5 comments about Toujours Provence.

1. I enjoyed Mayle's first book A Year in Provence a lot better than this book. If you want to learn about French food and meals then this book will help you. But it is not as funny as his first book.



2. Mayle's style is light and breezy; he does the joie de vivre thing as in his first Provence book. This book is really an elaboration of the episodes in A Year in Provence. Mayle does insert new characters and gustatory adventures that keep the reading lively however.
   
   There are many charming anecdotes in this book. Mayle is a first-class storyteller who drops alot of French words throughout his narrative in English. This, along with his modest humour, really make this a decent read.
   
   Extracts: A Field Guide for Iconoclasts



3. Peter Mayle is a great writer in his descriptions and the way he makes you a part of his life in Provence, specially if you don't understand the language or the habits of the «Natives»!
   The best book I ever read!
   Doris Veillette Hamel, Trois-Rivières, QC, Canada



4. Having survived French bureaucracy, endless home improvement, goat races, hunters, Massot's dogs, summer visitors, and other hazards during A Year in Provence, Peter Mayle brings us more of the same in Toujours Provence.
   
   This time Mayle takes a more illustrative approach. Beginning with a pharmaceuticals marketing brochure that depicts a snail whose "horns drooped" and whose "eye was lackluster," Mayle educates us about health concerns and approaches in Provence--including house calls. Anecdotes relate Mayle's love of picnicking Provence style (with chef, wait staff, and linens); his quest for singing toads, truffles, and napoléons (the coins); his pursuit of Pavarotti and pastis; and, of course, his passion for the region's fresh foods and fine vintages.
   
   With a few exceptions, such as the history of pastis and the more sobering story of summer drought and forest fires, much of Toujours Provence will seem familiar territory to readers of the first book. For the most part, Mayle is in fine form, writing that Bennett, "looking like the reconnaissance scout from a Long Range Desert Group . . . had crossed enemy lines on the main N100 road, successfully invaded Ménerbes, and was now ready for the final push into the mountains." Some anecdotes, like "No Spitting in the Châteauneuf-du-Pape," end brilliantly, while others, such as "Napoléons at the Bottom of the Garden," fall a little flat.
   
   Judith Clancy's delightful artwork is back, but what is missing from Toujours Provence are the quirky characters we came to love or at least wonder about. Most are mentioned or make a brief appearance, but mainly they are relegated to the background. Even Mayle's neighbor Massot (". . . it would be difficult to imagine a more untrustworthy old rogue this side of the bars of Marseille prison"), to whom half a chapter is devoted, is here more caricature than character. We know no more about him, or Faustin and Henriette or Monsieur Menicucci, than we did at the end of the first book. By now, Mayle's circle has expanded , but no one he meets, from the toad choir director to the flic, is nearly as interesting as his neighbors or his builders from the first book.
   
   Like an adequate movie sequel, Toujours Provence carries on in the same vein as its predecessor, with a slightly different or reduced cast and a little less originality and wit. Perhaps more appropriately, I should say it's like a wine slightly past its peak--still worth drinking, but somehow not quite as enjoyable.



5. Slowly, I'm working my way through Peter Mayle's books though these books could more rightly be described as his love letters to Provence.
   
   Toujours Provence begins where his first book A Year In Provence ended. Now a seasoned resident of this region of France, he broadens his view to give us an affectionate portrait of the French in all their regional peculiarities.
   
   At once amusing and educational, this book gives the reader the sense of what it would be like to see France as a resident, not a tourist.
   
   I know I've entertained daydreams of living in France of Italy, at least for a summer. Mayle's books make me want to act upon that fantasy.
   
   This book is my perfect choice for bedtime reading. Not because it's boring and makes me sleepy. Not because it's easy to put down when sleep calls. Reading this book is a calm interlude in my busy life. Mayle has a droll humor and a flair for understatement of the incongruous situations that develop. I find myself smiling, and I can feel the stress melting away.
   
   Toujours Provence, like its predecessor A Year In Provence, is the perfect armchair vacation.

2 comments about Ireland: A Photographic Tour.

