I’ve been sent a note about a book due out in London in September: 1,000 Places to See in the USA and Canada Before You Die, by Patricia Schultz. The publisher, Workman, says it’s “the first authorised spin-off title of the original bestseller” 1,000 Places to See Before You Die.
Now, the original, I seem to remember, included quite a few places in both the USA and Canada; places that, fighting for space with attractions in all the other countries of the world, must really have been premier-league. Or at least what the author (at the time) considered premier-league. To continue the footballing metaphor, we must now be dropping down into the Football League, the Football Conference, maybe even the regional leagues. Or, as the Americans say, the little leagues.
How much farther can we go? 1,000 Places To See In New England Before You Die? Then 1,000 Places In Maine? Then 1,000 Places in Kennebunkport? But that seems to be the publisher’s intention. This, note, is “the first authorised spin-off…”
I’m not a great fan of lists — they’re one of the crutches of the journalistic classes, along with polls, pegs, panels and alliteration. But they can occasionally be worth reading if they demonstrate taste, expertise and discrimination. How can a list do that if it runs to 1,000?
Now, let’s suppose you didn’t have a book to pad out. Let’s suppose you were compiling a list of places you really care about; places that blew you away; places that you would recommend to a friend with terminal cancer who hasn’t time to waste on little-league locations. How many places would be on it?
I have trouble getting my Desert Island Discs down to the requisite eight. But Places to See Before You Die…? After 13 years in travel journalism, I reckon I’d have no trouble boiling them down to 10. Maybe even five.