Atlas obscura

The book, out Tuesday, is published by Workman, the company that published "1,000 Places to See Before You Die." Workman is billing "Atlas Obscura" as a "bucket-list guide to over 700 of the most curious, unusual, off-the-beaten path destinations from around the globe." Cover blurbs include this from Lena Dunham: "Atlas Obscura may be the only thing that can still inspire me to leave my apartment."

Why take Atlas Obscura out of the virtual world and onto the printed page? "There is nothing like a book," said Dylan Thuras, who founded the site with Joshua Foer. "It's hard to explain to people exactly what Atlas Obscura is, so we just felt like it would be so nice to distill this into a beautiful, physical object and be able to hand it to someone. Open it to any page and hopefully it gives people a sense of joy and wonder. For me, having worked in the ephemeral medium of the internet for so long, to hold something in my hand and say this is the result of years of work, it feels satisfying."