1. Masterfully photographed, and printed on high quality paper, this book is a must have for any armchair traveller.
   The book provides a map of the region on the inside cover, and then follows a brief and informative historical overview, which introduces the region to the reader. From that point onwards the book consists of one splendid photograph after the other, very often on a full page, or even spread over double pages, all with short descriptions to accompany them. The book depicts rural country scenes as well as historical landmarks, grand vistas to great architectural photos and even prominent statues. In short, everything the region has to offer.
   I am also the proud owner of New England (Photographic Tour) by the same author and photographer and as such, I can highly recommend any one of the books in this series.



2. I purchased this book as a gift and was so impressed I had to buy one for myself! Photography which captures the distinct and rare beauty of Ireland and well-written text that describes and explains the many points of interest found in Ireland. If you've never been to Ireland this book will make you plan a holiday. If Ireland is already a favourite place to visit reading this book will make you want to return. High quality binding.

5 comments about Brit-Think, Ameri-Think: A Transatlantic Survival Guide, Revised Edition.

1. I am both and English and American citizen, and I finally understand how I have become so screwed up : )
   This explains it all, and is laugh out loud funny.
   A gem!!!



2. Those who frequently travelled to the UK like I do will laugh at the author's spot on musings on Brit-think and Ameri-think. I read this book after coming back from the UK and completely related to the tales of how miserably cold Americans feel as soon as they land in the UK. While everyone else walked around in flimsy t-shirts, pretending it was 100 degrees in the shade, I was covered in layers of sweaters and yet felt chilly 24/7! This is a must read for those who've been to the UK and even for those who haven't (at least you' ll be prepared).



3. This is a wonderful perspective of both Brits and Yanks and I highly recommend it.



4. This book explains Boris Johnson's rumpled, ill-fitting suit and untucked shirt at the Olympic Games closing ceremonies.
   
   Updated by inserting more current paragraphs into the original text, this remains one of the most insightful and funniest comparisons of two very different cultures. One (USA) is a country of No Limits, No Rules, No Boundaries, and the other (Britain) is a country limited by unspoken rules, invisible lines and serpentine boundaries. Jane Walmsley skewers the two, with warmth and humor. If you're an American overseas, you'll see yourself AND you'll recognize your UK colleagues. And if you are an American planning to travel or do business in the UK, this book is an invaluable guide to exactly what IS and IS NOT going to interfere with getting the job done. This book is real, it's authentic, and it's a truly fun read. BUY NOW.



5. Brit-Think, Ameri-Think: A Transatlantic Survival Guide, Revised Edition Here is a book to help you understand those who live across the pond (both ways). This book should help you understand the pysche of Brits and Yanks. It possesses a light style of writing, with cute cartoons that support the text that discusses cultural differences between the two societies. It was a very enjoyable read and informative, as well. CAUTION, two versions exist. The original that contains many references to Ronald Reagan/ Maragret Thatcher and life in the the 1980s, in general. The second version was re-written and updated for the 21st century. Make sure you are getting the book you want. Other than that, I fully recommend it all anglophiles and yankophiles out there.

5 comments about Encore Provence: New Adventures in the South of France.

1. Peter Mayle effectivately takes us once again to beautiful Provence through his second book. His writing is witty yet very unassuming and laid back. He gives the reader vivid and often funny accounts of the land and its people. He has an uncanny ability to observe the smallest details in the Provencal locals that he meets and to express it in a very entertaining way through his books.



2. Food, the air, water, the land and the people in the South of France. The book beautifully took me thru life in this person move to this area.



3. The book was everything I expected...but y'all sent it in paperback. I never buy a book that I do not want to keep....and I never buy and keep paperback books.



4. For an unexplained reason, Peter Mayle and his unnamed wife (presumably the "Jennie" of the dedication) left paradise in Provence for Long Island. In Encore Provence, he returns to the south of France, where the food, wine, and slow pace of life again absorb his attention.
   
