Friday, November 27, 2009

Off the Tourist Trail or Into the Wild

Off the Tourist Trail: 1,000 Unexpected Travel Alternatives

Author: DK Publishing

Off the Tourist Trail is a guide to the world's unspoiled sights and experiences. It takes a hundred clichéd tourist destinations - everything from over-visited national parks to overrated museums - and reveal 1,000 fresh and fascinating alternative options. Written by a team of travel experts, and with a foreword by Bill Bryson, this book brings vibrant cities, enchanting sights, breathtaking natural wonders and unforgettable experiences to life with informative narrative and stunning photography.

Choose your destination by theme - Ancient and Historical Sights, Festivals and Parties, Great Journeys, Architectural Marvels, Natural Wonders, Beaches, Sports and Activities, Art and Culture, and Cities - or simply flick through this sumptuous guide and be inspired. Practical advice on getting there and around, where to stay, where to eat and when to go, as well as useful 'Need to Know' facts, ensure that you get the most out of your time away.

Less crowded, generally less expensive, and often more spectacular and rewarding, these lesser-known wonders of the world encourage readers to ditch the famous but well-worn choices, reminding them what real travel is all about - escaping the everyday and embracing the new.

Vacations will never be the same again.



Into the Wild

Author: Jon Krakauer

In April 1992, a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. He had given $25,000 in savings to a charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet and invented a life for himself. Four months later, his decomposed body was found by a moose hunter. Jon Krakauer brings Chris McCandless's uncompromising pilgrimage out of the shadows and illuminates it with meaning in this mesmerizing and heartbreaking tour de force.

Entertainment Weekly

It may be nonfiction, but Into the Wild is a mystery of the highest order.

San Francisco Chronicle

Compelling and tragic...Hard to put down.

Portland Oregonian

Haunting...few outdoor writers can match Krakauer for bringing outside adventure to life on the page.

Publishers Weekly

After graduating from Emory University in Atlanta in 1992, top student and athlete Christopher McCandless abandoned his possessions, gave his entire $24,000 savings account to charity and hitchhiked to Alaska, where he went to live in the wilderness. Four months later, he turned up dead. His diary, letters and two notes found at a remote campsite tell of his desperate effort to survive, apparently stranded by an injury and slowly starving. They also reflect the posturing of a confused young man, raised in affluent Annandale, Virginia, who self-consciously adopted a Tolstoyan renunciation of wealth and return to nature. Krakauer, a contributing editor to Outside and Men's Journal, retraces McCandless' ill-fated antagonism toward his father, Walt, an eminent aerospace engineer. Krakauer also draws parallels to his own reckless youthful exploit in 1977, when he climbed Devils Thumb, a mountain on the Alaska-British Columbia border, partly as a symbolic act of rebellion against his autocratic father. In a moving narrative, Krakauer probes the mystery of McCandless' death, which he attributes to logistical blunders and to accidental poisoning from eating toxic seed pods.

The New York Times

Terrifying...eloquent...A heart-rending drama of human yearning.

The Washington Post

Gripping stuff...a detailed narrative of arresting force.

LA Times Book Review

Engrossing...with a telling eye for detail, Krakauer has captured the sad saga of a stubborn, idealistic young man.

The Seattle Times

Riveting...an absorbing story.

Voice Literary Supplement

A clear refinement of character, spirit, peace.

The Portland Oregonian

Haunting...few outdoor writers can match Krakauer for bringing outside adventure to life on the page.



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