Gear Patrol | Spirit of Adventure, Passion for Gear

The First American Cookbook

American Cookery ($10) is the first cookbook written by an American. Strangely, the only details that are actually known about its author come from the words “American orphan” found on the cover. Other hints from the book’s text suggest she was a domestic laborer who lacked formal education. The book was published originally in 1796 [...]

All will be revealed

Patrick Lee wraps up his Travis Chase trilogy with another mind bending, stomach churning adventure. Deep Sky ($8) finds said protagonist and fellow covert Tangent agent Page Campbell on a journey that will take them across the country and through time and reality itself. They are hunting for a secret so sensitive it hasn’t been [...]

The ultimate cheat sheet on human experience

Having a firm grasp on history has always been a core pillar of a proper education. It provides context, insight and understanding on how things came to be, which is especially invaluable for those seeking to innovate. There are obviously innumerable texts on the subject, but for those looking for a casual refresher, it doesn’t [...]

Chasing the light and an explanation how

The first in a series of upcoming editions, photo artist Bruce Percy has compiled 40 of his incredible photoworks into The Art of Adventure: 40 Photographic Examples (~$61). Spanning the waterfalls of Iceland, to the Bolivian Altiplano, to Nepalese buddhists, each photo — like Patagonia’s Pehoe Curve (pictured above) — are stunning examples of Percy’s [...]

Car Max

What’s the phrase? It’s Christmas Day, it’s cold and there’s nothing to do. Well, get yourself a cup of hot cider and throw on the velour robe/smoking jacket and fake loafer slippers you just got from your crazy uncle and settle down to a long and luscious read of Car: The Definitive Visual History of [...]

A head start on booking your holiday plans

Despite our concerted efforts to cover the best books over the course of the year, there are still plenty of worthy titles that we didn’t get around to talking about. Subsequently, these selections represent an end of the year GP reading list of sorts for bringing your home library up to speed on 2011. Pack [...]

Soul man and Rock 'n' Roll fan

Ahmet Ertegun isn’t a household name — let alone easy to say, but if you’re a music fan, you’ve probably benefitted from his life’s legacy. Despite being the son of the first Republic of Turkey ambassador to the US, Ahmet channeled his love of Blues and Jazz to found Atlantic records. Not up on your [...]

Mixology 101

New York’s famed Please Don’t Tell nails the hidden speakeasy vibe like few other establishments in the city. For example, gaining access to the snug cocktail lounge requires patrons to find the hidden entrance located behind the vintage phone booth in the attached hot dog joint Crif Dogs. Jim Meehan’s inventiveness behind the bar, however, [...]

Edible Americana

From the foodstuffs syndicate of Serious Eats comes their new book: Serious Eats: A Comprehensive Guide to Making and Eating Delicious Food Wherever You Are ($18). Ed Levine and the editors have brought the same refreshingly approachable, high-energy style that have Serious Eats a must-bookmark site, to the epic 368 page book celebrating the best [...]

Redefining animal cruelty

The internet meme Awkward Family Photos has certainly faded from its former glory days as the golden child of internet humor, but that hasn’t stopped authors Mike Bender and Dough Chernack from developing their next great wrinkle on the same embarrassing theme — Awkward Family Pet Photos ($10). As you’d expect from the title, the [...]

Domestic Delights

When go-to resources like Travelzoo and Jetsetter are just a click away, it’s tough not to let wanderlust get the better of you and your real world budget. Thankfully, there’s plenty of gems right in our own 9,400,000 sq mi backyard — and the Grey Lady can prove it. Filled with photography and gorgeous illustrations, [...]

Learn from the best

Manvotionals: Timeless Wisdom and Advice on Living the 7 Manly Virtues is the second book from Brett and Kate McKay, the husband and wife team behind the always awesome The Art of Manliness. The idea for the book spawned from one of their namesake web series, which shares inspiring words from famous men throughout history. [...]

Munchy Manuscript

Crack pie isn’t a label most bakeries would readily slap on one of their confections, but then again most bakeries aren’t run by Christina Tosi. Inspired by her nostalgia for the teeth-depleting sugared cereals of Saturday morning fame and probably more than a few hits off of the peace pipe, her offbeat sweet tooth captured [...]

Well read journeys

Since the Spring of 2007 the dedicated journalists at Overland Journal have shared their avid passion for adventure travel and overlanding in a magazine we just can’t get enough of (we’re four issues deep). Season after season they craft archival quality editions, issued five times a year — packed with feature-length stories chronicling their global [...]

Frankenstein's Fontster

Typography mishaps, philanthropy and Frankenstein. If it sounds like a genius mashup, then you’d be correct. The Frankenfont project takes Shelley’s classic and incorporates incomplete font sets that commonly plague half-baked PDFs to create a progressively devolving book. The layout begins with the most commonly used characters and worsens into obscure typography — making the [...]