The Explorer's Library

Give the gift of wonder. Packaged in a slipcase that evokes the timeless allure of travel, The Explorer’s Library combines the two New York Times-bestselling guides from Atlas Obscura®. 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, with over 860,000 copies in print worldwide, is a 'wonderlust-whetting cabinet of curiosities on paper' (New York Times). It shot to the top of bestseller lists the moment it was released, and in its hundreds of unexpected entries that cover all corners of the globe, it changes the way we think about the world, expanding our sense of how strange and marvellous it really is. A feast of wonder that has 215,000 copies in print worldwide in its first sixth months, Gastro Obscura is the national bestseller that 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.

PRAISE FOR ATLAS OBSCURA: An Explorer's Guide to the World's Hidden Wonders
“A wanderlust-whetting cabinet of curiosities on paper” —The New York Times

“This book is as curious and enthralling as the world it covers. Each page reveals some hidden realm—a realm that is frightening, or funny, or magical, or simply mad, but that always leaves the reader in wonder.”
—DAVID GRANN, author of Killers of the Flower Moon

“I thought I had seen most of the interesting bits of the world. Atlas Obscura showed me that I was wrong. It's the kind of book that makes you want to pack in your workaday life and head out to places you'd never have dreamed of going, to see things you could not even have imagined. A joy to read and to reread.”
—NEIL GAIMAN, author of Sandman and American Gods

“Atlas Obscura is a joyful antidote to the creeping suspicion that travel these days is little more than a homogenized corporate shopping opportunity. Here are hundreds of surprising, perplexing, mind-blowing, inspiring reasons to travel a day longer and farther off the path. . . . Bestest travel guide ever.”
—MARY ROACH, author of Stiff and Gulp

“My favorite travel guide! Never start a trip without knowing where a haunted hotel or a mouth of hell is!”
—GUILLERMO DEL TORO, filmmaker, Pan’s Labyrinth

“Fair warning: It's addictive.” —NPR, “Cosmos Culture”

“In this gorgeous collection, the celebrated Atlas Obscura website is condensed into 480 pages of awe-inspiring destinations. For lovers of history and exploration, the striking color photographs will spark immediate wanderlust.” —Entertainment Weekly

“Odds are you won’t get past three pages without being amazed at something truly strange that you didn’t know existed.” —San Francisco Chronicle

“Richly illustrated, delightfully strange, this compendium of off-beat destinations should spark many adventures, both terrestrial and imaginary.” —Boston Globe

“This book is PACKED with wonderful, amazing, fascinating places all around the world. This is the perfect gift for the person who thinks they’ve done it all and seen it all because this shows that there’s so much more in the world to explore. It’s a wonderful, wonderful coffee table book.” —NBC, “TODAY”

“A perfect tome for the armchair explorer and the actual traveler alike.” —Austin American Statesman

“Whether describing a Canadian museum that showcases world history through shoes, a pet-casket company that will also sell you a unit for your severed limb, a Greek snake festival, or a place in the Canary Islands where inhabitants communicate through whistling, the authors have compiled an enthralling range of oddities. Featuring full-color illustrations, this hefty and gorgeously produced tome will be eagerly pored over by readers of many ages and fans of the original website.”—Booklist (Starred Review)

“If this compendium of the weirdest, wackiest, and most wonderful destinations on the planet doesn't fill you with insatiable wanderlust, then you need to check your pulse.” —mental_floss

“This is the fun way, a deep dive (sometimes literally) into places you’d never find otherwise, the weird and wild wonders of the world.” —WIRED

“The book is for people who prefer to live like locals when they travel, seek out new cultures on vacation, or just prefer the weirdness of history to traditional by-the-book experiences. Even if you can’t travel, Atlas Obscura is a window into places you’d otherwise never know existed.” —lifehacker

“A travel guide for the most adventurous of tourists . . . a wonderful browse [for] armchair travelers who enjoyed Brandon Stanton’s Humans of New York and Frank Warren’s PostSecret.” —Library Journal

“The most addictive book of the year.” —Colin McEnroe, WNPR
 
PRAISE FOR GASTRO OBSCURA: A Food Adventurer's Guide
"[Wong and Thuras'] lavishly photographed volume, more eye-opening than mouthwatering, slakes (and often quells) the armchair gourmand’s appetite. Combing 120 nations and all the continents... they have produced a cabinet of culinary curiosities." —​The New York Times Book Review

