No comments about Argentina Atlas de Rutas Firestone 2008.

5 comments about Lonely Planet Buenos Aires (Lonely Planet City Guide).

1. I was happy to see the second edition with updated prices and info. Unfortunately, like the first it is long on facts, but short on opinion. This is okay if you're looking for a list of things to do, but is of little help where there are real choices -- whether hotels, restaurants or tango shows. They're listed, but there's not really much to tell you which to pick, unless all you care about is location and cost.

   I know the author has opinions (they occasionally slip through), and hope in the 3rd ed. he'll let them out!

   Still, it's the best guidebook I've seen on what to do in and around the city.

   There's a warning about extra phone charges which is a bit understated. The hotels I've stayed in charge between 0.20 and 0.40 per minute for local calls, not per call. In North America, I'll often stay on-line while I compose replies to my e-mails to save the per call charge. Doing that in BsAs hit me with enormous, unexpected phone charges on my hotel bill!




2. A handy portable guide for trips to Buenos Aires. Provides a good overview of the people, culture, history, and city itself. Good maps, especially of subte. Somewhat dated but still contained all information I needed to know. Was especially grateful for warnings about exorbitant phone prices and inability to use Discover Card in Argentina. Good recommendations and phone numbers, especially for Teatro Colon and other cultural sites. A great deal for the price.



3. This is a well written guide that is a perfect introduction to the delights of Buenos Aires. Given it's small size the sheer amount of information contained is remarkable.



4. I visited Buenos Aires in May 1999. I found Bernhardson's review to be almost perfect in pointing out places to eat, sightsee, shop, and how to get there (or rather, how to obtain information on how to get there from the locals). Even his club recommendations were perfect for me - I was 19, and his description of one club's crowd as "young and unpretentious" proved to be true and exactly what I was looking for. Buenos Aires is a wonderful place to visit, and Bernhardson's guide is a must-have for any visitor.



5. Lonely Planet is usually relatively weak in city guides, while they are much stronger in country and regional guidebooks. But this guide to Buenos Aires is surely an exception. It is an indispensable tool for all visitors, useful to the budget traveller and the business person alike, filled with tips, information and data. The only bad point is perhaps that, the way things are quickly changing in Argentina, its advice won't always be up-to-date. And - one should stress - Buenos Aires is not just a paradise, as this book may let one think. Yet, overall, a very good book worth taking with you.

3 comments about Idle Days in Patagonia.

1. This is a tranquil, contemplative work of reflection on the varieties of nature. Like the amazing bird that changes its song regularly when one of its species, for reasons unkown, 'decides' to create a new melody which the others then follow. Another thing to look out for is the sensation that Hudson's glasses has on the local indigenous population - mocking laughter turns to incredulous amazement. This book brought peace to my life, and hopefully increased my sensitivity to natural wonders all around me - everyday ones as well as the extraordinary.



2. What I love about the writings of W. H. Hudson is his wonderful descriptions of the flora, fauna, and folklore of South America. But I suppose it is true what they say about idle minds. There is way too much anthropological philosophizing in this book and it gets tedious. The romance with rugged naturalism is a bit much.



3. Of the three non-fiction books I've read by W.H.Hudson(the other two being The Naturalist in La Plata and A Shepherd's Life)this is far the weakest. Where the personality of the writer was unobtrusive in the other works, it becomes intrusive to the point of being offensive in Idle Days in Patagonia. There are some interesting anecdotes about local characters and happenings, as well as details about animal behavior. But the biggest drawback is the overlong philosophical rambling, of which the topics sometimes seem downright trivial. However, don't be put off by one lesser work. The Naturalist in La Plata is an excellent book of natural history of the pampas, and A Shepheds's Life is quite good as well.

No comments about Insight Guide Argentina (Insight Guides Argentina).

No comments about Buenos Aires: A Cultural and Literary History (Cities of the Imagination).

1 comments about Passport Argentina: Your Pocket Guide to Argentine Business, Customs & Etiquette (Passport to the World) (Passport to the World).

1. Many a pocket calculator is larger than this booklet and with 88 pages it didn't take me much more than an hour to read.

   Then again: it does put a lot of information in the little space available and virtually all of that is spot-on. Also the selection of topics is exactly that which is needed on a first reading.

   At the moment where I write this (April 2002), some of the info out of the 2000 edition already seems to be referring to a totally different era. Menem no longer is president and neither is his succesor (or his sucessor for that matter). The times where foreignors were desparate to get into the market and Argentines could dictate terms today seem a distant memory too.

   Don't let that put you off from buying this book. If you want to obtain a Ph.D. on Argentology, a small volume like this is insufficient. But if you have a (business) interest in Argentina and would like to get to know the essentials fast, this is the book to buy.

5 comments about Patagonia: At the Bottom of the World.

1. I bought this book hoping it would help me in planning my upcoming trip to Patagonia - no such luck. Basically, Chapter One contains the author's dryly written noodlings from his trip diary - which, by the way, follows the typical tourist trail itinerary that your local travel agent could beat after putting in 45 minutes of research. The rest of the book has the quality of downloads from the web and excerpts from pamphlets left over from museum visits. Maybe the book was just the author's half-hearted attempt to recoup some of the cost of his trip (good for him, bad for me). Wow! What a waste of time.



