1 comments about The Other State, New Mexico USA.

1. Mr. McCord has captured the special essence of New Mexico, which is nominally part of the USA, but really almost a separate country and culture all to itself. One could put the case that N.M. is really 2 countries:
   1. N.M. in the summers and 2. N.M. in the winters. Both of these countries have a special charm like no other place and deserve a visit with care toward preserving such a vital resource. Buy the book!

4 comments about Lonely Planet: Mexico's Pacific Coast.

1. Full of great information (including all the GOOD stuff...maps, vaccinations, requisite travel paperwork, great restaurants and places to stay...) written with a great deal of passion and facts, and because it's a Lonely Planet publication, I trust it is accurate. Great bus reading! Will definately take a copy with me to mark up, just too valuable to leave at home. Highly recommended. Asta luego! :0)



2. The problem with this guide is that it was written by two people: Danny Palmerlee's advice was spot-on, but Sandra Bao's section was awful. Incorrect maps, serious errors and bad hotel advice. It's as though she were never there. She clearly relied on hearsay without checking things out first hand. Avoid this guide and get a more general Mexico book written by more authors.



3. I am an avid LP fan and have used their books in several other countries, but found this one to be incredibly unhelpful. We ended up stranded on a military base, sleeping in our car for a night, and the guidebook had the wrong number for the hotel we were trying to reach. Furthermore, the book seems to breeze over some of the nicer off-the-beaten-path spots, like Mazunte and Zipolite.



4. Not only was this guide not helpful, it was agonizing to use. The index is incomplete, the maps are scattered and inapplicable, nothing is cross-referenced, and the descriptions are more often than not completely irrelevant. I've just returned from my trip to Mexico's Pacific Coast, and found that relying on the book for information was counter-productive, as many facts were missing or wrong. It was more productive to ask anyone than to open the book. Do not spend your money or time on this guide.

1 comments about Let's Go Mexico 22nd Edition (Let's Go Mexico).

1. As a white, early 30's couple who are experienced off-the-beaten-path travelers, we've used Lets Go in the past for travel through Europe and Asia and have been mostly satisfied. However, we were very unsatisfied with the Mexico book.
   1) The Mexico book was particularly bad for smaller Mexican cities/towns. The chapter on Oaxaca was lacking in details, specifically regarding transportation options. Even for Mexico City, the number of listings seemed small in comparison to the number of options.
   2) We are slightly older travelers (30 years old) and this book is focused on late night parties and bars. While I understand that Lets Go is oriented to younger travelers (post-college), we found the lack of nice bars, authentic cheap food (barely discussed street food), and local activities (not gringo bars or non-tourist circuit things).
   3) Hotel descriptions were unfailingly positive. While the hotels we stayed in were sparse, but fine, to say things like 'spotless bathroom' when the bathroom was adequate and not spotless, is far-fetched and misleading.
   4) Prices were significantly off - 15-20%. Even if no one from Lets Go travels to Mexico every year, it cannot be difficult to call these places to verify prices, especially when Lets Go lists the telephone number and publishes a new edition every year.
   5) we are not fluent, but speak an intermediate level of Spanish. We didn't feel that Lets Go adequately prepared us for the lack of English spoken, especially in non-beach or non-Mexico City areas of the country.

2 comments about Silver Cities: Photographing American Urbanization, 18391939.

1. "One may view this book as a study of American attitudes toward the city as revealed in one of its most important media or as an ongoing history of an urban art form," writes Hale, a professor of art history and director of the American Studies Institute at the U. of Illinois - Chicago. The nearly 250 photographs relating to American cities from the pre-Civil War decades to the eve of WWII are roughly divided into the four stages development, maturity, transformation, and diffusion. Earliest photographs from the 1830s and '40s capture plainly the crude, clustered buildings sprouting up in open spaces, as in uncomprehending witness to what was unfolding. Photographs from the latter 1800s reach into the impoverished, fragile, hectic lives of immigrants flooding into the cities. Jacob Riis's photographs figure prominently in this period. Into the 20th century, the photographs again change in subjects and perspectives to go along with modernism's tenets of Promethean, prodigious, growth, large-scale enterprises, and celebration of technology and design. Springing from the "discipline [of] American cultural history," this revised and expanded edition of the 1884 publication not only contains additional photographs, but also related added text reflecting the growth of government sponsorship, mass-market reproduction, the place of women and African-Americans, and the diminished presence of "individual studio practice." Yet despite this last new topic, Hale also in one part brings out the "photographic studio as itself [in italics in original] a part of the developing American urban fabric." Like the earlier edition which has now become a collector's item, this revised edition is patently the leading study on photography as it took cities as subjects and reflected evolving attitudes toward them.



