Lonely Planet Blue List (Book Review)

Abstract

Review of Lonely planet blue list, R. Hopkins, A. Wheeler and D. George (eds). Melbourne: Lonely Planet Publications, 2006. Pp. 328. ISBN 1-74104-754-X. The first hundred pages or so are devoted to 40 sets of top-10 lists, with themes such as: art, bars, beaches, boats, cities, ecolodges, extreme, festivals, films, food, gadgets, gay, history, hostels, jobs, kids, markets, music, naked, nature, odd, politics, races, remote, retreats, roads, rushes, scams, sports, structures, sustain-able, tough, trains, treks, value and wildlife. The rest is a continent-by-continent summary of selected countries, covering statistics, politics, fads, experiences, conversational topics, equipment and travel tips. Exactly how the countries or top-10 lists were selected is not explained. ‘We didn’t just pull them from a place where the sun doesn’t shine’, says the publisher (p. 7). But no alternative source is suggested.