Accidentally Wes Anderson - Adventures: Includes an Exclusive Foreword by Wes Anderson

by Wally Koval

A brand-new visual odyssey from Accidentally Wes Anderson, authorised by the legendary filmmaker, taking readers on stunning adventures to every continent and sharing oddly moving human tales along the way.

AWA is back with a new book full of incredible real photos that look plucked from the world of Wes Anderson - sharing dozens of idiosyncratic stories that make each place unique.

You'll venture to Antarctica through the Drake Passage, make a stop in lesser-known Jincumbilly, Australia (where there are more platypuses than people), travel the backroads of Vermont, and drop into one of the oddest umbrella shops of London.

But no matter where or how the adventure unfolds, it's nothing without the people who make it memorable. Here, we share the stories of communities and characters who come to life as vividly as the photos themselves.

· You'll meet the father of American skydiving, who created the officially sanctioned centre of the world - a Californian town with a population of two.
· You'll visit the 'post office at the end of the world' in Tierra del Fuego - and meet the mustachioed letter carrier who, in his free time, runs an anarchist island micronation called Redonda.
· And you'll travel to a town in the Arctic Circle where cats are not allowed, humans cannot be buried, and a primary attraction is a doomsday vault containing the recipe for the Oreo cookie.

Thank you for exploring!

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Photography, Art

345 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 24, 2024

Reviews

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sequel to the first book - more shots that look EXACTLY like Wes Anderson would shoot them. This could be fun to do on vacation. Even take shots like these around home. Very perpendicular, minimalist, looking for lines of symmetry. You know it when you see it.

Pictures taken from around the globe. With text going into some details of the object being photographed.

Fun to read and view.

4.25*

For Wes Anderson movies (to understand this style), go see:
Year Title
1996 Bottle Rocket
1998 Rushmore
2001 The Royal Tenenbaums
2004 The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
2007 The Darjeeling Limited
2009 Fantastic Mr. Fox
2012 Moonrise Kingdom
2014 The Grand Budapest Hotel
2018 Isle of Dogs
2021 The French Dispatch
2023 Asteroid City
2024 The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More
2025 The Phoenician Scheme

[Ingrid Allan · Rating 4 out of 5]

What appears initially like a surface-level photo journey destined for artisan coffee tables everywhere is actually a surprisingly well-researched and in-depth travel guide filled with anecdotes, social history, and stunning compositions. Makes you wish the director himself would set more of his films in far-flung anachronistic beauty spots of the kind that made the Darjeeling Limited, the French Dispatch, and the Grand Budapest Hotel so appealing.

[L.B. Sedlacek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful pictures, amazing locations. Love all the interesting and unique places featured in this book!

[Daphne]

I desperately want to live in a Wes Anderson film, but unfortunately books like this are the closest I'll ever get :(

I didn't like this as much as the previous volume since some of the pictures seemed more pastel-aesthetic than Wes-Anderson-aesthetic, but the pictures were all beautiful. I hope the authors come out with another volume!

[Beth Oehler · Rating 4 out of 5]

So cool that all these locations apparently actually exist. :)

[Relyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE the Instagram account that led to these amazing books. This one, I gotta have! I can hardly wait to get to Felicity, CA.

[Samhain · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am entirely biased, as Wes Anderson is one of my favourite directors ever and I love photography, but this book is an absolute delight

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of fun, colorful pictures and interesting stories! My one complaint is that there are a dozen two-page spreads of perfectly symmetrical photos that would be so gorgeous except the binding of the book creates a huge, disappointing break in the center of those photos.

[Debi · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a joy to delve into all these mini stories of unique locations. I’ve loved my mornings for the past couple of weeks being an armchair traveler. The photos are amazing and I can’t wait to visit some of these places!

[Michelle McCormack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love all things Wes Anderson and even photos evocative of his style. Simply gorgeous and the blurbs that accompany them are delightful and fascinating. Makes me want to visit each place and experience it in person.

[Kaytlyn Snyder · Rating 5 out of 5]

good book to end the year on!

[Tera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the history / story behind the photographs.

[Elien · Rating 4 out of 5]

Je ziet dat dit een tweede editie is en de Kovals ondertussen al meer ervaring hebben met boeken te publiceren: de kwaliteit van de foto's ligt een pak hoger dan die van de eerste editie.

[EyesonArt · Rating 5 out of 5]

great album that I added to my collection, will revisit again.

[Katra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Makes me want to grab my camera and head out for adventures of my own!

p-n, s-n, v-n

[Amy Ringrose · Rating 4 out of 5]

My new favorite coffee table book! Sure to be a conversation starter, I can’t wait to tell any guests in my home all about it! 😊

[Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love everything about this gorgeous book. Great photos, maps, text. A coffee table book to return to many times, even, dare I say it, base some of my travels around!

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wes Anderson films have a certain aesthetic. This book focuses on real world locations that could fir into that aesthetic.

[angelofmine1974 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful color photos from around the world of different landmarks, places, etc.

For the rest of the review, visit my Vlog at:

https://youtube.com/shorts/GtIJhL8BqF...

Enjoy!

[Jennifer Shockley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the Instagram account and this book delves deeper into each photo, providing a history of the location, a fun fact and always a touch of humor in every story.

[Maximiliano Pérez Perdomo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Casi un año estuve en este viaje, dosificándolo para que no se terminara. Es hermoso y confirma que hay lugares impresionantes en el mundo que no llegamos ni a imaginar.

[Allison Kirchner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since I'd enjoyed the original "Accidentally Wes Anderson" collection, this time I knew what to expect. I borrowed this book from the library soon after its release, and lingering over the photos and descriptions brought me great pleasure. I recognize the underlying gimmick, but I embrace the color schemes and unusual tableaux. There are still a few too many lighthouses, swimming pools and viewfinders, but perhaps they are meant to reflect the mood of "The Life Aquatic." I am a sucker for the train photos -- perhaps they are meant to conjure "The Darjeeling Limited." Many other pages seem to highlight colors most familiar to "The Grand Budapest Hotel." Again, I suspect it is harder to curate this project than it might seem, so I credit the authors.