1 comments about Rand McNally 2003 Chicago 6-County Streetfinder: Cook/Dupage/Kane/Lake/McHenry/Will (Rand McNally Streetfinder).

1. I have an older edition of this book. Let me tell you, it is a life-saver. Seriously, every street is in here. I don't care how lost you are, you will be able to figure out how to get where you want to be. And if you use it ahead of time, you won't get lost in the first place.

No comments about National Geographic Chicago (National Geographic Destination Map).

1 comments about A Thousand and One Afternoons in Chicago (Large Print Edition).

1. Ben Hecht's 1,001 Afternoons in Chicago is easily one of the BEST books that I've ever read. It consists of 64 short journalistic pieces about the city of Chicago, written in the roaring 20's, accompained by beautiful noiresque drawings. He captures the essence of the city, that feels as vital today as it was in 1922 when it was originally published. Some of my favorite stories included a man who just escaped from jail and was hiding from the police, a woman obsessed with what her grave stone would look like after she died, and a chicago cop full of interesting tales on the job. This book is a must for anyone that is interested in journalism or just loves the city of Chicago. READ IT!!!

2 comments about Winter in Majorca.

1. I found this book disappointing, because I expected it to be about the relationship between George Sand and Frederic Chopin while in Majorca. However, this book has absolutely nothing to do with either Sand or Chopin. This book is entirely made up of George Sand describing the scenery, people, and foods of Majorca, and just complaining about how she hated it there. And to make it worse, there are footnotes on every page saying that Sand was totally wrong about everything she was saying. I would not recommend this book to anyone, unless they wanted to read up on what Majorca was like during the 1800's.



2. Sand's chronicle of a wretched season spent on the Balearic island of Mallorca is the archetype for the "bad-trip" school of travel writing. Caustic, spiteful and utterly devoid of sentimentality or remorse, Sand (who was visiting with her beastly young daughter, Solange, and an ailing Frederic Chopin) trashes everything Mallorcan, from the olive oil, to the weather, to the landscape, to the moral character of the islanders. (If only the British and German package tourists who have colonized and defaced Mallorca in the 20th century had read Sand beforehand!)

   An added pleasure in this edition is the sniping and meticulous footnoting by Mallorcan expat Robert Graves. He gainsays and qualifies nearly every contentious little gripe of Sand's, providing the reader with an interesting cross-generational literary (and personal) cat/dog-fight.

   My guess is, if you enjoy the withering observations of Paul Theroux and his disciples, you will enjoy Sand's nasty little book. If, however, you like your travel books in soft-focus and heavy on the ambience and schmaltz, look elsewhere.

No comments about Beyond the Mexique Bay (Paladin Books).

No comments about Chicago: A Picture Memory.

1 comments about Attending Marvels (Phoenix Series).

1. A quick summary of this book would describe it as a fossil hunter's journal from the 1930s. However, humorous, matter-of-fact descriptions of people, politics and the unexpected make this book an excellent choice for any reader.

No comments about Lonely Planet Chicago City Map (City Maps Series).

No comments about We'll Always Have Paris: American Tourists in France since 1930.

No comments about Lakeland Walks and Legends.