1001 Escapes to Experience Before You Die
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1001 Escapes to Experience Before You Die edited by Helen Arnold, Octopus Books.
UK price: £20
Pros: Well written, glossy production, endless mindless browsing.
Cons: Gets a bit samey after a while, too many similar resorts, not enough adventures, completely uncritical.
Verdict: Nice glamorous gift but the concept doesn’t quite work
Rating: 
Available from: Amazon.co.uk
Book Review
First, I must declare an interest. I know the editor Helen Arnold, Editorial Director Jane Laing, Project Editor Chrissy Williams… and I even wrote about a fifth of the book. So it’s hard to review 1001 Escapes to Experience Before You Die impartially. But, as it hasn’t got my name on the front cover, I’ll have a go at giving it an independent critique.
Bear in mind however that if I was too critical they may not give me a chance to do 1001 Cars that I’ve been angling for. I’m sure it would sell more than this…
In fact, I know it would because this is a bit of a cock-eyed creation. Anything “to do before you die” sounds a bit depressing to me.
Yet the book is clearly one of those glossy very browsable travel breeze blocks currently hugging a display table in your favourite bookshop. This has 960 pages and is the size of a cereal box and the weight of a lorry load of Weetabix.
It covers 1001 ‘Escapes’, which turn out to be mostly luxury hotels and resorts around the world. There is also a splattering of “experiences” like ballooning, walking, canoeing or driving in special spots.
The entries are well written and the photos very glamorous but something is missing. Maybe it’s because everything is non-critical, it all starts reading the same after a while. 1001 times we are told how relaxing and away-from-it-all each place is. The dozens of exotic resorts of the Caribbean soon start merging into those from the Pacific Islands, the country house hotels seeming the same after the first few dozen.
It makes a good short browse. I’ve already put mine in the downstairs toilet - it’s just right. After a while of flicking through the hundreds and hundreds of beachside villas and mountain retreats, dare I say it, it becomes a bit boring… and you end up longing for, not more relaxing stylish luxury hotels with fine restaurants, but an escape from this endless brochure for armchair travellers.
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