Puzzling Portmeirion: An Unconventional Guide To A Curious Destination [Paperback]

Craig Conley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 26, 2008

Portmeirion village is a whimsical seaside tourist destination on the west coast of Wales, attracting 250,000 visitors annually. A retirement project by an eccentric British architect named Sir Clough Williams-Ellis, this "home for fallen buildings" is a fascinating architectural garden for day visitors and an elaborate resort for overnight guests. Portmeirion is famous as the shooting location for the 1960s cult television series "The Prisoner," starring Patrick McGoohan. Puzzling Portmeirion is an involving, insightful guidebook that explores Sir Clough's trailblazing experiments in virtual reality, his subtle but powerful time-warping and space-folding tricks, the little-known myths and legends echoing down every footpath, and the myriad restless spirits at play. Eccentric globe-trotters will have their eyes opened, curiosities piqued, intellects tickled, feet motivated, and pens recording the most fascinating entries in their travel diaries, bar none.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Craig Conley, “America’s most creative and diligent scholar of letters, words and punctuation” (Encarta), is a curator, benefactor, philosopher, author, music producer, and documentarian. A former college teacher of writing and literature, he left academia to pursue his research into one-letter words, two-fold deities, and ancient Zen versions of Rock-Paper-Scissors. In addition to his Magic Words: A Dictionary and One-Letter Words: A Dictionary, he has written several educational titles, including four editions of the textbook Human Diversity: A Guide for Understanding, published by McGraw-Hill. His latest documentary, “David Lynch and His Precursors,” traces the avant-garde filmmaker’s influence through time, to movies that predate Lynch’s own body of work.

Product Details

• Paperback: 124 pages
• Publisher: CreateSpace (January 26, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1438217064
• ISBN-13: 978-1438217062
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,446,493 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

CRAIG CONLEY has been called "a true Renaissance man of the modern era, diving headfirst into comprehensive, open-minded study of realms obscured or merely obscure" (Clint Marsh), "America's most creative and diligent scholar of letters, words and punctuation" (Encarta), a "language fanatic" (Page Six gossip columnist Cindy Adams), and a "cult hero" (Publisher's Weekly). An eccentric scholar, Conley's ideas are often decades ahead of their time. He invented the concept of the "virtual pet" in 1980, fifteen years before the debut of the popular "Tamagotchi" in Japan. His virtual pet, actually a rare flower, still thrives and has reached an incomprehensible size. Conley's ONE-LETTER WORDS: A DICTIONARY is published by HarperCollins, and his MAGIC WORDS: A DICTIONARY is published by Weiser Books.