The Dictionary of Imaginary Places: The Newly Updated and Expanded Classic [Paperback]

Alberto Manguel (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0156008726 | ISBN-13: 978-0156008723 | Publication Date: November 2, 2000 | Edition: Exp Upd

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.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The Dictionary of Imaginary Places is best described as a guidebook of the make-believe. A good way to understand what Alberto Manguel and Gianni Guadalupi set out to do with their book is to imagine that you want to travel to a place like Oz, as in The Wizard of. What you remember from watching the classic movie and what you would want to know as a traveler are two very distinct things. What you'll earn in this book is that Oz is a large rectangular country where everyone works half the time and plays half the time, one that is divided into four smaller countries: Munchkin Country, Winkie Country, Quadling Country, and Gillikin Country. Flip through more of the book's alphabetized listings and you'll discover Fuddlecumjig, a town in Oz's Quadling Country whose inhabitants, the Fuddles, are among the most curious people in Oz. The main peculiarity is that they are made of many pieces, rather like jigsaw puzzles, and literally fall apart when strangers approach, and have to be reassembled with skill and patience. A travel tip for readers with vivid imaginations: put Fuddlecumjig's cook together first if you want a meal. And so go the descriptions of more than 1,200 worlds invented by storytellers throughout history, from Homer's Wandering Rocks in the Odyssey to Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park. But there's more here than just the worlds of literature and film. You can learn more about John Lennon's Nutopia from his album Mind Games. Nutopia is a country with no land, no boundaries, no passports, and no laws other than cosmic laws. And the Beatles' Pepperland from Yellow Submarine is described as a country 18,000 leagues beneath the Sea of Green, where inhabitants dress in bright colors and rainbows are frequent. Written with rich descriptions that bring places to life, The Dictionary of Imaginary Places is a wonderful, magical reference book perfect for fiction lovers. --John Russell --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Since the publication of the first Dictionary in 1980, Manguel (A History of Reading) and Guadalupi, a translator and editor, have accepted suggestions from readers and continued their own research. The result is this updated version--a book that includes imaginary terrains from ancient Greece to Harry Potter's Hogwarts. The authors have set a few limitations for inclusion: "no heavens or hells, no places in the future, none outside the planet Earth, no pseudonymous places such as Wessex or Manawaka." Even with those seemingly extensive restrictions, however, the dictionary runs over 700 pages. Each place is described in detail as if it physically existed outside the reader's imagination. Entries are cross-referenced and See references are provided, as well as illustrations and maps that are difficult to locate elsewhere. A valuable reference source to accompany fiction collections, this new edition is recommended for all school, public, and academic libraries.
-Katherine K. Koenig, Ellis Sch., Pittsburgh
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 14 and up
  
• Paperback: 804 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books; Exp Upd edition (November 2, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0156008726
• ISBN-13: 978-0156008723
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #124,196 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #4 in Books > Education & Reference > Dictionaries & Thesauruses > Geography
  • #41 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > History & Criticism
  • #52 in Books > Education & Reference > Encyclopedias > Mythology & Folklore

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More then I bargained for!, September 16, 2002

By 

A. E. Cesaro "slevena" (NJ United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Dictionary of Imaginary Places: The Newly Updated and Expanded Classic (Paperback)

I bought this book because I was intriqued by the concept. A book that catalogs all of the places mentioned in other books. What I got completely amazed me. Not only were the places cataloged and indexed by book and by place, but the descriptions were long, even better they included maps.

The people who put together this book understood that the reason people would buy the book was not because they were looking for a one line definition but because they were looking for information about the places themselves. For example, for the definition of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, it would have been easy to write a one line definition stating that this was the school that Harry Potter attended in the Harry Potter series. Instead the book has a definition several pages long including a drawing and also explains everything that has so far been written about the school including the moving staircases and the portraits on the walls. That is just the beginning thousands of places are included in the book, and all are given as much attention in their descriptions as the authors took to explain the locations in the original works of literature.

So enjoy this book, it will make you want to read about places to help you to figure out if you want to read the books that created them.

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Strange, but Amazing, October 11, 2001

By 

boston403 "boston403" (rockville, md United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dictionary of Imaginary Places: The Newly Updated and Expanded Classic (Paperback)

I recieved this book for Christmas from my paternal grandparents, who always give me tight stuff. I was crazy about this book, which covers every imaginery place in any book from Prospero's Island in "The Tempest" (great play, by the way) to Thomas More's Utopia. It was an amazing book. If you have ever loved any fantasy book, get this book! It has something to satisfy every interest.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A- for content, B- for illustrations., November 23, 2007

By 

Nonesuch Explorers "sizhao" (Too Close To L.A.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dictionary of Imaginary Places: The Newly Updated and Expanded Classic (Paperback)

Somewhat disappointed with this "newly updated and expanded" edition. Some entries that appeared in the original are omitted from the new edition. For a book on imaginary places, it's surprising how little space was allocated to Fairyland, especially when compared with the several-pages-long entry on Hogwarts.

Maps are everything when exploring imaginary places; they provide atmosphere as well as information. The maps in this book are generic line drawings, informative but unenchanting, and I can only guess that the authors were unable to negotiate reprinting permissions.

We suggest buying a copy of the original 1980 edition along with the current one; the older book may not have Hogwarts, but it casts its own spell. Also get a copy of An Atlas of Fantasy by Jeremiah Post, which is devoted to reproductions of authentic imaginary maps. Fairyland is documented with Bernard Sleigh's wonderful "Ancient Map of Fairyland" in a two-page spread, Tolkien's famous maps and some private conworlds and con-countries such as Thomas Williams Malkin's "Allestone" are included.