Travel Books

I like to travel and to observe the cities, landscapes, the plants and animals and the human inhabitants of the countries I go to. So does Levy-Strauss, and he is a fantastic observer, much more sharp-eyed than I could ever hope to be, and a highly entertaining writer. In this classic he talks about a wide range of observations from a number of corners of the world, but mainly about South America.
The book deals with Levi-Strauss' time as a teacher in Brazil and his trips into the South American hinterland; his escape from Nazi-occupied France; His later expeditions to visit remote tribes in the Amazon; and an assortment of observations about such diverse topics as the frustration of the traveler to never encounter the true, pristine state of a culture, the Indian caste system and the division of public and private space in different parts of the world. The book is full of fascinating anecdotes: My favorite one is how a native chief from observing Levy-Strauss grasped the social importance of writing, but not its role in information storage and transmission. He bluffed to impress his underlings and drew freshly invented line configurations on a paper. This leads Levy-Strauss to observe that from the invention of writing to its universal knowledge a few millennia passed, during which it did not serve to liberate the masses, but to control them. Such wide-ranging philosophical associations are frequent and were very enjoyable to me. The book is, however, definitely not only a collection of anecdotes, but in parts a very detailed description of the life of some of the native tribes he visited in the Amazon. Drawings of artifacts, patterns used in body-painting and photographs supplement the text. We are given both anthropological descriptions of the lifes of these peoples, their social organization, attitudes and material culture, as well as Levy-Strauss' personal experiences when living among them, sometimes his friendships with members of these tribes. Of course these people were strongly affected by the contact with European civilization, often to the worse. We also learn about these developments. There isn't really much direct explanation about his theoretical approaches to anthropology. This is the kind of book which made me wish that I could have been an expedition member of Levy-Strauss' team. Highly recommended.

I often review works which I have read long ago. Upon beginning to write about them I invariably discover how much time I gave to something which seemed so worthwhile at the time, and which I have almost completely forgotten. I then ordinarily do some catch- up learning about the book. And my review becomes an amalgalm of distant past and most recent present impression. And meanwhile the heart of the book is forever unknown to me and lost. And my review is only a minor tracing an impression both of the book itself and what of my mind knew when reading through it.
This certainly applies to my reading of this particular work, ,the one work of Levi- Strauss which I remember reading with any degree of real understanding and pleasure. His making of a life and career as an anthropologist which are a good part of the first part of the work interested me then.
The long travelogue and explorations into Amerindian society and mind, interested me less.
I understand though that the real voyage is into and along with the mind of Levi- Strauss itself, a mind much more complicated than I was ordinarily used to meeting and ingesting .
I do remember however the somewhat majestic tone, the tone of restrained sadness of quiet mourning which seemed to go through the work as Levi- Strauss met with worlds being lost and deterorating , in part through their meetings with the very kind of Western mind he himself exemplified. It is the mind destroying the object in the process of knowing it , as the Western explorers of these tribal societies transformed them out of their own natural state by meeting with them.
For Levi- Strauss and this I remember, the ' primitive mind' is not ' primitive at all' and may be in its linguistic complexity and social structure far more intricate than the ' civilized ' as it were sophisticated worlds we believe we live in.
I read this work as a way of being acquainted with a great mind, a mind which to my mind proved to be quite elusive and even distant.
But clearly the exploration made by Levi- Strauss of his own inner and external worlds is one which calls to the curious human mind and heart in its quest for understanding ' of the other'
Montaigne took a trip in the Brazilian jungle in the twentieth
century, looked in the mirror and saw the face of Levi- Strauss.

One way to gauge who's in among fashionable academics is to read the catalog for the "Writers and Readers' Documentary Comic Book" series. Sartre has an entry, and so does Derrida, and Lacan. Thirty years ago, you would have expected to find an entry in this index for Claude Levi-Strauss. No more. Translations of his principal works appear to persist in print, but the sales numbers are look low, and he seems almost to have disappeared from the trendy book reviews and such. This is perhaps a matter for at least idle curiosity: Levi-Strauss is surely no more abstruse than his magisterial contemporaries - but no less so; one is perfectly willing to be relieved the obligation of ever picking him up again.