   Even less structured than Toujours Provence, Encore Provence covers familiar territory from new angles. "The Unsolved Murder of the Handsome Butcher" and "Recipe for a Village" address both the insularity and charms of village life ("Recipe" much less successfully), while "How to Be a Nose," "Discovering Oil," and "Friday Morning in Carpentras" provide insights into the perfume, olive oil, and truffle industries, respectively. In one of the best chapters, "Restaurant Critic Makes Astonishing Discovery," Mayle effectively and humorously discredits Ruth Reichl's flippant dismissal of Provence. How could a serious critic, after only a month's visit, write, "I had been dreaming of a Provence that never existed"? To help the reader find ripe tomatoes--which Reichl could not manage to do--and other products of Provence, Mayle provides the names and places for markets, vineyards, restaurants, bakeries, and producers of goods like olive oil and honey. It becomes clear that Reichl could not find Provence because she actively avoided it; perhaps she thought that deflating the expectations that Mayle helped to create was a better story than simply reinforcing them.
   
   Several chapters, like "Curious Reasons for Liking Provence" and "Eight Ways to Spend a Summer's Afternoon," reveal one of the problems with Encore Provence--the lack of significant new material. More filler than substance, they are more like random personal essays than integral parts of a cohesive work, as though Mayle could not think of a better way to frame his random observations. These chapters are forced, splintered, and almost unnecessary.
   
   Surprisingly, there is a less of a sense of place. In the previous Provence books, Mayle's stone house, with its location abutting public forest, its isolation from traffic, its drawn-out renovations, its pool that attracts thirsty sangliers, and its quirky neighbors like Faustin and Massot, gives the reader a strong sense of a place with personality. The house is at the heart of A Year in Provence. In Encore Provence, it is not clear that Mayle and his wife return to the same house or what their neighbors are like. Even the dogs are mostly absent. Without structure and intimacy, Encore Provence is nothing more than a series of disconnected travelogue stories. Perhaps weary of intrusions into his privacy, or perhaps unclear about the reasons for the first book's success, Mayle distances himself from his reader.
   
   There may not be much left for Mayle to say about Provence. He writes that, due to building restrictions, not much has changed. Yet he notes that "the garage and the geese are gone, and the farmhouse has sprouted wings and annexes . . . the vines have been groomed" and "the refugees' urge for rapid [gardening] results has spawned an industry: instant gardens, shipped in and set up with astonishing speed." These are only a couple of small changes, to be sure, but in time there will be more, and Provence will alter slowly and subtly. Mayle should know that that is the nature of change in the countryside and that, with enough demand, pressure, and money, change can accelerate, transforming a village into a resort town or farmland into suburbia.
   
   Even if you cannot visit Provence, much of the lifestyle that Mayle describes--with food and drink of varying type and quality--is still available in many places outside France. The slow pace, the fatalistic viewpoint, the elderly gossips and moralists, the close-knit relationships, the helpfulness, and the beauty and quirks of the countryside are found in many regions. If you are as observant and open as Mayle, you may be able to find your version of Provence closer to home.



5. If you have ever visited Provence, reading "Encore Provence" will ensure a flood of pleasant memories. Homesick for Provence, Peter Mayle leaves his home in America (he is originally from England) and returns to his true love, France.
   
   What really keeps the French trim and healthy? What prevents olive oil from quickly turning rancid? How can you ease a sore throat with lavender essential oil?
   
   Peter Mayle answers these questions and more. His writing has a rare warmth and his descriptions of restaurants makes you want to experience every nuance. Whether he is visiting a distillery or explaining the process of buying a house, he tells the story with a sense of adventure.
   
   Since Peter Mayle loves to watch people more than TV he provides some interesting descriptions of village inhabitants. He tells his stories with a sense of relish and he even made Marseille sound more exciting. This book made me wish for another bottle of olive oil I found in Cassis on a weekend trip I made to Provence. It also reminded me to buy another bag of Fleur de Sel.
   
   I can also recommend: A Year in Provence
   
   ~The Rebecca Review

4 comments about This Is Venice.

1. Great book in great condition. Well packaged and received quickly.
   Thank you.



2. This is a lovely big picture book in a fabulous fifties sort of style - got it for my 9 year old, but because it is a big picture book, it feels like it' s for ' babies.' However, if she was a little younger - then the style wouldnt be quite appropriate either- too sophisticated. I think the real target audience is the parent.



