Virtuoso Life - September/October 2008 - (Page 30) LUXE REPORT diVER diSTRAcTiOn BOOKS Ghost Train to the Eastern Star By Paul Theroux (Houghton Mifflin, $28) Paul Theroux’s travel writing is a keen-eyed journey of intellectual curiosity. In his latest book, Theroux retraces his 1970s rail trip across Europe and Asia, first chronicled in The Great Railway Bazaar. This time the 28,000-mile adventure finds a transformed Eastern Europe, with Georgia limping under the weight of decades of communism and Azerbaijan rejuvenated by oil wealth. Turkey, he writes, and Istanbul in particular, retains its charms, but he finds Singapore to be “the most transformed of any city I had ever known.” You may not agree with some of Theroux’s assessments or reach all his destinations, but they make for a compulsively readable and enlightening narrative. Descending the Dragon By Jon Bowermaster (National Geographic Society, $21.95) In 2001 Jon Bowermaster set out to do what no one had done before: kayak the length of Vietnam’s coast, some 800 miles and home to one-third of the country’s citizens. With a ragtag bunch in tow, including photographer Rob Howard, the resulting tale is a discovery of welcoming and optimistic villagers, many of whom had never seen an American, and his attempt to tell their story despite the limitations of the official government “monitor” accompanying him. Howard’s color and black-and-white photos, including panoramic coastline shots and portraits, bring the adventure to life. The Peter Lik 25th Anniversary Book Photography by Peter Lik (Peter Lik Publishing, $2,000) Australian Peter Lik’s vivid images have earned him a place among the world’s top nature photographers. Coinciding with the opening of his gallery at New York’s renovated Plaza hotel this September, this signed, limited-edition coffee table book measures 13.5 by 19.5 inches and features more than 500 of Lik’s favorite shots from Australia and North America, some of which have never been published, along with 20 pages of journal entries from the field. Pound for pound (it weighs 30), it’s one of the most collectible books of the year. – CHARLES EALY TREASURE TROVE Set in Stone Fifteen stone structures, including a temple, ball court, and residences, testify to pre-Hispanic history at Tehuacalco, a ruin roughly 50 minutes north of Acapulco. After scholarly study and restoration, the 80-acre site, which apparently thrived as a place for religious ceremonies of the Yope civilization between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries, will open to the public by year’s end. TAKE A SEAT Collectors who find the perfect piece on their travels can build a room around it with Greenbaum Interiors. The Paterson, New Jersey, design company specializes in custom re-creations – such as the set of chairs they crafted to match an English antique for the owner of Perrier – as well as restorations and heirloom refurbishment. On-site, 30 artisans stand by for furniture and upholstery requests, while a staff of 25 interior designers source some 2,000 worldwide contacts for finishing touches that extend from chandeliers to drapes and decorative pillows. www.greenbauminteriors.com 30 V I RT U O S O L I F E (BOOKS) IRIDIO SEATTLE http://www.greenbauminteriors.com
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