With one exception. In style and temperament, Tristes Tropiques is so different from almost everything else Levi-Strauss wrote that it is hard to believe it is written by the same man. Oh, the primitive tribes are there, and a brief personal intellectual history, that offers a bow to Freud, and Bergeson, and Saussure. In my own copy, which I first read about 1980, I even have a pencilled notation "structuralism" - this at page 375 (Pocket Books edition, 1977). But there is almost none of the portentous vacuity that you had to cope with in the so-called "serious" works.

What you get instead is Levi Strauss the raconteur, full of travelers' tales. He dines on roasted parrot, flamed with whisky. The termites make the earth rumble. Virgins are made to spit in pots of corn, to provoke fermentation - but "as the delicious drink, at once nutritious and refreshing, was consumed that very evening, the process of fermentation was not very advanced." You almost expect the anthropophagi and the men whose heads grow beneath their shoulders, that you meet in the Voyages of Sir John Mandeville, Knight.

Laced through it all, you get a kind of austere sadness which is either (a) a tragic view of life; or (b) a kind of self-indulgent posturing, depending on your temperament for skepticism. "Every effort to understand," he says, "destroys the object studied in favor of another object of a different nature." Or: "Anthropology could with advantage be changed into 'entropology', as the name of the discipline concerned with the study of the highest manifestations of [a] process of disintegration."

Well, call me anything the like, they say, as long as you call me for dinner. It might even be an elaborate con. But so, for that matter, might the stories of Herodotus were you get the same mix of the eclectic and the tolerant, the surreal and the sly. Herodotus, we may note, is one of the first great works of Western literature. Let's hope that Levi-Strauss is not one of the last.

This is Levi-Strauss most readable book, and it is a fantastic introduction to the "why" behind his interest in structuralism. There are hints of the various methods and approaches that he uses in later works, but this book shows why he was to develop structuralism in later works. The writing is clever and eloquent, and various conclusions he made about cultural diversity address contemporary concerns in a highly articulate and responsible manner. Read this book before delving into the other writings of one of the 20th Century's most important anthropologists.

Tristes Tropiques, surely one of the great books of the twentieth century, is Levi-Strauss at his intoxicating, idea-overloaded best and an elegy for a world that colonialism and then globalisation have doen their rational best to annihilate.

Levi-Strauss, like most thinkers who come up with new ways of describing the world-- those who Richard Rorty calls "inventors of philosophical vocabularies"-- has of course been mis-read and his ideas mis-applied, as we see with the much-hyped "creation" and then "demise" of "structural anthropology." The real pleasure of this book, which mixes fascinating accounts of Levi-Strauss' travels in Brazil in the '30s with autobiography, and adds chapters on the Maya and ancient Hindu (Indian) civilisations, is in its sheer mass of artfully arranged detail and its endless, provocative play of ideas.

Levi-Strauss stays conversational, descriptive and straightforward, avoiding academic jargon and obscure references. He assumes you know the basics about people like Freud, Marx, Darwin and the Buddha, and then shows you a trip through largely non-industrial societies which unfolds from anthropological description into deep philosophical speculation on the meaning of society and life.

In Brazil, Levi-Strauss watches an illiterate but canny chieftain use his anthropological fieldnotes to intimidate his illiterate tribesmen subordinates, and speculates on the parallel origins of writing and slavery. In Matto Grosso, he meets a butcher fascinated with elephants, since "he could not imagine so much meat in one place." On the banks of the Amazon, a non-industrial tribe is dying, hypnotically lost in the symbolic intricacies of an ancient social system that makes its citizens inbreed. In India, Levi-Strauss watches Islam and Hinduism-- the "locker room" and "mother" religions-- wage symbolic and then real war post-Independence.

The book starts as anthropology, turns into philosophy, and ultimately becomes a critique of the West, driven by "reason" and technology to shake off what Levi-Strauss calls the "thick blanket of dreams" with which non-industrial civilisation arranges the Universe into Meaning, which remains for the industrialised world the greatest and unanswered question.

But Levi-Strauss does not idealise the primitive. His point is that through the study of those and that which are different, a kind of "ideal model" of society-- one which will never exist-- can be built in the imagination, and people can evaluate their world by reference to this community of mind.

This is a remarkable book-- easy to read, engrossing, and endlessly thought-provoking.

We recently had the pleasure of visiting Oslo, Norway and went to the Kon-Tiki Museum while there. They were sold out of the English language version of this book. I had read it in the mid-fifties and had lost the book sometime over the years. This purchase was to "re-stock" my library with what I have always considered to be a wonderful adventure story. I can recommend this book to anyone in the GPS generation who cannot imagine making passage across the Pacific as did Thor Heyerdahl. It's a wonderful story.