3. I bought this book for my children because I remembered enjoying them very much when I was a child. My reaction now to the "This is..." series is that they are very superficial and light, but that misses the point. As an introduction to new places, to intrigue a child's mind without overwhelming him or her, they are great. The impart an excitement and an optimistic openness. So what that they don't tell the whole story of any city? They light the fuse for a curiosity that will last the rest of one's life. Besides, I very much enjoy that late 50's-early 60's confident characature style.



4. The illustrations and design of this book are delightful, as is the case with the others in the series. I wish, though, that the text were less focused on facts and figures and more on evoking the scene. It's not entirely clear to me that this volume works as a children's book, even though a city with water for streets and boats instead of cars has a natural appeal for young readers. I just don't think the text describes anything much they can 1) understand or 2) find interesting. If you plan to read this to kids, bring your imagination. I simply make up a different story to go with the pictures, and my neice and nephew love it.

4 comments about A Time to Keep Silence (New York Review Books Classics).

1. "A Time To Keep Silence" is travel writer Patrick Leigh Fermor's beautifully written account of visits to a number of European monasteries (Benedictine and Cistercian) and later to the ruins of an even older Turkish desert community in his efforts to understand the continuing appeal of the monastic way of life. An outsider, Fermor frankly acknowledges his contemporary bias, making it clear he's a man of the world whose direct intention is not to seek a believer's purification of soul. Instead, he wants to discover why an initially unattractive way of life, one that must strike a big-city dweller like himself as filled with deprivation and sadness, has continued through the centuries to exert its appeal upon men, men of a sort he discovers through his own experience to be not only psychologically balanced, but largely happy.
   
   The telling insight Fermor receives from his initial stay at St. Wandrille's, one reconfirmed after visits through the years to other Benedictine abbeys, is that hidden within abbey walls is something truly magical, "the slow and cumulative spell of healing quietness." Whereas the abbey had struck him first as a place about as exciting as a "graveyard," it becomes one where he discovers, after a painful adjustment, that he can dispense with interfering trivalities and begin to look at life steadily and whole. Not surprisingly, when he returns to the outside world, he has to adjust once again, the world now seeming after his monastic stay "an inferno of noise and vulgarity entirely populated by bounders and sluts and crooks."
   
   Fermor's insights in this book are equally matched by his extraordinary descriptive powers. Like any true poet, he is enough a lover of the world's body to give it a memorable description. When he speaks of the long sleeves of monks' robes brushing the floor, for instance, he says they are "like the ends of elephants' trunks." And describing the arid desert location of the long since abandoned Turkish monastery, he talks of "lion-colored uplands" and "biscuit-colored villages." Far from simply telling what he sees, Fermor through stunning word painting allows his readers the pleasure of seeing with him.



2. Another great book by a great travel writer. This is a very quick read, but absolutely stuffed with erudition. For all but the most educated, it wouldn't hurt to read this with Wikipedia as a companion piece. As with his other travel books, the mix of architecture, history, linguistics, and an obvious personal touch lend an air of familiarity which, in the end, help give the impression that you have experienced these things yourself.
   
   I once read a review which stated this book concluded that the vow of silence and other retreats from secular life were not effective or warranted in some circumstances. In my opinion, this conclusion was not reached by the author. The opposite appears to be true - Fermor's return to secular life seemed to be more traumatic than his adjustment period during his first visit. His understanding is remarkable and serves as a good lesson to the casual reader - his hosts honestly believe they are suffering in order to atone for the sins of the world, and they ask for nothing in return.



3. The other night, needing a calm book after an agitating day, I re-read this short but typically-- granted this author's ability to convey much depth in a few pages-- account of the famed travel writer's visits to monasteries. His simple account focuses on a long stay at St Wandrille's in Belgium, a bit of Solesmes, more at La Grande Trappe in France, and the journey later among the ruins of Cappadocian foundations in Turkey.
   
   Fermor knows his limitations in retreating to such places in search of solitude to work on his own manuscripts. He tries to take on the mystery of the call to silence even as he tries to put it into words, to account for its appeal to a few and its strangeness to many of us. The results may not please all readers, for Fermor submits to the difference he encounters, and so by his lay status must remain too at the margins of what the monks take decades to live within. Writing well before Vatican II, Fermor conjures up an astonishingly austere regimen that he glimpses among the Trappists at their motherhouse; the Belgian Benedictines, by contrast, earn much more time for study and scholarship.
   
