Atlas Obscura

From the creative minds behind the #1 New York Times bestseller Atlas Obscura comes a road trip into the hidden heart of America--a love letter to the strange, fantastic, and beautiful corners of the United States. America Obscura takes readers on a journey that stretches from shore to shore, in search of the country's folk rituals and roadside museums, its outsider artists and eccentric prophets, its forgotten dreamers and improbable visionaries who helped shape the landscape. Equal parts travel companion and cultural almanac, this is the definitive field guide to America's hidden marvels. Start in Talkeetna, Alaska, where the whimsical 185-foot "Dr. Seuss House" stacks story upon story into the clouds, and watch the moon-driven bore tide of Turnagain Arm roll in like a liquid wall for sub-arctic surfers. Head south to Colorado to visit the International Snow Sculpture Championships, and then drift across the Great Plains to tour the world's largest collection of marbles in Nebraska. In New York, meet a ghostly white deer herd that roams a decommissioned nuclear weapons repository, and in Arizona dine at a pizza shop that also hosts concerts on a 6,000-pipe Wurlitzer organ. With hundreds of breathtaking photographs, maps, and sample road trips, America Obscura is a vividly illustrated cabinet of curiosities from the award-winning chroniclers of the world's hidden wonders that revels in the unexpected, the overlooked, the bizarre, and the mysteriously awe-inspiring. Pack your bags and prepare to be delighted and disoriented, pulled out of the familiar, and dropped into the astonishing as you become re-enchanted with this endlessly curious and surprising country.

The Explorer’s Library combines the two New York Times bestselling guides from Atlas Obscura, packaged in a slipcase that evokes the timeless allure of travel. It is the perfect gift for the person who lets curiosity be their compass, who is alive to the world in all its possibilities.Atlas Obscura, is a “wanderlust-whetting cabinet of curiosities on paper” (New York Times) and a runaway New York Times bestseller. Featuring hundreds of unexpected entries that cover all corners of the globe, Atlas Obscura changes the way we think about the world, expanding our sense of how strange and marvelous it really is. A feast of wonder and another New York Times bestseller, Gastro Obscura transforms our sense of what people around the world eat and drink. Ready for a beer made from fog in Chile? Sardinia’s “threads of God” pasta? But far more than a menu of curious delicacies and unexpected dishes, Gastro Obscura focuses on food’s place in our lives, touching on history, culture, travel, festivals, and more.

A New York Times, USA Today, and national indie bestseller.A Feast of Wonder! Created by the ever-curious minds behind Atlas Obscura, this breath-taking guide transforms our sense of what people around the world eat and drink. Covering all seven continents, Gastro Obscura serves up a loaded plate of incredible ingredients, food adventures, and edible wonders. Ready for a beer made from fog in Chile? Sardinia's "Threads of God" pasta? Egypt's 2000-year-old egg ovens? But far more than a menu of curious minds delicacies and unexpected dishes, Gastro Obscura reveals food's central place in our lives as well as our bellies, touching on history-trace the network of ancient Roman fish sauce factories. Culture-picture four million women gathering to make rice pudding. Travel-scale China's sacred Mount Hua to reach a tea house. Festivals-feed wild macaques pyramid of fruit at Thailand's Monkey Buffet Festival. And hidden gems that might be right around the corner, like the vending machine in Texas dispensing full sized pecan pies. Dig in and feed your sense of wonder. "Like a great tapas meal, Gastro Obscura is deep yet snackable, and full of surprises. This is the book for anyone interested in eating, adventure and the human condition." -Tom Colicchio, chef and activist "This exquisite guide kept me at the breakfast table until dinner time." -Kyle Maclachlan, actor and vintner

Discover wonder. "A wanderlust-whetting cabinet of curiosities on paper."- New York Times Inspiring equal parts wonder and wanderlust, Atlas Obscura is a phenomenon of a travel book that shot to the top of bestseller lists when it was first published and changed the way we think about the world, expanding our sense of how strange and marvellous it really is. 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 glow-worm 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. Every page gets to the very core of why humans want to travel in the first place: to be delighted and disoriented, uprooted from the familiar and amazed by the new. With its compelling descriptions, hundreds of photographs, surprising charts, maps for every region of the world, and new city guides, it is a book you can open anywhere and be transported. But proceed with caution: It's almost impossible not to turn to the next entry, and the next, and the next.