Exotic explores our obsession with the lure of distant lands and their promise of the weird and wonderful, the beautiful and grotesque. It decodes how things now considered everyday in Western culture were once considered exotic, such as tattoos, tulips, and images of now commonplace animals such as elephants, parrots, and giraffes.

Through a host of evocative images and insightful text, this book shows how the absorption of 'the foreign', through arts, design, architecture, and other cultural elements, has consistently enriched Western society, contributing to its cultural dynamism and artistic energy.

Exotic's focus is especially relevant to the modern globalized world in which our engagement with cultures and traditions from around the globe is easier - and potentially more fraught - than ever before.

《异域风情》探讨了我们对遥远国度的诱惑以及它们表现出来的古怪而奇妙，美丽而怪诞的迷恋。它解释了下载乃在西方文化中被认为司空见惯的事物曾经被认为具有异国情调，例如纹身、郁金香和现在常见的动物的图像，如大象、鹦鹉和长颈鹿。

通过大量引人遐想的图片和富有洞察力的文章，本书展示了通过艺术、设计、建筑和其它文化元素吸收的“异类”如何不断地丰富了西方社会，为它的文化活力和艺术能量做出贡献。

《异域风情》的焦点与这个现代全球化的世界尤其息息相关，在这个世界里，我们与全球各地文化和传统的接触比以往任何时候都更容易——而且可能更令人担忧。