This book was in great physical condition...it just looks way older than I expected...you know how old paperbacks get...kind of yellowish and pages don't totally lay flat...It won't stop me from reading it, and it was a bargain for the price, but I am not sure it was LIKE NEW.

A very wow story.

When the author was told that a particular people's migration was impossible, given the ocean going technology and distance involved, he set out to prove it wasn't.

Crazy, brave, or whatever, but a pretty impressive real-life adventure tale, along with a spot of first-hand scientific historical research.

This was one of my summer reads and I found it incredibly entertaining. The story of how a bunch of crazy Norwegians, many of whom were WWII vets, floated across the South Pacific on a balsa raft during the middle of the 20th century is one of the best adventure stories I have ever read. The line between scientific investigation and insanity is thin on this one. The men set off to prove a link between Ancient Peruvians and Polynesians by proving that the Peruvians had sailed as far as Polynesia on balsa rafts. The group procures its wood from the dangerous, lawless countryside of Peru, floats it down a river to the sea, and sets forth on an epic adventure on a scrappy looking sail driven raft they slapped together using diagrams based off ancient documents.

The accounts of flying fish, battles with sharks, and struggles against the elements are highly entertaining. They drifted across seas drawn by the currents through areas of the ocean free of shipping lanes, an adventure unparalleled for its time. Their raft literally became a home to hundreds of sea creatures. They encountered sea creatures that nobody had ever seen before. Although their voyage seems crazy, it was really done and I was actually relieved when the raft broke up on a reef on a South Pacific Island and the men were able to swim to safety.

If you've ever dreamed of doing something crazy in the name of scholarly pursuits, or if you like a good adventure tale, this is a good read. Its also an interesting piece of history and Thor Heyerdahl went on to receive hundreds of awards for his incredible accomplishment.

It's a great read and an epic journey. What amazed me, even more than the raft itself, was that the crews' relationships with each other survived the trip. I don't know many (any) people I'd want never to be able to get out of sight of for months on end...

Read and be impressed, be very impressed!

We just finished a three-week trip to Italy, and found this guide totally reliable. Even if you don't speak Italian, you can puzzle out the essence of the reviews, and you can't go wrong with restaurants listed.

If you are going to select you own lodgings or restaurants, the Red Guide is a must. You can trust it completely.

Excellent advice with up to date information and easily red map directions. Find the ratings and prices advised accurate. Ideal for the European who probably speaks several languages. For those only English speaking from the southern hemisphere an extra effort is required to fully comprehend some advice in a foreign language. Why can you not purchase the guide translated into English? However it does encourage a better knowledge of the chosen language.There is no better information on accomodation and resturants in a concise publication so I will stick with Michelin to maintain a Bon voyage.

Once you figure out the various symbols, the Michelin Red Guide has the most relevant information in the least space of any guide...an excellent guide.

This is the new edition of the Morey/Winnett (sp?) book but it's much, much more than that. I've hiked the JMT a couple of times and done a fair amount of hiking in the Sierras. Basically tho I'm a city boy and can't tell one tree from another and know nothing about geology. This book will - I haven't had the chance to hike with it yet - fill in the ignorance and satisfy the curiosity about what I'm hiking past. The author knows her stuff. But, wait, there's a whole lot more. Aside from a large number of GPS coords, more than I've found anywhere on the Web, there's all kinds of info you need to orchestrate your hike - names, addresses, prices, policies, regulations, campsites, side-trip peak-bagging, Harrison maps, informed suggestions - it's all here. One more item - it's only occasionally you read a book that makes you feel the author really worked hard to make it "complete", didn't cut corners, "pushed" when the going got hard - this is one such book. If you're thinking of hiking the JMT or any part of it, buy the book. If you're not thinking of doing the hike, buy the book and discover what you're missing.

Haven't hiked it yet, but this book gives the most comprehensive look at the JMC, both North bound and South bound. The reason I bought this book was because it gave details on both directions. It doesn't give you a daily guide because it knows that each person will have his or her own pace. The only thing I didn't like is that it spends too much time describing fauna and not the trail.
It is also meant to be a trail companion and to be read on the trail. Why? If I'm on the trail why do I need to read about it? Some of the detail is useless unless you are right there looking at it. However, the description of the trail and the maps are valuable (I especially like the elevation maps given for each section)
It also gives very important information on how to get to the trail, permits and where and when to get them along with some great mileage charts.

