Eccentric California (Bradt Travel Guide) [Paperback]

Jan Friedman (Author)

Book Description

Series: Bradt Travel Guide | Publication Date: September 1, 2005

This new title is dedicated to the sheer lunacy of California and its citizens, covering the biggest, the best, the wackiest and weirdest of the state's people and places.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Only in California can you visit an artist in residence at the city dump; buy a ticket to a power-tool drag race; taste wine wearing a Marge Simpson wig; climb a mountain made of hay and old paint; go shopping at the County Coroner's Office; leave your gum in Bubble Gum Alley. Every society needs a fringe and - from San Diego to San Francisco Bay - California's eccentrics answer their country's call.
From rooms with a skew to the quirkiest cuisine, the oddest shops to the wackiest festivals, the strangest tours to the most peculiar pursuits, Jan Friedman ventures right to the edge of mainstream tourism and plunges deep into the heart of America's most wonderfully weird state.

About the Author

Jan Friedman has spent most of her life in the San Francisco Bay area. A travel writer, photographer, and former tour guide, she explored 56 countries before discovering that her very own could offer as much adventure as the most exotic foreign locale. Her Eccentric America was voted Best Travel Guide by the North American Travel Journalists' Association in 2001 and in 2002 won the Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Gold Award for Guidebooks.

Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: Bradt Travel Guides; 1st edition (September 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1841621269
• ISBN-13: 978-1841621265
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,349,487 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eccentric California, December 20, 2005

By 

Mrs. Boat 2005 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eccentric California (Bradt Travel Guide) (Paperback)

The author Jan Friedman has touched base on so many eccentric places, things and events in California.
Her detailed explanation of each place makes me want to pack my bags and go see them all.
Coming from Phoenix, AZ I have not seen or been too much in the Golden State, but with 2006 around the corner and a great book. My News Year's resolution is to travel and get coffee stains all over this fantastic read.

And to all you want to be PRICE IS RIGHT CONTESTANTS.
This author has hit the nail on it's head.
Not only did I stay at the Farmer's Daughter Hotel and was prepped with the best insiders information. I also started milking the cows about 4:00am just to become the:
Showcase Showdown Winner.
Yes, I said WINNER!!!!!!

I'm very excited to see more with this book in 2006.
Thanks for the great information on California.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Eccenric California - Don't believe the misconceptions., October 30, 2005

By 

Global Traveler "www.travelganza.gttrends.net" (Traveling The Beaches and Mountains of the World) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eccentric California (Bradt Travel Guide) (Paperback)

There are many misconceptions about the Golden State and one of them is that California is an eccentric place. And, in truth, eccentricity there is not the same as eccentricity in, say Utah.

California is known for it's cutting edge social conventions, and admittedly, many first originated in the Golden State (from Frisbees and motels to skateboards and drive in churches).

Clearly, author Jan Friedman has her work cut out for her, but she seems up to the challenge, discussing festivals and events, peculiar pursuits, museums and collections, "quirkyvilles" (towns with a twist), offbeat tours, unusual cuisine , kitschy attractions, and anything and everything else that is different to say the least.

5.0 out of 5 stars Funny and True, February 14, 2006

By 

DF "avid reader D" (East of the Mississippi) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Eccentric California (Bradt Travel Guide) (Paperback)

As a native Californian (who ran away from San Francisco because it was getting too mainstream and conservative) I am very familiar with many of the things reviewed in this book, most particularly in the Central and Northern coastal areas. But, much to my surprize, areas that I thought I knew well house many previously unknown and interesting places to visit and things to do. Cool!

Definitely worth dropping a few bucks for if you are planning on discovering what makes Californians tick. (Just remember, Northern and Southern California really are two different states, lol.)