Falling Off the Map : Some Lonely Places of The World

Rating:
Summary: Has Iyer Ever Really Left His Desk?
Review: This guy either makes up things as he goes along or doesn't actually go along! For instance, he said garden fences and TV antenna are banned in Canberra Australia, which is nonsense. In fact, fences are erected at the time houses are built, so everyone has them, and most roofs also sport TV antennas. Plus, he describes Australian houses as "semi-detached," when they are almost all just like your average suburban American house. Not major points, but he certainly lost all credibility with me. In fact, I seriously doubt that he's actually been here. Read Bill Bryson's book if you want to learn about Australia.

Rating:
Summary: Falling off my chair, giggling:)
Review: What can you say about essayist Pico Iyer, whose humor truly shines through in this collection of eight expeditions to places never visited? North Korea. Iceland. Bhutan. Paraguay, to name a few. All of Iyer's anecdotes are interesting, detailed and often down-right funny. Iyer treks to those places you know exist but are likely never to see for yourself; those places in the news but not in the travel plans; those non-vacation spots for the occidental tourist. And he describes all of them in a way both funny and profound. For instance, he says of Reykjavik, Iceland: It "might almost be a small child's toy, as clean and perfect as a ship inside a bottle. ... Reykjavik is one place where it really is worth climbing the steeple of the highest church to see the city, mute and motionless, laid out against the silver sea." Pages later, he says: "In summer when I visited, people were complaining of a heat wave when the temperature hit a chilly 54 degrees." In short, the book is worthy of a gander. It'll make you laugh, think, and want to travel - just not necessarily to the places he describes:)