Great book for on the trail, a good book for preparation.

Wilderness Press continues to update some of their classic guides regularly and this new version of their John Muir Trail Guide is well written with a new author, Elizabeth Wenk. At its heart, the guide is similar to previous editions in giving a mile for mile description of the trail. I found it very accurate for all portions of the JMT that I have hiked. It also includes new features: numerous GPS coordinates for landmarks, updated regulations, appendices listing campsites, mileages, and resupply points, and new topographical maps from Tom Harrison.

All these new features come at a small cost, however, in that the book is more than twice as large as the previous edition, by Kathy Morey and Thomas Winnett. And while you will need these new features in planning your hike, they are less important on the actual trail. Backpackers trying to save space and weight have a couple of options. One is to simply tear out the sections of the book you will be using. You hardly need the classic South to North directions if you are hiking the other way. Another is to use this edition for planning, but to get one of the older editions for the actual trip. These can be found here (1998) or here (1986). But this book is still worth purchasing. Having it will improve your odds of completing the trail and dramatically increase your enjoyment of it as well.

The previous version of this book was, I believe, considered to be the definitive JMT book, and this new version must be also. In it are all the details anyone attempting or thinking of attempting the John Muir Trail will need to know; what clothes to take, which food is appropriate, permits needed, bear information, a guide to the flowers of the area, history of the trail, geology, directions and even maps and a list of possible campsites. In fact, details are the thing about this book - it's ram-jam with them, and I couldn't think of any detail that I'd like to know that wasn't covered (I've hiked the trail once)!

This is a guidebook for those intending to hike the trail, not an account of someone's experiences, but even so it must get even the most couchy potato interested in getting out and walking! I did find the referencing of the sections and maps a little confusing, but it's a small point. And it might be a little large too, so I'd probably elect to photocopy parts of it, or rip out sections to take on the trail.

I started reading the Sea of Time series after I read the later 'Change' first trilogy. I can tell Stirling's writing has improved between the two series.
But,back to Against the Tide of Years. Stirling's weakest points are his characters and his descriptions of the natural environment I generally skip the latter as they are nothing more than tedious enumerations. He could learn a lot from Poul Anderson's evocations, which are shorter, but brimming with atmosphere.
The characters, unfortunately, you cannot escape. Most are settled in their ways and reading Marion Alston's thoughts for the umpteenth time is not very entertaining.
Speaking of Marion, her love affair and relationship with Swindapa is very awkwardly presented. I'm not one to skip erotic passages, yet in this book I always felt embarrassed when the lights went out in the Commodore's cabin or her room. As a side note, Stirling's romance and sex presentation has improved a lot with 'Dies the Fire'. But there is still plenty of room for improvement.
I like the action sequences and the overall evolution of the plot. Also the realistic technological evolution, although I feel some more creative contraptions should have emerged from the Island's shops.
In this aspect, Leo Frankowski's 'Conrad Stargard' series shines in comparison. I'd rather lead the Christian Army rather than the Nantucket Marines any day :) Conrad started with nothing and built ...well, let's not spoil it for everyone.
And if we're comparing the two series, Leo's zany books offer a lot more humor, zany characters and sensuality. Too bad he started slipping after the fifth book in the Conrad series.
You got to hand it to Stirling. He's a lot more meticulous and thinks of the finished product versus going off on amusing, but sometimes failing, tangents, a la Frankowski.
Overall, I give the book a 3 out of 5 stars.
Pluses: scope, details and battles.
Minuses: characters and descriptions.

This novel, the second in Stirling's trilogy of modern Nantucket mysteriously sent back in time to the Bronze Age, continues the story begun in Island in the Sea of Time. As with the first book in the trilogy, this book is fantastic - with a few provisos.

The novel is set eight years after the Event that sent Nantucket three thousand years into the past. Over those eight years, Nantucket has become the Republic of Nantucket, with a democratic Council, Town Meeting, and a protectorate over Alba - the "White Isle", bronze age England. In the meantime, renegade Coast Guard officer William Walker has escaped to Greece with the help of his ally Isketerol of Tartessos, and built a tyranny based on modern technology in Agamemnon's Mycenae. Ultimately, both sides know that, in the long run, war is coming; the novel deals with the events that are leading to that ultimate conflict.

