4 comments about Far Afield: A Sportswriting Odyssey.

1. Scott Price is not just a great sports writer. He's a great writer. I know him from college at UNC-Chapel Hill. He wrote for the college newspaper. Even then I thought he was one of the best writers I had ever read. He has only improved over the last ... hmmm ... 25 years. I am no sports fan, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book and learned quite a bit not only about sports but about different cultures and political clashes. Think "Under the Tuscan Sun" with a brain. Price is the quintessential intellectual, yet he is not aloof. He writes honestly about his family and feelings about the world he found while traveling around Europe and countries even farther afield. The only disappointment was that the only photo of Scott was a side view. If I was as handsome as him, I'd have my picture on the book jacket! (Remember that for your next book, Scott!) So don't wait for the paperback. I agree with the comment above. I WOULD buy a grocery list if Scott Price wrote it. Treat yourself. Read this book! Enjoy!



2. This book was not what I expected in numerous ways. When I read the initial previews I had expected something along the lines of Peter Mayle meets Peter King romp: a travelogue and a litany of sports related observations. This book gave me that and more.
   
   The travelogue is your typical Innocent Abroad themed descriptions peppered with humorous anecdotes. This was better done by Twain. The sports stories went a lot deeper than what Price did at SI. This was the original intent of his adventures in Europe afterall: write more in depth about non-American sports. And it was very well done, Price is a great writer.
   
   There are basically two things that strikes me. One is the confessional aspect of this book: he lays out all the unpleasantness in his life and he lays it out bluntly. He chastises himself for his own perceived blindspots and shortcomings. A major theme is how he deals with his families -the one he has with his wife and the one he was born into- during this short trip and for all of his life.
   
   The circumstances, travel and personal confessional, reminds me of Elizabeth Gilbert's book Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia. Her's has more food, meditation, and sex , his has more sports. Much like her book, the reader gets drawn into his thought process, his pain and suffering, and his moments of transcendance. I am not all that sure that the milieu of Europe and sports writing quite did the same thing for Price as Italy, India, and Bali did for Gilbert.
   
   The other revelation is the process of writing. When Price had his a-ha moment about writing in his own words about his own thought, the thought became a double edged sword: it was both obvious and illuminating at the same time.
   
   Price's thought cycle involving Michael Jordan was interesting and yet also banal. I had guessed at what Jordan was about years ago, the portrait that Price painted revealed nothing new. But I did learn about Pakistani and Indian cricketers, Greek track doping scandal, skiing, Wimbledon, the Athens Olympics and just how paranoid the Greeks are.
   
   This is not a sit down and read book. There sections of that, but there are plenty of sit down and contemplate sections too. It is not an easy book to read, but it is well worth the effort.



3. I am familiar with S.L Price's work in the pages of Sports Illustrated. In a way that was a hindeence when i started this book. i expected straight sports writing. Instead we share a a move he made with his wife and hildren when he accepted a job that took him to South France and allowed him to observe sports outside of the US. He travels to Greece, Paris, Pakistan, anywhere there is competition and immerses himself in the event. Traveling in Europe in post 9/11 proved eye opening and horizion expanding...no longer in the safe confines of the US and familiar sports and customs. The story of the family moving to a new place and immersing themselves in the daily life, though seemingly a side story, is sweet and moving. My problems came when the narritave switched from present day back to experiences in the past as he wrote for SI. It didn't read as easily as I had hoped. I guess I am spoiled from all the SI pieces. Still a sweet read.



4. I don't even watch professional sports (other than tennis) and I loved reading this book!

1 comments about AA 2008 Big Road Atlas Europe (AA Atlases).

1. Excellent road atlas for road travel in Europe. The book is large and somewhat heavy but in the car the size makes for fast and easy reading. It has quality paper, but most importantly, it is spiral bound. I'll use it for the next 5-7 years before replacing it with a newer edition. JP/Texas

2 comments about You Go Girl Paris: A Women's Guide to Paris (Paris Travel Guide).

1. Planning to celebrate my 50th birthday in Paris and just found this book on the Internet (I loved their previous book regarding London). I was thrilled to see that I have read several of the books they recommend so the references were especially meaningful. I plan to start reading others on their recommendation list and then bring their guide with me when I go!
   
   Barb and Polly are sisters and they "do Paris" on a shoestring budget which is right up my alley. They suggest many sights and experiences but always give you an idea of how much, how seedy, how "must-do" certain activities are. I like the perspective they give as two women traveling about because the trip to Paris I am planning is with two girlfriends from grade school!
   
   I think if you are in a Book Club and are wondering what sort of theme you should have for the year... think about getting You Go Girl Paris, read several of the book recommendations and then head off en masse for a trip detailed for you by Ms. Chesley and Ms. Boline. It sounds absolutely fabulous.