   I wondered, in the decades since, how many monks remain at such European houses. Fermor provides us with efficiently told summaries of the past depredations and recoveries of such venerable communities, and one closes Fermor's depictions of life as it was lived there a half a century ago with a realization of how close it was to observances centuries older. Again, such a description leaves me to ponder how much as been altered and how much remains the same given the enormous shifts in Catholic practice and the decline in vocations since then.
   
   This reflection leads to the comparatively short glimpse of the biscuit-colored mountains, with their pyramidical, anthill-like terrain, that housed some of the first monks in Christianity. The photos, as the one on the cover show, of this forbidding terrain remind me of an objective correlative for La Grande Trappe. The caves, the few remains, the hostile environment present, it seems, Fermor with a sense of an otherworldly terrain in more ways than one.



4. I'm a big fan of Fermor's writing and this little gem of a book is a departure from the classic travel works he has given us. In this short book, Fermor describes life in several monasteries where silence defines the world of the monk. Fermor stipulates that as a guest in these places he will never achieve the level of faith and monastic practice that the monks do, but he shines a light on their world, giving the reader a glimpse of an existence we've always wondered about but rarely got to know.

5 comments about French or Foe?: Getting the Most Out of Visiting, Living and Working in France.

1. As the relatively new kids on the geopolitical block, we Americans often misunderstand how the rest of the world operates, none more so than our amis ancien the French. I came across this book in a Genevan bookstore shortly after moving there and it has helped me immeasurably over the years. My Parisian friends have enjoyed and confirmed the truth and wisdom contained in its pages.
   
   Who knew that approaching the French in a typically American way with a big smile and focus on the task at hand is considered disingenuous and rude? How amazingly different is the response I consistently get with a deadpan expression, proper greeting and speaking French first before getting down to business!
   
   A whole host of helpful tips, from playing devil's advocate during an evening together, politically incorrect flirtation, and the customer not always being right, are covered here in a humorous and easy-to-remember fashion. Understanding builds the bridge to friendship. After all, the French have been our friends since before we became a sovereign country, even if it, as President Sarkozy has said, "friendship means accepting that friends can have different opinions."



2. Polly Platt's book is a mixture of valuable insight and eye-rolling pompousness. To give her due credit, the first chapter is full of useful information and essentially contains all that you will need to know from this book. Soon thereafter the book descends into a name-dropping snobbery and gives all the tips you'd need to know if you were visiting with the upper 3% of French society. Much of what Ms. Platt reveals about French culture seems to be outdated and of little relevance to the middle and lower-class French people that a visitor will no doubt actually be coming into contact with. Indeed, the author leaves the reader feeling that they would not be allowed at Ms. Platt's own dinner table.
   
   When I visited Paris I certainly found some of her information useful, such as her recommendation to use "The Ten Magic Words" (again, in the first chapter), and whether many of the French we came across were smiling and accommodating for this reason, I cannot say. Read this book and you will likely make fewer cultural mistakes in France than you would have if you hadn't, but read it knowing it is not the last word on French culture, and does not apply to most of the French population.



3. On my first visit to France, I loved the French and France. Now that I am living here and experiencing full throttle culture shock, it's a little different.
   
   Whilst trying to understand my cultureshock, it suddenly dawned on me that I hadn't read Platt's book on my first visit..but I did before I arrived here to live permanently.
   
   I realised that while it's 'just a book' she actually did instill some kind of a fear and paranoia within me that I was offending people left right and center when it wasn't the case at all. Her book is totally at odd's with my experiences of people and it has actually created a lot of misunderstandings because her words have echoed in my mind...but in 2008 PP is totally out of touch with reality in France..
   Her book is beyond outdated and she writes for a highly uppercrust society with money. Clearly not the folks I hang out with.
   
   She has a new book out which looks even more stereotypical and cliche ridden than the other two, this time about relationships French style. According to an article about the book she claims French women allow their husbands to have affairs and spend their pay packets on sexy lingerie.
   
   Does PP really live in France? I'm not sure how it's possible..



