Dictionary of Imaginary Places - Softcover

Manguel, Alberto; Guadalupi, Gianni

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0156260549 ISBN 13: 9780156260541

Publisher: Harcourt, 1989

Synopsis

From Atlantis to Xanadu and beyond, this Baedeker of make-believe takes readers on a tour of more than 1,200 realms invented by storytellers from Homer's day to our own. Here you will find Shangri-La and El Dorado; Utopia and Middle Earth; Wonderland and Freedonia. Here too are Jurassic Park, Salman Rushdie's Sea of Stories, and the fabulous world of Harry Potter. The history and behavior of the inhabitants of these lands are described in loving detail, and are supplemented by more than 200 maps and illustrations that depict the lay of the land in a host of elsewheres. A must-have for the library of every dedicated reader, fantasy fan, or passionate browser, Dictionary is a witty and acute guide for any armchair traveler's journey into the landscape of the imagination.

About this title

Review

Like an ordinary geographical dictionary, The Dictionary of Imaginary Places contains alphabetically organized entries for more than a thousand locales. In this case, however, the locales in question are far from ordinary--they range from the orc-ridden wastes of Tolkien's Middle-earth to the languorous shores of Homer's Island of the Lotus-Eaters. Though for the most part these fantastical lands are mapped and chronicled with straight-faced seriousness, the encyclopedia is not without a certain deadpan wit. For example, the entry for Oz describes "a large rectangular country divided into four small countries.... As a famous visitor once remarked, Oz is not Kansas." This handsome and whimsically charming book, adorned with fanciful line drawings and maps, is rich with enough fictive detail to please the most inveterate reader.

From the Inside Flap

Throughout the ages, writers have created an astonishing diversity of imaginary places, worlds of enchantment, horror and delight. This monumental book, now more comprehensive than ever, unites them in a single volume.

A national bestseller when first published in 1980, this unique and endlessly entertaining guidebook takes readers on a tour of more than 1,200 imaginary cities, islands, countries, and continents, all invented by storytellers from Homer's day to our own. From Atlantis to Dracula's Castle, Middle Earth to Baskerville Hall, Utopia to Earthsea, here are worlds enough and more for every reader, fantasy fan, and passionate browser. And now it includes dozens of invaluable new entries and illustrations, including Eco's Abbey of the Rose, and Peter Carey's Etica. Among the lands are those of Lewis Carroll, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, L. Frank Baum, C.S. Lewis, John Lennon, Gilbert & Sullivan and Graham Greene. Written with wit and brilliance, the book is also a visual delight with more than 200 original illustrations and maps by Graham Greenfield, and James Cook, and new illustrations by award-winning artist Ken Nutt.

Edition details

• Publisher: Harcourt
• Publication date: 1989
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0156260549
• ISBN 13: 9780156260541
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 454