Miami Beach

The photos of the marinas and the packed beaches made me want to book a flight immediately. I expected a dry coffee-table book, but the writing about Miami's nonstop pleasure culture actually pulls you in.

The nightlife chapters are what sold me — pleasure really is the through-line here, from the marina scenes to the beaches packed with bronzed revelers. I've read a lot of city books that stay surface-level, but this one lingers on the yachts and the crowds like it's actually there.

I picked this up before a trip and the sections on the beaches and the bronzed crowds along the shore felt like I was already there. The nightlife chapters are the real highlight though, they capture that constant pleasure-seeking energy of the city perfectly.