4. Overall I agree with many of the other reviews here in that the information presented by Ms. Platt is helpful for someone moving to France. Don't expect a well written or well edited book though. Some sentence structure simply doesn't make sense, which is odd because Ms. Platt's native language is english.



5. I just finished reading "French or Foe". I loved it!!!! I am an Australian, I had lived in Paris for almost 2 years in 1997-98 and now find myself living in the US. I have been rather shocked since moving here at the level of cultural misunderstanding there is about the French. I was fortunate enough to make some wonderful French friends whilst there. One friend's family practically adopted me as their own and we still keep in touch today, in fact the whole family - aunts and uncles, mother and my friend will be visiting me and my new American husband out here in Oregon within a year or so. I love that about the French, their loyalty to a friendship once made doesn't dim over the course of time.
   I have been soul sick for France ever since I left and have never stopped longing to return for good. France is one place I could live and die in very happily. Surprisingly your book has helped me understand a lot more about the American culture! Learning the polychronic and monochronic differences helped me no end in understanding why it has been so difficult for me to adjust to living in the US - I now know I am definitely an Australian polychronic personality. Although I think I will continue to have difficulties adjusting to life here, the knowledge has brought a great deal of understanding about my particular situation.
   Thank you for sharing so many interesting stories about your life in your work and for the thoroughly entertaining and educational read that it is, I hope that you and your family are well, and I look forward to reading Savoir-Flair next!

5 comments about Brussels (EYEWITNESS TRAVEL GUIDE).

1. I have had great experiences with the DK Guides. I use it extensively in my trip planning and this is the guide I take on the trip.

   This guide provides execllent information about local sites throughout Beligium. It gives very clear guidance concerning what you can find and access information. It also helps you to locate the sites with indexed maps and diagrams.

   I have found that this and the other DK Guides are bit weak in providing guidance about what to see. That is, it offers little qualitative information--everything sounds equally wonderful. And we all know this is not necessarily the case.

   So I always find another guide that has more opinions and recomended tours to determine what to see. I espiecially look for guided the provide suggested walking tours. This has worked out well for the most part. I use other guides to plan the trip and the DK Guide in the country.

   It has very usable maps although sometimes too limited in scope and you may require a local map to get around beyond the central city. Also, because the book is a bit heavy and too large to fit in a jacket pocket after the first day or so I leave it in the hotel and rely on the local map when walking about.

   The one topic I find most reliable is DK's restaurant recommendations. The two places I tried in Brussels were fantastic and offered everything that the guide described. I have had equal success with DK's restaurant recommendations in other cities/countries.

   I think this is an indispensible travel guide as long as you know what you are using it for--planning or background info, etc.




2. DK guides are by far the best for any trip -- their black-by-block walking guides just can't be beat.



3. This was an indispensable tool my navigation of Belgium. I also purchased the Top 10, published by DK just so I would not miss anything. I liked the large maps and the clear directions to the venues. The pictures were GREAT. This book greatly enhanced my journey.



4. Perfect for Belgium. Brussels, Bruge, Antwerp are all well done. The quality of the DK series makes them the pick of the class, but heavy. It's the only guilde that emmanates a feel for the area's architecture. I used the hotel section comparatively with other guides. It finished slightly ahead. What is unusual is a non-tourist perspective is part of the review mix. I am an intelligent successful high tech businessman and not particularly interested in clowns staying away from people that are. To me travel is not an entertainment video. It is a mix of pleasure, leisure, and learning while keeping in reasonable cost effective contact with the world that enabled me to make the trip. This is the one area that could use improvement. "Internet access" is a meaningless description. What's the cost, how fast, what mode, where, and how often is it available? For decades the hotel telephone has been the ultimate rip off tool. Now it's morphed into the cell phone realm. Despite what you have read international calling is still very expensive. When Best Western doesn't charge for the identical serice that Hyatt, Hilton,
   Marriott, etc. do is it very clear whose happiness is primary despite what the brochure says. A lot more help on this would be most appreciated. Kudos to DK for giving local food a serious look. The inclusion of small, medium and high end places is a refreshing and useful change. For some reason no mention is made of the "ladies of the evening" displaying their virtues through sidewalk level bay windows along the street parallel to the Brussels airport-to-central station route about five minutes before it ends. After a long flight it provides a little spice that was missing in the airline food.