2. I purchased this book because I thought it would give some insider tips on things to do/see that would be of interest to women. Unfortunately, it is basically a generic guidebook, that doesn't say anything new. It does have good info on what to see in the museums and divides it into where things are located, but you can get this from just about any other guidebook. The book looks like it was printed from someone's home computer, there are quite a few typos and the few pictures that are included are in black and white.
   
   I was very disappointed, and wished I had spent the money on a different book. I will not be taking this book with me when I travel to Paris.

1 comments about Guide to Navigation and Tourism in French Polynesia.

1. Excelent book for the navigator as well as being a first rate cruising guide.

1 comments about Paris, 2nd (City Guides - Cadogan).

1. By Bill Marsano. If you were to go to a really well-stocked bookstore and start counting the guidebooks devoted to Paris, there's a fair chance you wouldn't finish on the same day you started. Paris is like the Battle of Gettysburg: Everyone wants to write about it and almost everyone does. (Some more than once.) So while you might consider yourself spoiled for choice, it's more likely that you'll be overwhelmed and baffled.
   
   I can help you out here because I'm almost uniquely qualified to judge. I've used guides, written for guides and even sold guides in a travel bookstore. And from that I conclude that this is the best guide to Paris available, bar none.
   
   Dana Facaros and Michael Pauls have written literally dozens of guides; I first came to know their work in Italy two decades ago. They lived there at the time just as they are now writing guides to France and live there too. It's fair to say that from depth of experience and local perspective, they can't be beat. They are not quick in-and-outers dependent on what the local tourist office is pushing.
   
   Their Paris book has all you'd expect from any decent competitor, of which there are plenty: details and overviews of nightlife, sports, parks, hotels, transport, restaurants, museums, walking tours, festivals, flea markets, shopping. All that and more. What sets it apart--far apart--is the quality and freshness of the writing, which is informed, stylish and witty (the historical notes are especially fine and a delight to read). The reader truly feels guided by this book--taken in hand by an expert (two of them in this case) and given the key to the city. This is a genuinely sophisticated approach to the City of Light. A triomphe, in fact.
   
   If you're going to Paris for a week or more, you may very well wish to embark upon a daytrip beyond the city. For that you must buy "An Hour from Paris," by Annabel Simms (a Brit long resident in Paris). She's a perfect companion to Facaros and Pauls, and almost their equal as a writer. She lists 20 splendid daytrips, most of them little known, all available by public transport, and none more than an hour away.--Bill Marsano is an award-winning travel writer and editor.

5 comments about A Place of Healing for the Soul: Patmos.

1. Peter France has shown a total lack of respect for factual accuracy as well as for the Greek people in his book about Patmos. He has apparently spent no time checking any of his facts, and one wonders if he has actually been to Greece at all. His lack of respect for the Greek people is typical of the British traveler, and his lack of respect for truth is perhaps typical of the British journalist (perhaps of most journalists today). But one might expect the publisher to show some principles. Mr. France can't even get the difference between ouzo and tsipouro clear, let alone the origin of the phalanx. He presents the Greek people as if they had just emerged from the Stone Age, when in fact, this is a culture which was enjoying epic poetry, lyrical poetry, and narrative fiction while his ancestors were still shivering in caves. Perhaps Mr. France should stick to his own cave, religion, where no factual accuracy is required.



2. We met Peter France on Patmos and read several of his books. Having retired here, we know the people, places and religious
   experiences he wrote about. Without being pedantic, he wrote about his baptism to Greek Orthodoxy after years of study and introspection. We were impressed by the meticulous attention he's given to the smallest details and nuances of life
   on Patmos. We chuckled as he described some individuals with his
   unique wry humor, and quietly reflected upon many of his more serious, thought-provoking comments. In a very relaxed manner he
   has you focus on many meaningful aspects and some amusing incidents one experiences while being on this tiny, remote island. I would venture to say that he has broadened and deepend our appreciation of this place we now call "home".
   As to the reviews offered by Mr. Ashley Black and Mr. Aleko:
   "Gentlemen, I believe we have not read the same book, nor can
   I believe you've ever lived on Patmos".
   After reading "A Place Of Healing For The Soul: Patmos" you will
   find that one is both entertained and stimulated to think more
   about one's every-day life. You may even develope an "itch" to
   visit this place. Thank you, Peter, for this lovely book.



3. This candid, informative and funny book is an engaging account of how France came to know the living Christ.
   
   Before he arrived on Patmos France had endeavoured for years to discover and share in the Orthodox Christian faith of his beloved wife. He had read widely and, on the cerebral level, understood much, but the certainties he must have continued to elude him. Then, after he had made the island his home and had become immersed in its culture - both ancient and `modern' - he began to perceive for the first time "that Christian truth is not an objective series of propositions that can be understood by anybody. It is accessible only to those who have undergone ... a complete change of perspective". France agreed to be baptised whilst still officially an agnostic but once he had been received into the Orthodox Church he came - over a period of time - to experience for himself the reality of grace, which hitherto he had felt to be shrouded in the colourful imagery of myth. "It had come in the form of an increase not in conviction, but in awareness, in receptivity".
   
