Lonely Planet on the Edge: Extreme Travel

Average customer rating:

Good, but not what's expected
Highly Recommended for the Toilet Traveler

Lonely Planet on the Edge: Extreme Travel (Journeys Series)

Manufacturer: Lonely Planet Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1864502223

Book Description

Travel is the basis of true adventure, and a thirst for adventure lies at the heart of the most memorable travel. Venturing where no one has ever gone before, pushing your body to its limits in the harshest natural environments, or having to adapt, physically and mentally, to the demands of an alien culture: such moments bring both ourselves and our world into focus like nothing else. Lonely Planet On the Edge follows the fortunes and misfortunes of the world's best travel writers in jungles and on the seas, off the beaten track and even off the planet. On foot, on camel or on a sailing ship: Lonely Planet On the Edge will enthral you from start to finish.

Contributors: Buzz Aldrin, Dea Birkett, Rolf Bjelke, Maria Coffey, Ted Conover, William Dalrymple, Robyn Davidson, Whit Deschner, Chris Duff, David Ewing Duncan, Jeff Greenwald, Brian Hall, Eric Hansen, Tony Horwitz, Pico Iyer, Mark Jenkins, Kevin Kertscher, Katherine Kizilos, Graham Mackintosh, Malcolm McConnell, Tom Miller, Geoffrey Moorhouse, Dervla Murphy, Eric Newby, Rory Nugent, Redmond O'Hanlon, Alistair Scott, Deborah Shapiro, Joe Simpson, Stuart Stevens, Mike Stroud, Paul Theroux.

Customer Reviews:

Good, but not what's expected.......2005-03-31

I am a big fan of travel writing, but i have to say that this book was a bit too formal/bit to professional for what's usually expected of them. Don't get me wrong, they are still good stories and well written, just not exactly what I'm used to when purchasing a travel journal-type book. it was written so formally that it didn't really hold my attention as much as other books I have read. (for example: by lonely planet, "Rite of Passage: Tales of Backpacking 'round Europe" is a great read. try that if you are more into reading for pleasure and enjoyment and learning INSTEAD of a literary work).

Highly Recommended for the Toilet Traveler.......2001-10-29

To dub me green when it comes to the travel-writing genre - not to mention trekking beyond the borders of the United States - admittedly qualifies as an understatement. Especially when jaded notions of exploring the world around me are relegated to the obligatory business trip every other week compounded with the daily bump and grind of inching through St. Louis traffic. Indeed, the time is opportune for escape. And it was with "Lonely Planet . . . On the Edge" that I initiated a fresh journey into unexplored literary terrain.

Critically, I possess no frame of reference to compare the contributions to this anthology with those writings outside it - after all, what is good travel writing and what is poor travel writing to someone who has never read travel writing? That being said, I was pleased to discover "On the Edge" provided a fantastic release from the tedium of the mundane, whether or not my body eventually traverses these same grounds as my mind so vividly did with this collection.

With 33 respected and well-seasoned authors jam-packed into a book numbering less than 230 pages, the entries are bound to be compact and succinct, a fitting vehicle for the essential lunchtime retreat or the bedtime ritual of winding down. Not to mention the benefits it provides the "toilet traveler," usurping bathroom breaks to sneak in 10-minute peeks into the perceived eccentricities of our global neighbors, near and far.

"Lonely Planet . . . On the Edge" whisked me around the world and to the moon and back again. And, if I understand travel writing in general and this book in particular, isn't that the point?

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