5. We recently took a trip to Belgium, where we intended to visit Brugge, Antwerp, and Brussels, although in the end, we dropped Antwerp in favor of spending more time in Brugge. I bought a copy of this book on the advice that it had a lot of coverage beyond Brussels.
   
   Like most EyeWitness guides, the photos, sketched 3D area maps, etc. were all brilliant for identifying points of interest and notable details. The suggested walking tours also proved to be a great resource, since these cities are best visited simply by wandering the streets rather than heading straight for key destinations.
   
   My only qualm with the book is that (as the title suggests) it is heavy on Brussels. This was a little disappointing, having heard that it included adequate coverage of the other cities in its subtitle. Nearly 75% of the book is dedicated to the capital with the other cities receiving only around a half dozen pages each. If you're planning to spend a lot of time in Brugge, Antwerp, or Ghent, I'd recommend finding a book with more focused coverage. If you plan to spend a lot of time in Brussels, with daytrips to one or more of the other cities, this book would probably be great.

5 comments about A Walk through the Heavens: A Guide to Stars and Constellations and their Legends.

1. This book makes finding constellations in the Northern Hemisphere(the author has a similar book for the Southern Hemisphere)an interesting and successful endeavor. It is not just for youngsters, but for anyone with an interest in learning how to find constellations and the names of the major stars. The diagrams illustrate the relationships between stars and constellations in simple drawings that make it like an easy-to-read roadmap. It builds from the pointer stars of the Big Dipper (Ursa Major) to all the constellations and how to find them. Instead of frustration and doubt you'll feel the exhilaration of discovery.

   Besides the stars and their relationships to each other, there is also a "Legends of the Heavens" section that tells the myths and stories of the major constellations. They are fascinating and not limited to children. This book can open up the heavens for anyone who wonders about the stars. It can lay a foundation by simplifying the sky. Once these basics are learned, the universe and hobby of astronomy can be pursued to whatever depth you want. This book is a MUST for anyone wanting to be successful in satisfying their curiosity about the locations of constellations and their relationships to each other.




2. Those who consider this a really good beginners' book must not have seen Hans Rey's classic "Find the Constellations" or "The Stars: A New Way to See Them".
   The latter book was "new" generations ago when my now grown children marveled at the heavens using our heavily worn hard copy of "The Stars" with Rey, and is now collecting grubby fingerprints from the frequent use by my grandchildren in our original and several paperback copies.
   Part 2 of the Heifetz/Tirion book uses a labored method of originating and extending lines all over the sky from "Star n" of Asterism "m" through several other hard to define positions of far removed stars and further on to numbered or named stars in destination constellations for its "Walk Through the Heavens".
   Too complicated for the purpose for beginners.
   One could spend all night trying to imagine these lines in the sky while a few minutes with either of the Rey books would have the beginner naming and knowing half a dozen constellations and then star hopping to others.
   Parts 1, 3 and 4 save the book. Part 3, the section on Legends of the Heavens, Milky Way, etc. is very good. Part 4, sort of a Misc. chapter has a small collection of good viewing information.
   The book is a good buy, but the Rey books are a lot better for learning the constellations for any age group, and only slightly more expensive.
   The Time-Life Skywatching/Advanced Skywatching volumes for a few more bucks are a little more advanced but orders of magnitude better for beginning teenagers, adults or advanced elementary schoolers and provide a lot more bang for your buck.



3. One of the best, if not the best, book I have found to easily teach you the night sky and how to find and identify the Constellations. I highly recommend this book for anyone that wants to learn the night sky easily and complete. A++++



4. Undoubtedly lots of beginning astronomers will be trying to decide between Rey's book "The Stars: A New Way to See Them" and Heifetz/Tirion's "A Walk Through the Heavens". I just wanted to point out something that could be a deciding factor for some people: "A Walk Through the Heavens" teaches you to find contellations which are drawn using the time-tested line segments between the stars of the constellations. In other words, the connections between the stars in any given constellation are the "traditional" connections. As an astronomy purist, this is the way I prefer to see them.
   
