No comments about Two Trips to Gorilla Land and the Cataracts of the Congo, Volume 1.

No comments about Voyage au pays des perles: Illustrations de E. Yon.

No comments about Africa Continental Reference Map by Collins (Continental Map).

No comments about South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland Map by Cartographia (Michelin National Maps).

1 comments about South Africa Travel Pack (Globetrotter Travel Packs).

1. Having traveled extensively I purchased this book to outline and plan my trip. It provided very little which was useful and lacked most of the details that a modern travel book would contain such as web sites and a relative ranking of the establishements recommended. After reading the book I ended up using the internet for information and booking. This travel pack might be useful if one were taking a prepackaged tour and wanted supplemental information. Although the included map is useful, I would save my money and use the internet.

No comments about Records of Travels in Turkey, Greece, &c., and of a Cruise in the Black Sea, with the Capitan Pasha, in the Years 1829, 1830, and 1831: Volume 1.

No comments about Voyage au pays des fakirs charmeurs.

2 comments about First Footsteps in East Africa.

1. it's the most valueble book i ever rea



2. excellent book for those who like to know more about Somalia

1 comments about Pleasures of the Canary Islands "Wine Food Beauty and Mystery".

1. This is the type of travel book that used to be written by Victorian gentlemen about the exotic places they found as soon as they stepped outside England. It feels more like a long letter from a dear friend than a short guide book; and even though it is 10 years old (published in 1992)it is a wonderful companion to have if you are to visit these islands. It complements well the second edition of "Canary Islands" published by Lonely Planet, which I have also reviewed.

   Its point of view is that the traveler should gain and explore the natural pleasures of the islands, in food, in wine, in scenery, in its inhabitants, and in the sheer joy of being there. Ann and Larry Walker run a restaurant in California (or did when they wrote this book) and they cannot shake the laid-back bonhomie that marks people with such a background. Of course, importing laid-back anything to the Canaries is like taking the proverbial coals to Newcastle, for this is the land of the slow, of the meditative, of the "aplatanado," a wonderful word that can be translated as "bananified," but which means to convey the state of being exquisitely beyond the reach of pressures of any kind.

   The Canaries consists of 7 inhabited islands, close to the coast of North Africa, and the book takes them one by one, in the order in which they were conquered by Spain. Because each island is so distinctly different from the others, each must be addresses separately. The Walkers write delightful essays about each, telling you where to stay, where to eat and what to do. They hold your hand, as it were, and urge you to look at the night sky in La Palma, or to dip the local fish into the mojo sauces that arrived at your table on the island of Hierro. These are wonderful companions with which to course over all the seven islands.

   The book, little as it is, has some spectacular pictures taken by the authors, a section containing local recipes, and fine discussions about the island wines. Can't ask for much more in so small a package.

3 comments about Present Laughter (Audio Theatre Series).

1. Another winner from the folks at L.A. Theatre Works who bring together all-star casts to brilliantly perform plays from all genres. You can hear the actors having fun with the material.



2. Garry Essendine, the hero of PRESENT LAUGHTER, is almost transparently Coward's idea of himself as the complete theater man whose life depends, in a odd twist of dependency itself, on the loyalty and cooperation of a vast staff of employees, most of whom know better than he what he is like and what he needs to go on. These include Monica Reed, his beautiful, devoted secretary who sees right through him llike Bette Davis seeing through Sheridan Whiteside in THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER. Then there is Liz, Garry's wife who left him but never managed to divorce him, which allows him to play loose with all the young ladies who have fallen for their aging matinee idol.
   
   In Coward's case, the reason he needed a bulwark to fend off young female admirers is because he was gay, and in PRESENT LAUGHTER, the characterization of the young pretentious playwright Ronald Maule, who becomes a slave to garry Essendine through a bit of ill-advised personal contact, is surprisingly frank for its day (wartime UK). The whole play is filled with Coward's trademark dialogue, as Garry is constantly false and hilariously hysterical, while all the other characters continually deflate him with their loving barbs. If it is not Coward's best play, then I don't know what is.



3. A fast-paced and witty bedroom farce of the 1930s, Present Laughter was written by Coward as a vehicle in which he himself planned to star, and it may well reflect some of the less attractive aspects of his own life. The play concerns a well-known, 40-ish actor, Gary Essendine, who is about to set off for a series of performances in Africa. Essendine enjoys all the perks of stardom, including women who can't resist him, fawning fans, and late nights of partying, followed by late mornings of undisturbed sleeping. Though he is married to Liz, they have been separated for a couple of years, and neither minds the other's dalliances, or the serial dalliances of their circle of friends.
   
   In the course of the play, several women "forget their latch keys" and have to spend the night at Essendine's apartment, where his secretary, valet, and housekeeper hide them to keep succeeding visitors from discovering them. One of them, Joanna, is married to Essendine's friend Henry, but she has had a long-standing affair with another friend, Morris, and she seduces Essendine in the course of the play. In the midst of all this deception, a young playwright also arrives, wanting to know if Essendine has read his play, at the same time confessing to having an obsession with Essendine himself, before he is shuttled off to the office when yet another unexpected visitor arrives.
   
   As is always the case with Coward, each scene sets the stage for the next scene, and the play unfolds with dramatic ease and considerable dramatic irony. The characterizations are exaggerated for comic effect, and the dialogue is witty, with many tongue-in-cheek remarks, as the all-consuming game of "musical beds," "heartfelt" confessions, and diabolical scheming takes place. Fast pace is crucial to the action, demanding the split second appearances and disappearances of some characters as new characters enter and depart.
   
   Though the hijinx are distinctly sexual, the play maintains an elegance of language and an on-stage formality. The clever repartee never descends to vulgarity, and the love scenes all take place off-stage. Universal in its observations of human nature, this play is still being revived and finding audiences after more than half a century. This play and Private Lives are Coward at his best. Mary Whipple