   `Healing for the Soul' could equally serve as a potted history and/or a geographical guide (in which case the provision of a map and an index would make it a much easier read), but far more important is that it bears witness to an understanding: that Orthodox Christianity is the means whereby a man's heart may be educated.



4. I'm not in the mood to write a thoughtful review, so I'll keep it short. When I read a book I can almost never read it twice, no matter how much I enjoy it. This one has been the exception with C.S. Lewis and Solzhenitsyn. The book just made me feel good, that is the only reason I am taking this time to thank Mr. France. Also I love his wife's cover design. John Burleson, Jacksonville, North Carolina



5. I should preface my review with the confession that I began reading this book in the hopes of finding some noteworthy insights into the Orthodox Faith. The back cover's references to Orthodoxy, St. John and the Book of Revelation, and hermits, ascetics, monks, and nuns made me wonder if this book might be a good gift to a Westerner interesting in Orthodoxy, especially as, amid all of these references, Peter France is described as "a hardened skeptic." The reality is that, besides a few gems of insight and one incredibly disappointing chapter which attempts to speak of Orthodoxy directly, I spent most of this book wondering what possessed him to write it; at what point did he think, "I'll be people would like to read about this time in my life..."?
   
   I do believe that there is a point in all that he wrote, though I don't think that it is worth the time to discover the few good pages; if anything, approach this book with an expectation of a light, leisurely read and be surprised by the insights rather than beginning with a hope of an interesting story of Orthodox discovery while being bored by the 80 pages between the insights.
   
   Basically, the book reads like this: Peter France discusses his initial travels - then move - with his wife to and around the island of Patmos. His long discourses on the people, attitudes, and scenery potray an almost romantic, though very foreign lifestyle (which is not, as a previous reviewer implies, anti-Greek). He describes the different ways of thinking and doing things as unusual and foreign but not in a negative way. He even appears to be fascinated by much of it, as he seems to expect the reader to be, as well. However, one begins to wonder (as I did) why so many pages need to be written on such things as how he and his wife managed to get electricity to their home or how long it took for the previous owners of a home to retrieve their livestock.
   
   As stated above, I suspect there is a reason, and I think that it is this: France wants to portray, through examples, the attitudes and way of life of the people of Patmos so as to alter the reader's worldview - even if only for a short period - so that he or she can understand his growing acceptence and, more so, understanding of Orthodoxy. However, after literally 80 pages of learning this mindset with just a few small interesting observations of the Faith, I was more than ready for the first truly profound point of the book which came from a conversation between the author and an archimandrite, Fr. Amphilochios. I don't remember how many more pages I had to wait for another one. Again, there were simply points when I wondered when, in all of these experiences, the author decided that people would want to read about them.
   
   Thus far, I would give the book a 3 out of 5 stars, but it loses another star mainly for chapter 11 entitled "Differences" in which the author attempts to describe the differences between Western and Eastern Christianity. He states that, if not interested, the reader should skip this chapter; I suggest that, even if one is interested, he should look elsewhere (such as Khomiakov, Met. Anthony Khrapovistky, Fr. Alexey Young, and others). This chapter is not only not a good comparison of the two, it is downright false in some of its statements. For instance, when speaking of the Scriptural passage "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock...," France states that it is "clear and obvious" that Christ is referring to Peter and subsequently the later bishops of Rome when He says "rock." He then states that Church history appears to support this interpretation. However, the vast majority of Church Fathers - and thus the Orthodox Church - says that the rock is the confession of Jesus as "Christ, Son of the living God," not the person of Peter. Also, Church history provides evidence of the second understanding (read, for instance, Michael Whelton's "Two Paths"), not the former; France's understanding did not come for hundreds of years after Christ. His lack of understanding and knowledge of Orthodoxy is amplified in other ways (even his English spelling of Greek words), though this is just an example.
   
   Overall, then, I suggest that, if one wants to read this book, expect to read about a part of Peter France's life on the island of Patmos while, on the side, gaining a few insights into Orthodoxy but being wary of some of his facts concerning the Faith.

No comments about Drive Around Languedoc and Southwest France, 2nd: Your guide to great drives. Top 25 Tours. (Drive Around - Thomas Cook).

1 comments about HarperCollins Language Survival Guide: France: The Visual Phrasebook and Dictionary (HarperCollins Language Survival Guides).

1. Went to France last year with a few guides and books, and this was by FAR the most helpful. I am also a very visual learner, so the section with what signs look like for pharmacies, tabac's, etc. was fabulous. It's dog-eared and worn, but I'm going back to Paris this year and wouldn't think of leaving it behind.

No comments about Living in Provence (Living In . . .).

No comments about AUTHENTIK / Chic Paris (Authentik).