   In contrast, H.A. Rey used his imagination to re-draw the line segments between the stars in his book "The Stars: A New Way to See Them". Put another way, Rey diverges from the accepted norm in that the connections between the stars in any given constellation are drawn differently than the accepted connections. That means if you look at a planisphere or any other observing aid, the constellations' connections will be drawn differently than in Rey's book (but will appear the same as they do in "A Walk Through the Heavens").
   
   That said, some people find Rey's "new way" easier since Rey's constellation connections are more intuitive for some people to grasp. But if you learn from Rey's book then be prepared to re-learn the conventional constellation segments once you graduate to any other astronomical reference.



5. I like to look at the constellations in my backyard. In other books, the constellations are presented separately, and you have to guestimate where they are. This book shows you one constellation, and then shows you how to line up the stars for the next one. For example, most people can find the big dipper, and from there most people can line up the stars on the front of the dipper part, and be directed to the North Star. Well, this book shows that if you follow the curve of the handle, you can find the star Arturus, in the constellation Bootes. All the constellations in this book are connected this way, so that you don't have to guess where they are anymore. Every constellation points to another.
   
   Also, most books have the stars on a dark blue background with black writing. It's hard to read. This has the stars white, on a light lavender background, so the black and white writing stands out much better. All in all, it make the diagrams much easier on the eyes. I am going to try to learn one constellation each night.

5 comments about Living, Studying, and Working in Italy: Everything You Need to Know to Live La Dolce Vita.

1. This book is literally a goldmine of useful information. I had no idea that the university system began at different times then the university system in the States... no wonder I didn't meet any cute Italian boys until two months into my stay! Hehe. But beyond that, I would recommend this book to anyone who, like myself, dreams of one day calling Italia home. I went through some of the avenues listed in the book (i.e., post-graduate study abroad, mingling with the locals, etc.) before even knowing this book existed, so the authors must be doing something right!



2. This book is great because it gives you things from an American perspective. I've lived in Italy before on a study abroad program, so I was familiar with some things, but the lists of contact information alone are enough reason to buy this book. It covers everything from student visas to getting dual citizenship and from teaching ESL to starting your own business. A must read for anyone thinking about moving to Italy.



3. To those who are either considering moving to Italy or just going for vacation, this is the book for you. It provides not only the basic information, but also answers questions that you would not normally consider or even think of. It also provides valuable information about embassies/consulates, education, and every day life. Even as a seasoned traveler, I found this book very useful, as I plan my relocation to Italy. It is an asset to any traveler's library.



4. This book arrived today, and I have read most of it already-- absolutely wonderful! It addresses answers to 98% of my questions, as well as issues I hadn't even thought about. There are also useful addresses and resources, as well as basic, but necessary tips, including how to convert measurements (for butter, sugar and clothing!), saints' days, and everyday etiquette (don't walk around your hosts' house barefoot!). How can someone who doesn't speak much Italian find a job? Which visa is actually right for you and what's the process? How do you prepare for your Italian job interview/write your resume? What's the garbage tax? What if you need emergency medical care? How do you get covered by Italy's public health care system? What is the proper way to go shopping in Italy? I've spent several months living/studying/traveling in Europe before, and I wish I had access to this book earlier. Full of tips, tricks, and tools to make you a successful individual in Italy (and beyond). Go eat some pasta and read up!



5. I moved to Italy to live, study and work, taking with me this book as the ultimate resource for an American looking to make a life there. Unfortunately, I did not find it to be the exhaustive guide I had hoped.
   Not only did it brush the surface on important questions any American moving abroad would have (such as those addressing legal requirements, getting proper paperwork and visas to stay, finding work, etc.), I found it to actually contradict itself in the discussion of some important subjects.
   
   I am afraid that whole-heartedly trusting this book to help you navigate through some of the legal implications of moving to Italy may result in much frustration. I also found the helpful lists (compilations of schools and universities, English-speaking organizations, etc.) to be less-than-comprehensive. These lists mainly focus on the big cities and American-draws (Rome, Florence and Milan).
   
   This book is fine as a starter guide to help you to begin to plan, but it is not "everything you need to know."