From the scenes of the Nantucketers building an alliance with Shuriash of Babylon, to images of explorers led by Peter Giernas crossing North America in the late Archaic period, to the land and sea battles in Africa and on Nantucket itself, Stirling again shows he can build an entire past world in satisfying, rich detail. However, master though he is, Stirling stumbles a bit in this second novel in a few ways that detract from the book.

First, as other reviewers have noted, there's the matter of times. Stirling tries to show, through flashbacks, what Walker has been doing through the time between the Event and the "current" events on Nantucket. Unfortunately, the dates he uses clash with the time frame set in the first novel, and don't always mesh with each other. A minor error, but crucial to the novel's plausibility.

Second, Stirling's characters tend towards being - all of them, even the villains - logical rationalists. The problem is that people rarely operate logically in the real world, and the people of the past would have relied far more on belief in magic and the supernatural than people of the modern day. While at least some of this is evident in the scenes from Babylon, particularly the revolt provoked by an unintentionally introduced smallpox epidemic, I'd like to have seen a bit more emotion from the principal characters, given the circumstances.

Third and last, the growth of Tartessos, the ally of Walker, as a "modern" power isn't fleshed out as well as it could be. The reader is presented with Isketerol as king, in a modernized Tartessos, at the novel's start; given that the first book ended with him transporting Walker from Alba as a fugitive, I found this "presentation" rushed and not as convincing as it should have been.

However, these bobbles are relatively minor in what is, on the whole, a worthy successor to the first novel in the trilogy. Against the Tide of Years is a great read, and leads well towards the final showdown.

A fun read for those who are interested in History of Civilization. It reminded me of the old Saturday Night Live skit, "What if Sparticus had an airplane". The writer obviously did his research, especially into indo-earopean languages.

This was entertaining, the research was extensive, the antagonists were exhausting and the protagonists were ethical to a fault (can ethics be a fault?). Like all second children this one had issues. There were lots of loose ends to be resolved in the next book, a "filler" feel to some of it as story lines were beefed up for the climax and that wonderful middle book introspection by the main characters as some of them got to take a breathe and consider their future. That said, there were some great battles, some exciting new plot lines and bunches and bunches of reasons to grab the next book and see what happens. My only suggestion... PROVIDE A MAP. Holy cow, we're all over the world here and I get confused easily.

As with the previous book in the series, intriguing and well written. A bit of a Return of the Jedi bit here- things don't finish in this novel (unlike the first one), and not everything is going well for the heroes at the end of the book. You have to have the 3rd in the trilogy at the ready. Stirling again makes you interested in the characters and their lives. He balances many different plotlines and characters very neatly. His research is precise and accurate. And he provides a lot of anthropology and cultural development- not just battles and action. I recommend this book for those who have started the series, for they won't be disappointed. I recommend this series for those who've not yet started it, as it is excellent alternative history.

Some minor drawbacks: the time schema confusing. At the beginning of every chapter are a number of dates, with months and years, some in parenthesis, and I couldn't really figure out what the author was trying to communicate with this. Also for some strange reason there's no Israel. Although history indicates at this time that Samuel is wandering around as a prophet (1200 BC), and the empire of David and Solomon have already occurred, for some reason Stirling has decided that Moses is just about now leaving Egypt. But since the entire Middle East is thrown into turmoil in this book, perhaps that whole event doesn't happen, including the Jewish nation, the oppression by the Romans, Jesus . . . And the book is less recommendable than it would be otherwise do to a number of rather strange, highly aberrant gratuitous sex scenes.

I bought this map for my first two week trip to Buenos Aires in 2006. Used it to walk around and BA is a great walking city. The map covers all the tourist areas of BA and I do not recall once something was wrong with the map. Included in the map is a diagram of the subway and on the map itself are the stops. Which I found helpful to find the closet subway stop to my destination. I can recommend this map for people who like to walk.

One more thing, the map is laminated so I could write on it and draw dots on it as a reference point.

Bill

It will be love at first sight! This lovely little book is a must if you are traveling from your armchair or in person. The photography is wonderful and you get the feel of how special shopping is in France. Don't leave this little diamond at home - read it while sipping a cup of coffee at your local Starbucks or on the plane before landing in France.

even if it's only window shopping.

My wife and I love travel and we have had the privilege in shopping in many of the great cities of the world: New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Rome, Milan, Houston, and many many others. Paris is without equal for shopping in a number of respects: elegance, beauty, quality, knowledge of staff and the pure joy of seeing fine products in a beautiful setting.

