{"id":2845,"date":"2016-09-19T09:53:47","date_gmt":"2016-09-19T13:53:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/?p=2845"},"modified":"2017-11-18T10:17:07","modified_gmt":"2017-11-18T15:17:07","slug":"atlas-obscura","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2016\/09\/atlas-obscura\/","title":{"rendered":"Atlas Obscura"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"atlas-obscura-oblique\"<\/a>Atlas Obscura<\/a>, the website, has been aggregating an online database of unusual and interesting places\u00a0around the world for\u00a0the past several years. Atlas Obscura, the company, has been expanding at a rapid pace these past few years, hiring former\u00a0Slate<\/em> editor David Plotz as their CEO<\/a> in 2014. One result of said expansion has now come to fruition in the form of\u00a0Atlas Obscura<\/em><\/a>, the book, out this week from Workman Publishing<\/a>.\u00a0Written by co-founders Joshua Foer and Dylan Thuras and associate editor Ella Morton,\u00a0Atlas Obscura<\/em> is\u00a0basically a curated subset of the online Atlas Obscura experience.<\/p>\n

Like the\u00a0Atlas of Cursed Places<\/em><\/a> (reviewed here<\/a>),\u00a0Atlas Obscura<\/em> is not an atlas per se. There are maps, but they exist to locate the subjects of the essays that make up this book. Those subjects\u2014those weird and wonderful places\u2014also appear\u00a0on the website<\/a>, but the essays are different;\u00a0in the sample I compared, the book’s version is considerably briefer and more dense. This is to be expected: when you have fewer than 500 pages to work with, you have\u00a0to make some zero-sum editorial decisions. Fewer, more fulsome\u00a0pieces, or\u00a0more pieces of shorter length.\u00a0Atlas Obscura<\/em> has opted for the latter, with pieces that are frustratingly, tantalizingly brief, each followed by\u00a0a little information on how to get there (or, in some cases, whether<\/em> you can get there).\u00a0Even then only a fraction of the places that appear online<\/a> appear between the book’s covers.<\/p>\n

But browsing a website is not the same experience as reading a book. No one would\u00a0try to go through the entire Atlas Obscura database; the book allows for a big-picture look at the\u00a0sort of thing found there. A curated subset, as I said above. A taster’s menu. The book also rewards serendipity and pleasant surprises: whether you’re reading from\u00a0beginning to end (as I did for this review), looking for specific continents, regions or countries, or flipping through pages at random, you’re bound to encounter an entry you hadn’t expected to come across. If there’s value in a hard-copy (or electronic: Kindle<\/a>, iBooks<\/a>) version of something freely available online in expanded form, it’s here. And let me be clear:\u00a0that’s\u00a0not nothing.<\/p>\n

I received an electronic advance review copy from the publisher via\u00a0NetGalley<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Buy\u00a0Atlas Obscura<\/em>\u00a0via Amazon<\/a> or iBooks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Related:\u00a0Map Books of 2016<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Atlas Obscura, the website, has been aggregating an online database of unusual and interesting places\u00a0around the world for\u00a0the past several years. Atlas Obscura, the company, has been expanding at a rapid pace these past few… More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"autoblue_enabled":true,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[],"autoblue_post_url":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,470],"tags":[30,1077],"class_list":["post-2845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-reviews","category-travel","tag-books","tag-unusual-places"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2332,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2016\/06\/atlas-obscura-the-book\/","url_meta":{"origin":2845,"position":0},"title":"Atlas Obscura, the Book","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"26 June 2016","format":"link","excerpt":"Always nice to see a familiar website turn up in book form. This time it's\u00a0Atlas Obscura\u2019s turn.\u00a0Altas Obscura: An\u00a0Explorer's Guide to the World's Hidden Wonders comes out from Workman Publishing in September but can be pre-ordered now. See my Map Books of 2016 page\u00a0for other books\u00a0of interest coming out later\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Travel"","block_context":{"text":"Travel","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/travel\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"atlas-obscura","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/atlas-obscura-202x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1787859,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2019\/10\/the-atlas-of-unusual-borders\/","url_meta":{"origin":2845,"position":1},"title":"The Atlas of Unusual Borders","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"3 October 2019","format":"link","excerpt":"Out today: Zoran Nikolic\u2019s Atlas of Unusual Borders (Collins), a book that \u201cpresents unusual borders, enclaves and exclaves, divided or non-existent cities and islands.\u201d Another compendium of geographical curiosities: a genre we\u2019ve seen before (see, for example, the Atlas of Improbable Places, Atlas Obscura, the Atlas of Remote Islands, the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Geography"","block_context":{"text":"Geography","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/geography\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/atlas-unusual-borders-214x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1984,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2016\/05\/atlas-obscura-profiles-peter-bellerby\/","url_meta":{"origin":2845,"position":2},"title":"Atlas Obscura Profiles Peter Bellerby","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"16 May 2016","format":"link","excerpt":"Luxury globemaker Peter Bellerby gets another profile, this one in\u00a0Atlas Obscura. Previously:\u00a0Globemaker Peter Bellerby Interviewed; Bellerby's Hand-Painted Globes.","rel":"","context":"In "Industry"","block_context":{"text":"Industry","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/industry\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"bellerby-globe","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/bellerby-globe-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1786702,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2018\/11\/atlas-obscura-shares-your-dd-maps\/","url_meta":{"origin":2845,"position":3},"title":"Atlas Obscura Shares Your D&D Maps","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"19 November 2018","format":"link","excerpt":"Remember how\u00a0Atlas Obscura put out a call for\u00a0Dungeons & Dragons maps? They've received a pile of entries and are featuring two dozen of them: \"[Y]our D&D maps are more incredible than we could have imagined. Every single one calls out for exploration.\"\u00a0Some of them are familiar in form, others are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Games"","block_context":{"text":"Games","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/games\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3084,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2016\/10\/atlas-of-improbable-places\/","url_meta":{"origin":2845,"position":4},"title":"Atlas of Improbable Places","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"18 October 2016","format":"link","excerpt":"Travis Elborough's Atlas of Improbable Places: A Journey to the World's Most Unusual Corners\u00a0came out last month from Aurum Press. The maps are by Alan Horsfield. \"With beautiful maps and stunning photography illustrating each destination, Atlas of Improbable Places is a fascinating voyage to the world's most incredible destinations. As\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Travel"","block_context":{"text":"Travel","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/travel\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"atlas-improbable-places","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/atlas-improbable-places-1-216x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1785154,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2018\/03\/atlas-obscura-readers-dream-islands-the-results\/","url_meta":{"origin":2845,"position":5},"title":"Atlas Obscura Readers’ Dream Islands: The Results","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"21 March 2018","format":"link","excerpt":"I mentioned\u00a0Atlas Obscura\u2019s call for readers to submit maps of their perfect dream island, but I neglected to post a link to the results.\u00a0Atlas Obscura:\u00a0\"We received submissions from readers young and old, all full of fun and creative details.\u00a0Entries included islands full of cats (there were several of those, in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Imaginary Maps"","block_context":{"text":"Imaginary Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/imaginary-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2845"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2845\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2901,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2845\/revisions\/2901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}