Book of the Moment: Toilets: A Spotter's Guide

Yes, the title of a brand new book from Lonely Planet is Toilets: A Spotter's Guide, which appends the phrase: "Nature's call has never been so beautifully answered."



Although it's been a while since I've posted about toilets (or 23-foot-high toilets or books printed on toilet paper), I still contend that the quality of a building can be gleamed from how well the bathrooms were designed. If the below sample pages are any indication, the toilets in the spotter's guide are all about standalone structures and are as much about where they're found as what they look like.



Book description from Lonely Planet:

Loos with incredible views, lavish lavatories, outstanding outhouses ­ all are featured in this pictorial guide to the world's most stunning toilets. Whether they're high­tech or arty, amusing or amazing, each toilet has a photo and a description of its location. More than 100 restrooms to remember are featured, from Antarctica to Zambia.

As any experienced traveller knows, you can tell a whole lot about a place by its bathrooms. Whatever you prefer to call them – lavatory, loo, bog, khasi, thunderbox, dunny, bathroom, restroom, washroom or water closet – toilets are a (sometimes opaque, often wide­open) window into the secret soul of a destination.

In these pages you’ll find porcelain pews with fantastic views, audacious attention­seeking urban outhouses, and eco­thrones made from sticks and stones in all sorts of wild settings, from precipitous mountain peaks to dusty deserts. So, wherever you’re reading this, we hope you’re sitting comfortably.