2. In "Patagonia: At the Bottom of the World" Dick Lutz reminds us that to the European navigators who first discovered it, Patagonia was a strange region inhabited by giants, cannibals, and mysterious beasts. Occupying the tail of South America that stretches southward toward Antarctica, it remains even to the modern world a, little-known, off-the-beaten-path, sparsely inhabited region. Although politically divided between Chile and Argentina, Patagonia has a special climate, unique wildlife, and strange, and sometimes violent, history all its own. In this highly portable 206-page guidebook Lutz covers just about every aspect of this peculiar region including its history from the days of explorers and adventurers like Ferdinand Magellan and Sir Francis Drake to the Patagonia of today. An appendix includes Charles Darwinýs account of his 1834 trip to the region later published in The Voyage of the Beagle.
   The book opens with Lutzýs own account of his experiences as part of a tour to the region. You might want to read this chapter last, since the body of the text is broken up by notes that refer you to later sections of the book, and they can be intrusive. They occur only in the first chapter, so if you read this chapter last, you won't have to spend your time flipping back and forth. Still, leading the book off with this chapter is an excellent idea since most visitors to Patagonia will probably travel there as part of a similar tour group, and this lets them know exactly what to expect.
   The remaining chapters in the book cover the region's environment, history, people, wildlife, and just about everything a traveler might want to know. One other bit of information is not confined to a single chapter but permeates the whole of the book and that is the author's own love of the area. There is no question that Dick Lutz considers Patagonia one of the most beautiful places on Earth. He enthusiastically describes mountains, the towering glaciers that tumble into the Strait of Magellan, and the region's interesting and diverse animal life.
   He doesn't, however, gloss over the hardships the region endured throughout its early history: acts of genocide carried out against its native population, the ruthless exploitation of its forests and mineral wealth, its dubious record as a popular spot for penal colonies. As recently as the early 1970s, the political enemies of the former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet were confined to a prison in the area.
   In short, Patagonia is a place like no other on Earth, and to take you there, youýll find no better guide than this author. Dick Lutz has four previous books to his credit and writes skillfully and well. The book, quite honestly, could have benefited form a better proofreader, but most of the errors are typographical rather than textual. Despite this minor annoyance, Patagonia: At the Bottom of the World contains much solid information, and you would have to search far to find a more compact and useful guidebook. If travel to Patagonia is on your agenda, this is a good one to slip into your carryon.



3. Fabulous non-fiction Adventure. Lutz combines historical and geographic reference with his own personal tales of trekking to Tierra del Fuego. Especially good information on Charles Darwin's voyage of the Beagle, the animal life and fauna, and the native cultures.

   Particularly interesting is the information on the now extinct native Fuegian tribes that once roamed the area who some believed to be a near sub-species of Homo Sapiens, perhaps Late Cro-Magnom or even Neandertal. Actually, I would have liked to see even more in-depth info on this badly neglected topic.

   Also, good info on the Argentinian and Chilean villages that dot the region which could prove very helpful to travelers. Great photos. Fantastic cover art. Though, there are a few typographical errors here and there. Could be cleaned up a bit for a second edition.

   Eric Dondero, Author, Worldwide Multilingual Phrase Book




4. How often do you come across a book that is really disappointing? And when it is was it your fault because you chose it because of its misleading cover picture or its contents page? Dick Lutz, asserted writer of several books on animals and out-of-the-way geographical regions has provided us with some reading which must be below the expectation of even an average book consumer. His personal account of a trip to Patagonia with a certain tour operator might well have paid for his fare, however, it leaves much to be desired in the way of writing. Simplistic, badly-put together sentences many of which are semantically ill-formed make reading a continuous strain. "We then got into the zodiacs for a ride around Tucker Island. This is a bird paradise so we refrained from landing in order not to disturb them." (p.14)
   
   What is meant to be helpful advice for a future would-be traveller to the place unfortunately does not go beyond a rudimentary enumeration of lengthy bus rides between unnamed destinations and occasional lunch menus. "We took the small boats to shore where we were met by buses and vans that took our group through the town of Porvenir and also to an estancia (ranch)." (p.15) Sentences like the following would not go uncorrected by any editor with a minimum of pride in their occupation and one must wonder if this book received a second reading by anyone at all before going into print. "The drive through the countryside was different from what we had seen until now." (p.15) and "After driving awhile and seeing some more astounding vistas we next visited another spectacular locale." (p.17) At some stage the reader must ask themselves if the book was intended for children and incredulously reads on page 79: "Since there is a Lesser rhea, it follows that there is also a greater rhea."
   
   The chapters on the land, its history and its people certainly provide the unitiated reader with much new and useful background information although also here textual continuity is sporadic and superficial. Quotes are not always sourced and the few photographs receive no comments. The book does, however, have a good word index and provides an extensive bibliography.
   
   Should you buy this book? Only if you really need to.



5. This book is absolutely fascinating from start to finish! It's extremely well-written, and the author shows great insight, perspective, and knowledge. It's simply eloquent. I bought it for myself, and also as a gift book for two friends. It will enchant anyone.

No comments about MATABURROS LUNFARDO/ENGLISH Dictionary.

No comments about Argentina (Exploring Countries of the Wor).

No comments about Argentina, Un Mundo de Paisajes =: Argentina, a World of Landscapes = Argentina, Um Mundo de Paisagens.