num_pages: 424
description: Alberto Manguel and Gianni Guadalupi. The Dictionary of Imaginary Places. New York: Macmillan, [1980]. First edition. Quarto. 438 pages. Illustrated by Graham Greenfield. Maps and charts by James Cook. Like an ordinary geographical dictionary, The Dictionary of Imaginary Places contains alphabetically organized entries for more than a thousand locales. In this case, however, the locales in question are far from ordinary--they range from the orc-ridden wastes of Tolkien's Middle-earth to the languorous shores of Homer's Island of the Lotus-Eaters. Though for the most part these fantastical lands are mapped and chronicled with straight-faced seriousness, the encyclopedia is not without a certain deadpan wit. For example, the entry for Oz describes "a large rectangular country divided into four small countries.... As a famous visitor once remarked, Oz is not Kansas." This handsome and whimsically charming book, adorned with fanciful line drawings and maps, is rich with enough fictive detail to please the most inveterate reader.
language: English
title: Dictionary of Imaginary Places
titlecomplete: Dictionary of Imaginary Places
genres: Fantasy, Books About Books, Dictionaries, Reference, Research, Folklore, Literature, Writing, Mythology, Fiction
ratings_count: 1480
awards: awardedAt: 1388563200000
name: Prémio Adamastor de Literatura Fantástica Estrangeira
publisher:  New York: Macmillan