We both admit that we are sometimes a little intimidated, and frankly it's only in Paris we have that feeling. Partly it's the attitude of the sales people -- worldly, fashionable, speaking impeccable French. Partly it's our awe that the French seem to have discovered how to imbue even the simplest product with a level of sophistication.

Chic Shopping Paris is a passport to discovering the joys of shopping in that great city. The photographs by Alison Harris are beautiful -- the book is almost a postcard collection of beautiful products beautifully displayed. The text is descriptive, educated, loving even -- Rebecca Perry Magniant proves her learning not only in this sampling of her work, but also on her frequently updated website. If the following passage resonates with you to any degree, visit the website, and carefully consider buying this beautiful little book:

Nicole Lehmann
19, rue de Turenne, 4th arr.
01 42 77 57 21
Métro: Saint-Paul
Tuesday-Saturday 11am-7pm, Sunday 2pm-7pm, closed Monday
nlparis.com

Nicole Lehmann's new shop just a block away from the Place des Vosges is small but elegant, the perfect setting for showing off her luxurious purses. Each of her bags is entirely handmade, with attention to fine details, in high-quality leathers and skins with metal accents. The bags come in three basic styles: the cabas (tote), the pochette (clutch), and the besace (messenger). Each comes with either long or short straps and in different finishes (grained or smooth leather, suede, alligator, ostrich). Some have unique details such as a long chain strap that can be removed and worn as a necklace; another style has a slim leather closure strap that is interchangeable with straps of other colors, and any of the straps can be worn as a bracelet. A small line of jewelry, cuff links, and belts rounds out the collection."

And if this book doesn't interest you, at least visit the publisher's website; The Little Bookroom publishes a number of delightful books that will enhance your travel experiences.

Robert C. Ross 2008

Travel through the best of the insider's Paris in 208 beautifully written and photographed pages. In concise, but through narratives, Ms. Magniant brings the best of Paris to your mind while Allison Harris' photos are each a well composed tableau of the individuals shop's wares. From wall designs to unique notions to toys, antique printed matter, designer clothers, jewelery, perfumes, all manner of foodstuffs, and other off-the-beaten-track treasures- if you can't find something of great interest to you, don't see Paris-see your doctor!

The perfect book for exploring Paris via shopping! The book is divided by neighborhoods for easy reference. The descriptions are extremely helpful and the photographs could be postcards of Paris themselves. The small size of the book will fit into your purse for easy access. I read this on the subway before I went shopping and couldn't wait to start shopping.

I travel to France and especially Paris often and love to have an insiders look at shopping places that visitors often don't know about. I can't wait to get there in October and use my little green book to check out some of the places in it. Love having the email addresses, phone numbers and the many pictures. Thank you Rebecca!

Daughter headed to Korea for a year and I purchased this book for her. Small and concise and full of great information on customs, traditions, do's and don't's for those unfamiliar with the Korean culture. Very informative yet small enough to tote aound and read whenever there were a few minutes. This book would be most helpful to anyone traveling to Korea and wanting to be sure to behave properly and not be offensive simply by doing whatever is done in the United States.

This little book has helped me prepare to move to Korea. It is pocket-sized and easy to whip out while waiting in the passport line at the post office (haha). The author tried to balance information between the 2 Koreas, and you definitely get the feeling that he knows what he is talking about.

This is a very informative book outling the customs and etiquette of Korea. A nice short and to the point book for those who are traveling and want to know the basics.

For being so small, this little book is the best book on Korean culture I have read. It contains so much, so quickly that I read it twice in just one week. It provides an insight not just as a traveler, but as someone who interacts with Koreans. It provides bits of knowledge, trivia, and tips that is well worth the modest cover price. There are several "crash course" books like this, and take it from someone who owns them all practically, this one is the by far the best!

The book is interesting and fun to read. Her adventures real and inspiring. However... The thing that struck me about this book is that this girl had, as so many girls do, no interest at all in learning the skills needed to accomplish her goal. She knew for months that she would be making this trip, but made no effort at all to master navigation, diesel maintenance or repair, fiberglass work, basic seamanship, or sailing. She seems to dismiss those basic skills as being somehow beneath her. If she had put as much effort into understanding her boat as she put into understanding makeup, this would have been a much more interesting voyage.

