atlas of remote islands

Luxist Giveaway: Atlas of Remote Islands Book

Filed under: Books

Many of the books that are offered to Luxist for giveaway are big lavish coffee table books with rich photography. We love those but there's also a lot to love about today's more modest tome too. Atlas of Remote Islands by Judith Schalansky (Penguin Books) is magic in its own way, a fascinating compendium of 50 remote islands far from the mainland, from people, from airports and from the public eye. Schalansky gives each of these little treasures individual attention on a single page with an accompanying map. The result is a cross between a history lesson and a short story, full of spare poetry and fascinating historical details.

Some of the islands from Pitcairn Island (the place the Mutiny on the Bounty settlers chose to inhabit) to Easter Island are familiar, others, like Russia's Lonely Island or Mexico's Socorro Island are less known but no less worthy of exploration.

Schalansky's opening chapter is titled "Paradise Is An Island, So Is Hell" and the islands that the book covers range from tropical atolls to frozen, rocky spits of land. The author is a writer and designer who lives in Berlin and lectures on the fundamentals of typography. She not only wrote the text but designed and typeset the book, an act perhaps as solitary as a life lived on a remote island.

We are giving away one copy of this book. The book sells for $28 and we are giving away one copy to a reader chosen at random.

* To enter, leave a confirmed comment below.
* The comment must be left and confirmed before January 18, 2011 at 5:00PM Eastern Time.
* You may only enter once.
* One winner will be selected in a random drawing.
* One winner will receive a copy of Atlas of Remote Islands by Judith Schalansky, which has a retail price of $28.
* Open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia.

See complete giveaway rules here.

This contest is now closed. Thank you for your participation.

Tags: atlas of remote islands, islands, luxist giveaway, private islands, travel, travel books