"You cannot help but be drawn to Gastro Obscura.” —​The New York Times
"There’s so much information in this book. If you love food, the photos are beautiful and for me, it really made me feel like on my couch like I was getting back out there and traveling again. That’s why I love this book. They know what they’re doing. These books are always good, they’re filled with facts, you gotta pick it up.” —​bestselling author Isaac Fitzgerald on the TODAY Show 

"Dylan Thuras and... Cecily Wong pull together some of the most unique, interesting, and incredible festivals, food and drink, and culinary obscurities from around the globe, transporting the reader into parts unknown—both edible and otherwise."—​Smithsonian.com 

"[A] colorfully illustrated, totally entertaining tour through global cuisine, particularly the quirky sort." —​ AARP.com 

“For the traveler or foodie, this coffee table book can transport them around the world with wonderful stories and photos that will leave their stomachs grumbling—all without ever leaving the couch.”  —​Food 52
"[A]n enticing read for anyone who is curious about the world. Like a five-star hotel’s platter-stacked buffet artfully arranged to please the eye and palate, Gastro Obscura stimulates aplenty, with hundreds of rich morsels to peruse and savor." —​Forbes.com

"An incredible celebration of diversity in food" —​Wine Enthusiast 

"[An] encyclopedic odyssey... This compendium is a must-have." —​Publishers Weekly, starred review 

"[Gastro Obscura is a] hard-to-put-down book... Pick a region, pick a page—you can’t go wrong. Armchair travelers and foodies will be left hungry, nostalgic, more knowledgeable about dishes from all over, and, most importantly, ready to try something different, whether it’s found around the corner or across the world."—​Library Journal 

"Irresistible." —Booklist
"A tome to be savored" - Foreward Reviews
"[A] casual and fun and yet intelligent treatment of what essentially is a food encyclopedia on the world and its cuisines." —​NIK SHARMA, author of The Flavor Equation

"This captivating book celebrates the incredible global diversity of food, ingredients, and cooking practices. What could be more important in this moment in time than to be so delightfully engaged in the many ways food cultivates—through sometimes eccentric means!—a profound sense of togetherness.” —ALICE WATERS, chef and author of We Are What We Eat: A Slow Food Manifesto
 
“This book is an incredible celebration of diversity – the many fascinating ways that humanity has figured out how to feed itself. To me, it is really about preservation, the power and importance of remembering old customs and local traditions in order to help us better understand our world today … and into the future.” —JOSÉ ANDRÉS, chef, restaurateur, and founder of World Central Kitchen
“An ambitious, exciting, and zany anthology of heritage foodways, Gastro Obscura tells the stories no one else is telling. In creating a magnum opus that manages to be simultaneously daring as well as fundamentally delicious, this is a culinary high-wire act of culinary anthropology that delivers on its promise and then some. A must-read for anyone who eats.” —DAN BARBER, chef and author of The Third Plate 

“Like a great tapas meal, Gastro Obscura is deep yet snackable, and full of surprises. In these pages, you'll find riveting stories of human culture ancient and present, history, climate, mythology, commerce and geography -- all through the lens of that thing you thought you already knew: food.  This is the book for anyone interested in eating, adventure and the human condition.” —TOM COLICCHIO, chef and activist
 
“Thumbing through this exquisite guide kept me at the breakfast table until dinner time.” —KYLE MACLACHLAN, actor and vintner

Atlas Obscura is the definitive guide to the world’s hidden wonders. Based on the community-driven, editor-curated website atlasobscura.com, Atlas Obscura uncovers unusual and overlooked places not found in your average guidebook. Cofounders Joshua Foer and Dylan Thuras are two of the authors of the # 1 New York Times bestselling book Atlas Obscura: An Explorer’s Guide to the World’s Hidden Wonders. Dylan Thuras is the cofounder and creative director of Atlas Obscura. He lives in Rosendale, NY. Joshua Foer is the cofounder and chairman of Atlas Obscura. He is also the author of Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything, a bestseller published in 33 languages, and a forthcoming book about the world's last hunter-gatherers

Cecily Wong is a writer at Atlas Obscura, and the author of the novel Diamond Head, a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection, recipient of an Elle Readers' Prize, and voted a best debut of the Brooklyn Book Festival. She lives in Oregon.

Ella Morton is a New Zealand-born, Australian-raised, Brooklyn-based writer, focusing on overlooked aspects of history and culture. After covering consumer technology at CNET she hosted Rocketboom NYC, a web show about New York’s quirkier people and places. Her most popular interview was a chat with Cookie Monster on the set of Sesame Street. Ella was associate editor at AtlasObscura.com, where she wrote about such topics as tobacco smoke enemas, Victorian streaming music services, and the etiquette of marrying a ghost.
 

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