Tania Aebi's book is a truly inspirational story. My wife and I read it simultaneously and we argued about whose turn was it all the time! Tania's story leaving NY at a very early age in a Contessa 26 for a two and a half years around the world trip without much sailing experience is amazing. Since I like sailing I enjoyed it as a sailing adventure but I was equally engaged with such personal inspirational story. We "traveled" with her and admired her courage every mile she did. If you don't sail, you will enjoy it too.
When we finished the book, both my wife and I, had the sad feeling that only a reader can understand..."I wish I wouldn't have finished it yet!"
We followed up looking for more books and end up finding what was of her life and learned that she'd been cruising with her two sons 22 years later to expose them to such amazing experience. She was the first woman who did a circumnavigation solo despite her record (for which she didn't care) was not granted because of a very small cross between two islands that she did with a friend. I am sure she is perceived as the first woman who solo circumnavigated and that's when you understand that the record was the less important part of her journey. You will love this book and if you are a sailor, you will start dreaming about doing it yourself.

I was really excited to start reading this book, but as soon as I started I knew it was not going to be what I thought. There are very many nautical terms that if you are not familiar with, may be confusing at times. The author switches from one setting to another very quickly. I can't say this book is the most disappointing book I have read in my life, but it certainly is amongst the top ten. If you are familiar with nautical wording, then this book would be fine for you. I was not so therefore, was expecting a different type of story.

Very happy with the book. Very well written and a delight to read about this interesting girl sailor. Service was excellent arrived on time and in the codition stated.

This book has never ceased to amaze me. Everytime I pick it up to read, I feel like I have put it down too soon. I only wish I could keep reading and finish this beautiful tale that includes a hint of romance, plenty of insight into dysfunctional relationships, pure miracles, and of course a healthy dose of adventure. This book is non-ficton but sure reads like an adventure novel. Tania's story is truly amazing and this book is now on my list of favorite books of all time.

loved the book and the fact that it got here in time for me to read before giving it away as a gift...yes I read it first!

I really enjoy the Frommer's book series. It is great for both tourists visiting for a weekend, and also those who recently relocated to a new city. This book is immeasurably helpful and well structured.

I'm a Seattle mostly-native (been here for 20 years) and picked up this book so that my guests from couchsurfing.com might be able to use it to get around the city. Unfortunately, it hasn't been very useful for them because the vast majority of the stuff listed in the book is tourist traps. It might be a useful guide for an 40-50 year old plus person who likes chain restaurants, stereotypical tourist experiences, or for someone who's travelling with a family. However, if you're even remotely interested in visiting places where locals hang out, having experiences which don't cost an arm and a leg, seeing sights which you can see for free outside the confines of a tour bus, or eating at restaurants which are operated by locals for locals, I don't consider this guide very useful. A high percentage of the places it covers are downtown, but I don't know any local people of any age who hang out downtown unless they are there for work. Like any city I've ever visited, most of the interesting sights/restaurants/etc. are outside of the commercial/office downtown area.

I picked up a few other guides too... the most comparable is the Lonely Planet guide. I found it to be worlds better to the point where I would recommend it to almost anyone other than my grandma over the Frommer's. Other guides I found useful/interesting are eat shop seattle and not for tourists seattle.

We had great success with Frommer's in two previous cities on our extended trip, so we were excited that we had purchased Frommer's Guide to Seattle. It told us everything we needed to be successful tourists in the Pacific Northwest. We only had one day to be tourists, so after determining what we wanted to do--my wife and I had three kids in tow--we chose to be the ultimate tourists and spend time watching fish salesmen throw fish around at Pike's Market and walk around that part of the city. Later, we spent the afternoon in the Pacific Science Center and enjoyed the many interactive exhibits available there. Overall, I believe having Frommer's is a necessity if you want to accomplish the most you can, especially if you have a short time and are on a limited budget (like us).

FROMMER'S SEATTLE 2008 is a great new version of Frommer's great guidebook on the Emerald City. It tells you about great shopping, dining, exercise, recreation, and sightseeing. It does miss a lot of the malls, as well as lacking anything on local radio stations, so be sure to get the new version of LONELY PLANET SEATTLE in February, as well as FODOR'S SEATTLE 4TH EDITION, THE NEWCOMER'S HANDBOOK FOR SEATTLE, the new version of BEST PLACES SEATTLE, and THE SEATTLE GUIDEBOOK, 12TH EDITION, in addition to this one.