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Fun Along the Road: American Tourist Attractions
In nearly two hundred color and black-and-white illustrations, the author of Home Away from Home presents an entertaining look at the amusements and diversions found along America's highways and byways. 15,000 first printing. BOMC.
128 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 11, 2022
Fun coffee table book. Beautiful end papers with reprints of vintage attraction decals and stickers (my favorite part of the book, in fact). Does what a coffee table book should do: Be heavy on photos and light on text.
A bit disjointed, though. Some chapters are a bit long (24-30 pages), while others very short (4-10 pages). Transitions from one topic to another are not always obvious or clear. Overbalanced toward upstate New York attractions. Text is more allegorical and guess work, rather than historically researched and documented.
That said, however, it's a book by a photographer, not a historian. And it does contain some lovely images of quirky place from the West Coast, Midwest, Southeast, the South, and Northeast.
A bit disjointed, though. Some chapters are a bit long (24-30 pages), while others very short (4-10 pages). Transitions from one topic to another are not always obvious or clear. Overbalanced toward upstate New York attractions. Text is more allegorical and guess work, rather than historically researched and documented.
That said, however, it's a book by a photographer, not a historian. And it does contain some lovely images of quirky place from the West Coast, Midwest, Southeast, the South, and Northeast.
January 26, 2017
A fun--albeit slender--coffee table book. Margolies is a photographer with a passion for roadside attractions. Not all photos in the book are his, as his passion includes their history as well, so there are vintage photos and postcards from attractions past. This is apparently his second book on this topic, and I note from his jacket flap bio that he's done a book devoted specifically to miniature golf, which I'd love to get my hands on. I liked this book, but I would have liked it more if there were more of it. The photos are lovely, but leave you wanting more, as does the text detailing the history ... Actually, "detailing," is probably the wrong word as it's rather superficial. This book is a decent introduction to the glories of roadside attractions, past and present, but will leave most wanting more in-depth information.
March 27, 2009
I found this book extremely fascinating! It is so interesting to me what people build and what people stop to see on their travels!!! I want to see some of the things in this book!
December 11, 2012
A fun read... maybe just as much a history book as a travel book.
August 4, 2013
Beautiful time capsule of the golden age of roadside attractions. It breaks my heart how few of these are still out there though...
September 30, 2011
Fun! Enjoyable to read and peruse the pics!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews