Travel Books

The Little Book

Selden Edwards

Amazon Price: $17.13 List Price: $25.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Dutton Adult Amazon Marketplace: 39 new & used starting at $13.54

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Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> Contemporary
Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> Genre Fiction -> Historical
Subjects -> Travel -> Europe -> Austria -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 11 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

An irresistible triumph of the imagination more than thirty years in the making, The Little Book is a breathtaking love story that spans generations, ranging from fin de siècle Vienna through the pivotal moments of the twentieth century.

The Little Book is the extraordinary tale of Wheeler Burden, California-exiled heir of the famous Boston banking Burdens, philosopher, student of history, legend’s son, rock idol, writer, lover of women, recluse, half-Jew, and Harvard baseball hero. In 1988 he is forty-seven, living in San Francisco. Suddenly he is—still his modern self—wandering in a city and time he knows mysteriously well: fin de siècle Vienna. It is 1897, precisely ninety-one years before his last memory and a half-century before his birth.

It’s not long before Wheeler has acquired appropriate clothes, money, lodging, a group of young Viennese intellectuals as friends, a mentor in Sigmund Freud, a bitter rival, a powerful crush on a luminous young American woman, a passing acquaintance with local celebrity Mark Twain, and an incredible and surprising insight into the dashing young war-hero father he never knew.

But the truth at the center of Wheeler’s dislocation in time remains a stubborn mystery that will take months of exploration and a lifetime of memories to unravel and that will, in the end, reveal nothing short of the eccentric Burden family’s unrivaled impact on the very course of the coming century. The Little Book is a masterpiece of unequaled storytelling that announces Selden Edwards as one of the most dazzling, original, entertaining, and inventive novelists of our time.

Ghost Train to the Eastern Star: On the Tracks of the Great Railway Bazaar

Paul Theroux

Amazon Price: $18.48 List Price: $28.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Houghton Mifflin Amazon Marketplace: 42 new & used starting at $17.32

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Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Transportation -> Railroads -> General
Subjects -> Travel -> Asia -> General
Subjects -> Travel -> Reference & Tips -> Essays & Travelogues

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Classic Theroux - This Time Revealing More of the Man Himself 5 out of 5 stars.
11 of 12 people found this review helpful.

I assume everyone reading this is familiar with Theroux's latest premise, to retrace the trail he took over thirty years ago when he wrote "The Great Railway Bazaar."

His latest is classic Theroux - observant, infinitely inquisitive (almost nosy), insatiably curious. Few can afford the time, money or emotional strain it would take to complete a journey like this. Consequently, it's wonderful to have a traveler (the author's familiar reference to himself) of this caliber to do it for us. Mostly by land from London, through Eastern Europe, the Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Japan and home across Russia. I, for one, don't know how he manages to leave his loving wife for that long.

Some have called the author a misanthrope. I don't think that at all. One particular act, which I won't spoil by revealing, distinguishes the man from your average humanity-hater. I appreciated how he usually searched out the oldest rickshaw-wallahs and taxi drivers, people his age who haven't been as fortunate.

I take his observations of annoying people as part of the landscape of a trip of this magnitude. It was inevitable that he'd come across slovenly, boorish, clueless tourists that deservedly reaped the wrath of his rapier wit. I particularly enjoy Theroux's slicing and dicing of holier-than-thou missionaries. When he begins a description of someone he runs into with sly, almost vicious adjectives, look out. You know the game is about to begin.

I share a lot of the author's opinions, especially when he compares lawyers to prostitutes and expresses nothing but disdain for weak-handed politicians and substance-less celebrities. He seems to explore an inordinate number of sex trade sites around the world, shining the light of day on the cockroaches that reap profits from the suffering of others. As a single Western man, I suppose he's bound to be a target for the profiteers trying to separate him from his money. For those of us curious about how such things work in these far-off places, thankfully we have Theroux to describe them for us. Look out, Japan! Your weird fascination with school girls and French maids has been captured in print by one of the best travel writers in the biz!

Theroux seems to reserve special animosity for Singapore. Despite the city-state's facade of prosperity and glamor, wrapped in a mantle of super-security, the author manages to delve below the surface and reveal that here too there is an underworld, seedy sex trade and community of low-life individuals who deal in flesh, including that of the very young. It seems that Theroux is accomplishing a bit of payback here - as he was sacked from a teaching job there way back in the 1960s. From what I can tell, the despotic prime minister and all the mealy-mouthed underlings deserve everything they get.

Paul doesn't seem to hold back on descriptions of people he meets, including some famous writers. I often wonder what they think when they read what he has written about them. He is a bit of a name dropper, managing to rub elbows and spend time with some of today's most famous authors, including Orhan Pamuk, Sir Arthur Clarke and Murakami Haruki, as well as Prince Charles and Camilla. Oh, well. At least we get a bit of insight as to what they're like. I'll never get to talk to them so I'm glad he did. I admit that some I'd never heard of before reading the book so the author has provided another service - to broaden horizons.

I've been to many of the places Theroux describes (Eastern Europe, India, Burma, Southeast Asia, Russia) and it's interesting to read his take on things. He has a habit of looking at places differently, describing and visiting little known sights that, though I was there, never got to. I suppose that's another of his differences between tourists and travelers.

In summary, I'd very highly recommend "Ghost Train." It reveals more of the author than anything he's written thus far; mulling regrets about past mistakes and the inevitable disasters we are all confronted with at some point in life. His sentimental journey, like "Dark Star Safari," allows the reader to understand a lot about why he is the way he is - and where he's coming from.

Editorial Review:

Amazon Best of the Month, August 2008: Way back in the dark pre-Internet, limited-air-travel world of 1975, the way to get from Europe to Asia was by train. A young and ambitious writer named Paul Theroux made his literary mark by taking the 28,000-mile intercontinental journey via rail from London to Tokyo and back home again. His book, The Great Railway Bazaar, became a travel-lit classic. Thirty years later, an older, wiser, and even less sanguine Theroux decided to retrace his steps. The result is Ghost Train to the Eastern Star, a fascinating account of the places you vaguely knew existed (Tbilisi), probably won't ever go to (Bangalore), but definitely should know something about (Mandalay). Get on board Theroux's fast-moving travelogue, which features some of the most astute commentary on our distorted notions of time, space, and each other in the age of jet speed, broadband connections, and cultural extinction. --Lauren Nemroff

How the States Got Their Shapes

Mark Stein

Amazon Price: $15.61 List Price: $22.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Collins Amazon Marketplace: 46 new & used starting at $11.49

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Subjects -> History -> Americas -> United States -> General
Subjects -> History -> Historical Study -> Social History
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Social Sciences -> Human Geography

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 26 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Why does Oklahoma have that panhandle? Did someone make a mistake?

We are so familiar with the map of the United States that our state borders seem as much a part of nature as mountains and rivers. Even the oddities—the entire state of Maryland(!)—have become so engrained that our map might as well be a giant jigsaw puzzle designed by Divine Providence. But that's where the real mystery begins. Every edge of the familiar wooden jigsaw pieces of our childhood represents a revealing moment of history and of, well, humans drawing lines in the sand.

How the States Got Their Shapes is the first book to tackle why our state lines are where they are. Here are the stories behind the stories, right down to the tiny northward jog at the eastern end of Tennessee and the teeny-tiny (and little known) parts of Delaware that are not attached to Delaware but to New Jersey.

How the States Got Their Shapes examines:

• Why West Virginia has a finger creeping up the side of Pennsylvania
• Why Michigan has an upper peninsula that isn't attached to Michigan
• Why some Hawaiian islands are not Hawaii
• Why Texas and California are so outsized, especially when so many Midwestern states are nearly identical in size

Packed with fun oddities and trivia, this entertaining guide also reveals the major fault lines of American history, from ideological intrigues and religious intolerance to major territorial acquisitions. Adding the fresh lens of local geographic disputes, military skirmishes, and land grabs, Mark Stein shows how the seemingly haphazard puzzle pieces of our nation fit together perfectly.

Fast Food Nation

Eric Schlosser

Amazon Price: $10.17 List Price: $14.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Harper Perennial Amazon Marketplace: 182 new & used starting at $6.75

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Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Biography & History -> Company Profiles
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Popular Economics -> General
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Industries & Professions -> Hospitality, Travel & Tourism

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1401 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

On any given day, one out of four Americans opts for a quick and cheap meal at a fast-food restaurant, without giving either its speed or its thriftiness a second thought. Fast food is so ubiquitous that it now seems as American, and harmless, as apple pie. But the industry's drive for consolidation, homogenization, and speed has radically transformed America's diet, landscape, economy, and workforce, often in insidiously destructive ways. Eric Schlosser, an award-winning journalist, opens his ambitious and ultimately devastating exposé with an introduction to the iconoclasts and high school dropouts, such as Harlan Sanders and the McDonald brothers, who first applied the principles of a factory assembly line to a commercial kitchen. Quickly, however, he moves behind the counter with the overworked and underpaid teenage workers, onto the factory farms where the potatoes and beef are grown, and into the slaughterhouses run by giant meatpacking corporations. Schlosser wants you to know why those French fries taste so good (with a visit to the world's largest flavor company) and "what really lurks between those sesame-seed buns." Eater beware: forget your concerns about cholesterol, there is--literally--feces in your meat.

Schlosser's investigation reaches its frightening peak in the meatpacking plants as he reveals the almost complete lack of federal oversight of a seemingly lawless industry. His searing portrayal of the industry is disturbingly similar to Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, written in 1906: nightmare working conditions, union busting, and unsanitary practices that introduce E. coli and other pathogens into restaurants, public schools, and homes. Almost as disturbing is his description of how the industry "both feeds and feeds off the young," insinuating itself into all aspects of children's lives, even the pages of their school books, while leaving them prone to obesity and disease. Fortunately, Schlosser offers some eminently practical remedies. "Eating in the United States should no longer be a form of high-risk behavior," he writes. Where to begin? Ask yourself, is the true cost of having it "your way" really worth it? --Lesley Reed

The Unofficial Guide Walt Disney World 2009 (Unofficial Guides)

Bob Sehlinger, Len Testa

Amazon Price: $13.59 List Price: $19.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Wiley Amazon Marketplace: 29 new & used starting at $11.88

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Subjects -> Travel -> United States -> Regions -> South -> South Atlantic
Subjects -> Travel -> United States -> States -> Florida -> Disney World
Subjects -> Travel -> United States -> States -> Florida -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

More than 4 million copies sold! This series is the only one that offers evaluations based on reader surveys and critiques, compiled by a team of unbiased inspectors.

• Hotels, attractions, and restaurants in all price categories

• Extensive information on shopping, nightlife, and sports

• Easy-to-use, two-color design

• Detailed, 2-color maps

From the publishers of The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World

"A Tourist's Best Friend!"
—Chicago Sun-Times

"Indispensable"
—The New York Times

Five Great Features and Benefits offered ONLY by The Unofficial Guide:

1. Exclusively patented, field-tested touring plans that save as much as four hours of standing in line in a single day

2. Tips, advice, and opinions from hundreds of Walt Disney World guests in their own words

3. Almost 250 hotels rated and ranked for quality and value, including the top non-Disney hotels for families

4. A complete Dining Guide with ratings and reviews of all Walt Disney World restaurants, plus extensive alternatives for dining deals outside the World

5. Every attraction rated and ranked for each age group; extensive, objective, head-to-head comparisons of the Disney and Universal theme parks

A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World

Tony Horwitz

Amazon Price: $18.15 List Price: $27.50 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Henry Holt and Co. Amazon Marketplace: 56 new & used starting at $12.94

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Subjects -> History -> Americas -> United States -> General
Subjects -> History -> Americas -> General
Subjects -> History -> World -> Expeditions & Discoveries

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 32 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The bestselling author of Blue Latitudes takes us on a thrilling and eye-opening voyage to pre-Mayflower America

On a chance visit to Plymouth Rock, Tony Horwitz realizes he’s mislaid more than a century of American history, from Columbus’s sail in 1492 to Jamestown’s founding in 16-oh-something. Did nothing happen in between? Determined to find out, he embarks on a journey of rediscovery, following in the footsteps of the many Europeans who preceded the Pilgrims to America.

An irresistible blend of history, myth, and misadventure, A Voyage Long and Strange captures the wonder and drama of first contact. Vikings, conquistadors, French voyageurs—these and many others roamed an unknown continent in quest of grapes, gold, converts, even a cure for syphilis. Though most failed, their remarkable exploits left an enduring mark on the land and people encountered by late-arriving English settlers.

Tracing this legacy with his own epic trek—from Florida’s Fountain of Youth to Plymouth’s sacred Rock, from desert pueblos to subarctic sweat lodges—Tony Horwitz explores the revealing gap between what we enshrine and what we forget. Displaying his trademark talent for humor, narrative, and historical insight, A Voyage Long and Strange allows us to rediscover the New World for ourselves.

SAS Survival Handbook: How to Survive in the Wild, in Any Climate, on Land or at Sea

John Lofty Wiseman

Amazon Price: $13.57 List Price: $19.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Collins Amazon Marketplace: 44 new & used starting at $10.99

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Subjects -> Travel -> Reference & Tips -> Reference
Subjects -> Reference -> General
Subjects -> Outdoors & Nature -> Survival Skills

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 107 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Good Stuff! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I'm not an "outdoor guy" but I travel frequently in South Asia so I thought its a good idea to learn basic survival skills. So for my needs this book is over and beyond what I require. It was a thoroughly enjoyable read as well. I'm sure even pro's can learn a thing or two here. Well done Mr.Wiseman!

Not as Good as the Army Survival Manual 1 out of 5 stars.
0 of 9 people found this review helpful.

