I arranged before the LA Times Festival of Books to meet guidebook author James Kaiser at his booth with no great expectations. A travel guide is usually quite pedestrian: somewhat helpful; a collection of facts; some photos (often provided by the local Tourist Bureau); not very exciting.
But I thought I would check because three of his guidebooks cover destinations popular with Southern California residents: Joshua Tree, Yosemite and the Grand Canyon.
Meeting James was a pleasant surprise. He was younger, more enthusiastic and motivated than I expected. A quick glance through a couple of his books revealed that he is an excellent photographer – and that he obviously spent a lot of time researching and writing his books. As a long-time photographer and one-time travel and outdoor writer myself, I could not just appreciate the effort he puts into his work, but relate to it personally.
So I was impressed.
Then, four of this guidebooks were delivered and I've had time to examine them more closely. I've also had time to visit his website.
And now I'm really impressed! Some quotes from his online bio were illuminating.
“James Kaiser is an award-winning travel writer and photographer. Believing behind-the-scenes information leads to successful, thoughtful travel, James is dedicated to giving travelers the tools they need to make every moment of their vacations count.”
And he delivers. I've seldom seen travel guidebooks so well researched or so packed with truly useful information: illustrated Contents pages; factual introduction; useful tips of all kinds; material for campers, hikers & backpackers; places to stay & area restaurants; maps and lots more. And almost everything is illustrated with photographs, many stunning, that James himself has shot – beautifully, I might add.
And each of the books include in-depth chapters on Geology, Ecology, Wildlife, and History. While most guidebooks put this information in the back of the book as an afterthought, James puts it in the front.
I'm usually not this enthusiastic about travel guidebooks but these are among the best I've ever seen.
James’ books include Acadia: The Complete Guide, Joshua Tree: The Complete Guide, Grand Canyon: The Complete Guide (winner of the Benjamin Franklin Award for Best Full-Color Travel Guide and the Independent Publisher Award for Best Travel Guide), and Yosemite: The Complete Guide. In 2010, the Acadia, Joshua Tree and Yosemite guides were all ranked as the number one best-selling guidebooks for their respective national parks by Nielsen Bookscan, so I'm not alone in my appreciation of them.
The Facts: Each book is Trade Paperback size; $22.95 (Joshua Tree, $1995); for more information visit http://jameskaiser.com/.
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