This large (10x14<">) book features 53 places, including Norway's fjords, Germany's Black Forest, Spain's Donana National Park, the Himalayas, Borneo's rainforest, the Nile, Mount McKinley, Yosemite, Jasper and Banff, the Amazon, Antarctica, the Andes, Australia's Pinnacles Desert, and Hawaii's Volcanoes National Park. Accompanying text includes introductions written in the heavily adjectival but still informative prose of praise for each geographical area. Several double fold-out spreads bring to mind the term ecoporn , coined by ecocritics unhappy with the encouragement of fantasies about only grand or extra-ordinary nature. But the large, color photos are impressive worthy of the rapt attention of the armchair nature-lover. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)