Good title but that is about it for this book, compared to the U.S. Military.

a must have 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Every time I open this book, I'm amazed at how much information is packed in the 570 pages. Covers everything you need to know, plus some. A great buy, at a great price.

Editorial Review:

The SAS Survival Handbook is the Special Air Service's complete course in being prepared for any type of emergency. John 'Lofty' Wiseman presents real strategies for surviving in any type of situation, from accidents and escape procedures, including chemical and nuclear to successfully adapting to various climates (polar, tropical, desert), to identifying edible plants and creating fire. The book is extremely practical and is illustrated throughout with easy-to-understand line art and diagrams.

Rick Steves' Italy 2008 (Rick Steves)

Rick Steves

Amazon Price: $14.93 List Price: $21.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Avalon Travel Publishing Amazon Marketplace: 56 new & used starting at $4.49

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Subjects -> Travel -> Europe -> General
Subjects -> Travel -> Europe -> Italy -> General
Subjects -> Travel -> Reference & Tips -> Guidebooks

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 21 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

This will save you time and Money!!! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Dude, get the book. It saved us a ton of time in picking up our tix at the Palatine hills rather than at the Coliseum. It also got us to St. Peter's at 1pm with a 30 min wait, rather than do what everyone else does which is to arrive at 9am and have a 3 hour wait.

The tips alone is certainly worth worth every penny. Let's not forget the key things to see in his book and the slight bit of history on each place. However, I found the restaurants really difficult to find in Italy, but I had a tough time finding the Coliseum too:P

Editorial Review:

Who but Rick Steves can tell travelers the best way to see Rome, Venice, Florence, the hill towns of central Italy, the Dolomites, and the Amalfi Coast? With Rick Steves’ Italy 2008, travelers can experience the best of everything Italy has to offer — economically and hassle-free. Completely revised and updated, this guide includes opinionated coverage of both famous and lesser-known sights, friendly places to eat and sleep, suggested day plans, walking tours and trip itineraries, and clear instructions for smooth travel anywhere by car, train, or foot. America’s number one authority on travel to Europe, Steves' time-tested recommendations for safe and enjoyable travel in Europe have been used by millions of Americans in search of their own unique European travel experience.

1,000 Places to See Before You Die: A Traveler's Life List

Patricia Schultz

Amazon Price: $13.57 List Price: $19.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Workman Publishing Company Amazon Marketplace: 226 new & used starting at $1.00

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Subjects -> Reference -> Encyclopedias -> General
Subjects -> Reference -> General
Subjects -> Travel -> Reference & Tips -> Guidebooks

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 306 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Lots of Fun! 5 out of 5 stars.
14 of 15 people found this review helpful.

The spirit of this book is well exemplified by a quotation from Mark Twain (Page xv): "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the tide winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." So, the author advances a listing of places throughout the world worth discovering. This is a companion piece to another volume of hers, in which she explores 1,000 places to see within the United States.

The world is divided into eight regions, for the purposes of organizing discussion: Europe; Africa; the Middle East; Asia; Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands; the United States and Canada; Latin America; the Caribbean, Bahamas, and Bermuda.

In a brief review here, it would be impossible to illustrate each region in any depth. Maybe some samples from a few of the regions. Needless to say, any selection like this is apt to engender discussion--Why were some places left out? Why were others included? But that's part of the fun of a book like this!

Europe: Some of the usual suspects like Windsor Castle, Winchester Cathedral, London, the Salzburg Festival, Vienna, Paris, Versailles, the Brandenburg Gate, and the Sistine Chapel. But there are other treasures as well: Bellagio, Rhodes, Ile de Re, Kinsale, and Ludlow.

Africa: The Great Pyramids, Abu Simbel, Jack's Camp in the Kalahari Desert, the Cape Winelands, and so on.

United States and Canada: Kenai Peninsula, Monterey Peninsula, Telluride, South Beach, Art Institute of Chicago (one of my favorite art museums), Art Gallery of Ontario, Nimmo Bay Resort, Polar Bear Safari, and the like.

This is fun simply to browse. Choose a page at random and fantasize a trip there. . . . Again, lots of fun!

Editorial Review:

Around the World, continent by continent, here is the best the world has to offer: 1,000 places guaranteed to give travelers the shivers. Sacred ruins, grand hotels, wildlife preserves, hilltop villages, snack shacks, castles, festivals, reefs, restaurants, cathedrals, hidden islands, opera houses, museums, and more. Each entry tells exactly why it's essential to visit. Then come the nuts and bolts: addresses, websites, phone and fax numbers, best times to visit. Stop dreaming and get going.