TRAVEL WATCH: October 18, 1999 VOL. 154 NO. 15

Off the Shelf

ALSO IN TIME

Love Me Tender, Love Me Suite--Asian Style Many love hotels cater to any demand by offering clean, well-maintained and well-appointed rooms. Choose carefully and you, the budget traveler, have unearthed a bargain Detour Don't let the rubber suit and body harness intimidate you: canyoning, the hottest new sport in New Zealand, is actually quite simple--and plenty of fun Off the Shelf For such a small volume, Worlds to Imagine bites off a big chunk of the globe Hot Deal Kuala Lumpur is flush with hotel bargains these days

Worlds to Imagine
Fodor's; Peter Guttman
(84 pages)

For such a small volume, Worlds to Imagine bites off a big chunk of the globe. In less than a hundred pages, Guttman attempts to cover 29 "Dream Journeys for Romantic Travelers." Visually, the espresso-sized coffee-table book is a joy. Guttman's photographs capture the spirit of a place and its inhabitants, be they bears, lions or people. If only the text was half as inspiring. While Peter Roget would be proud of lines like "ursine sushi chefs filleting their meal with serrated claws," the overdone metaphors leave the reader wanting the sky to just rain for once, as opposed to weep, stream or cascade. Here's a tip: if you get put off, just enjoy all the pretty pictures.