 92 More!

From the Grover Cleveland Service Area to the Beijing Museum of Tap Water to, of course, Euro Disney, 101 Places Not to See Before You Die brings you lively tales of the most ill-conceived museums, worst theme parks, and grossest Superfund sites that you'll ever have the pleasure of not visiting. Journalist Catherine Price travels the globe for stories of misadventure to which any seasoned traveler can relate—including guest entries from writers such as Nicholas Kristof, Mary Roach, Michael Pollan, Rebecca Solnit, and A. J. Jacobs—and along the way she discovers that the worst experiences are often the ones we'll never forget.

Available at Amazon Check Price Now!

Customer Reviews

Possibly for those who live in a bubble - Elliott Bäck - New York, NY USA
Catherine Price's biggest gripe with the world is that it's just too damn dirty! 101 Places Not to See Before You Die is a germaphobe's view of the world, a pretentious trip into foreign culture that denigrates any experience that intrudes into her comfort zone of clean.

Some choice quotes:

- "When I hear about a destination whose main attraction is giving you the chance to kiss a piece of stone that's been kissed by hundreds of thousands of people, that is not something that I personally need to do"
- "I'm sorry to interrupt, but how is wiping my bowl with a radish going to make it clean? What about germs?"
- "The irony of the whole museum is that Beijing's water is not safe to drink from the tap"

I'd rather name it "101 places I went to and didn't like" by "Pretentious Hipster." If anything, you can use this book as a guide to things you might find interesting, and might even want to see! Every traveler is different; if you have a curious bone in your body, you will want to ignore 101 Places' advice.

slams the whole state of nevada! - Aramis - las vegas
Just like that, this author writes off my beloved state of Nevada. How could she? I know she is to be taken with a grain of salt, but really? the whole state? Her points: too much desert. does she know that the desert can be beautiful? Has she been to the valley of fire or red rock canyon? Has she been here in Vegas in October the best month to visit? How about northern NV Reno lake Tahoe etc. In her attempt to be funny and sell books she comes off as ignoramus and a less than thorough with her subject. She offends a lot of people.

The Travel Anti-Bucket List - Dick Jordan - Marin County, California
What do "The Testicle Festival", "Your Boss' Bedroom", "The Wiener's Circle", and "Groper's Night on the Tokyo Subway" all have in common? They are chapters in Catherine Price's new book, 101 Places Not To See Before You Die.

Seven years ago Patricia Schultz gave us the ultimate travel "bucket list" with 1,000 Places To See Before You Die: A Traveler's Life List. In the introduction to her "sequel", Price said that she decided to create an "antidote" to all of the "must-do" tomes that followed in the wake of Schultz' book, so she came up with "a list of places and experiences that you don't need to worry about missing out on."

Price didn't visit each of the 101 don't ever go there locations in her book; she "called on travel-loving friends, family members, and, in some cases, complete strangers to tell [her] about overhyped tourist sites, boring museums, stupid historical attractions, and circumstances that can make even worthwhile destinations miserable." Some chapters are actually a "Guest Entry" by another author: Michael Pollan, who wrote The Omnivore's Dilemma, contributed "The Worst Meal in Barcelona"; Rebecca Solnit, author of A Paradise Built in Hell, described the bureaucratic Purgatory she found herself in at "The Customs Office at the Buenos Aires Airport." And Brendan Buhler, staff reporter for the Las Vegas Sun, entices readers with "Fan Hours at the Las Vegas Porn Convention."

Most of us would deem a visit to "A Vomitorium", or being stuck on "The Top of Mount Washington in A Snowstorm", or landing on "Jupiter's Worst Moon" as a travel experience to be avoided. Bypassing "Hell" or an overnight stay in "Garbage City" seems like good advice. Skipping "An AA Meeting When You're Drunk" is a no-brainer. And what traveler would want to be trapped on "The Inside of a Spotted Hyena's Birth Canal"?

But some readers will will undoubtedly find that at least a few of Price's "anti-bucket list" choices rank among their most memorable travel venues. I'm sure that Euro Disney and the Winchester Mystery House have legions of fanatical fans. "Times Square on New Year's Eve" may not be Price's favorite place to celebrate the beginning of the new year, but are the throngs that gather to watch the famous ball begin its descent counting down to 12:01 a.m. mere fools? Devotees of Wall Drug, Mount Rushmore, and the Blarney Stone may be so incensed that they will set "vanity bonfires" and send Price's book from ashes to ashes.

I enjoyed visiting Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in Arizona, even though Price says that the "U.S. Park Rangers Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police named it the most dangerous national park in the United States" and that you have "to deal with the desert's 116-degree summer heat, venomous snakes, spiders, scorpions, centipedes, and of course, drug traffickers..." As as often can be said about travel, "your experience may differ from mine"; I had a good time there during March a few years back when the weather was fine and the nasty critters, bad bugs, and evil people were nowhere to be found.

101 Places Not To See Before You Die isn't really a guidebook for figuring out where not to go on your summer vacation. But it's a good "summer read" that will give you plenty of chuckles especially when you're stuck at the airport, or on the tarmac, two places you hope you not to find yourself even one more time before you die.

*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Sep 01, 2010 23:01:05

Books Travel

Wednesday, September 1, 2010