2. Students and enthusiasts of photography and its history have long considered Peter Bacon Hales's SILVER CITIES indispensable. First released in 1984, it was one of the first, most readable, and most visually interesting, of a crop of new histories of photography that saw the medium as part of a larger sphere of cultural history. This new edition is really welcome-- much longer, even more lavishly illustrated, dramatically revised, beautifully redesigned. Hales has incorporated many of the ideas and discoveries of writers since the book was first published; he has added many new illustrations and changed the old ones, and he has pushed the book well into the 20th century, treating photographers like Walker Evans, James VanderZee, and Edward Steichen. The writing is better, too-- more conversational and fluid, easier to read. If you have a copy of the old SILVER CITIES, you'll have to buy this one, too. If you don't, this is a real eye-opener of a book.

2 comments about AAA Easy Reading Road Atlas 2008 (Aaa North American Road Atlas (Large Print)).

1. Ordered from Amazon on 1 Oct.'07, free shipping, slowest delivery time stated was approximately 5-7 days. Checked status on the 4th, hadn't even shipped, new estimated delivery date was the 19th! We depart on the 15th, way too slow, way too late! Maybe so new an edition they don't have it in stock? Then they shouldn't have shown it was in stock! I love Amazon's supremely efficient website, this is my first disappointing order. Sorry Jeff, I guess no one is perfect, you come close though!



2. Bought as a gift for my husband who doesn't want to wear reading glasses while traveling. The wording is large but so many roads are missing that the book is useless. Even the highways from one town to another are missing. You only get the large federal highways. I would NOT recommend buying unless you only go interstate highways.

No comments about Spanish All Talk Basic Language Course (4 Hour/4 Cds): Learn to Understand and Speak Spanish with Linguaphone Language Programs (All Talk) (All Talk).

2 comments about Insight Guide New Mexico (Insight Guides).

1. We have found this to be an excellent guide. There is a lot of detail, wonderful photographs and just a lot of practical tips. I would recommend this book to anyone traveling in the New Mexico area.



2. Lots of striking photos, thoughtful discussions of historical and cultural topics, useful descriptions of important attractions, and mention of top restaurants and accommodations make this a worthwhile guide for adults traveling in New Mexico. It would serve well as a valuable and interesting supplemental guide to enrich a trip, but not as a primary source of basic travel information. Traveling families will also want to consult other guides as activities for children are not addressed. As its name suggests, this guide provides insights, not facts and figures, but it does that very well.
   
   - Libby Lynn, Author of I see Santa Fe!: Hear, taste, smell, and touch ; a children's guide and coloring book

1 comments about Meeting the Medicine Men: An Englishman's Travels Among the Navajo.

1. Langley, a jaded newspaper editor from London, travels to the American Southwest and gradually is allowed to become an apprentice to Blue Horse, a Navajo Medicine Man. In his book, he recounts Blue Horse's skill at "de-witching" and removing curses from individuals and families. He also describes a session in a sweat lodge, a Beautyway ceremony, and his visions while taking peyote along the San Juan River with a Navajo friend.
   
   One has to be careful with books like this. Marlo Morgan's MUTANT MESSAGE DOWN UNDER, presumably about an American woman's "walkabout" with Australian Aborigines and the ancient wisdom she learned from them, was almost entirely made up. Langley, who has since become a student of anthropology at the University of New Mexico, is sincere, but his outsider's account should perhaps be taken with a grain of salt (no pun intended). That's not to say that a Navajo "insider's" account of wichcraft, healing, and visions shouldn't be taken with a grain of salt either. But some of the book seems padded for atmosphere, and parts of the book have the ring of fiction, such as a scene in which a "death car" pursues Langley in his rental car across a northern Arizona highway. But who's to say?
   
   The other issue is to what extent a white author should divulge information he is privileged to witness in a traditional Native culture. Too often, traditional Native knowledge is coopted by the New age community. The book has the endorsement on the back of Emerson Jackson, Sr., a Navajo elder and former president of the Native American Church of North America, whose members legally take peyote as a kind of sacrament during ceremonies. Langley writes with great respect for Navajo people and traditions. But one wonders if Blue Horse or Langley's Navajo friends who were on the receiving end of witchcraft and curses would have been as likely to welcome him in their ceremonies had they known he would write a book divulging such secrets. Tony Hillerman was criticized by many on the Navajo Nation for incorporating traditional Navajo ceremonial knowledge in his mysteries.
   
   I found Langley's sensational account hard to put down. He writes with skepticism at first, but then credulity when the situation calls for it, and humor, especially in describing how his Navajo friends become gradually more accepting of his being a "bilagaana"/white man. His book, thankfully, attempts to be a factual account and does not have that "New age/shaman wisdom" ring to it, but reminds us that in lower-48-states America, pockets of traditional cultures have preserved beliefs, wisdom, and traditions that go back thousands of years, and may have a lot to say to our crazy contemporary world.
   
   For a better book, though, about a white man's journey across the Navajo Nation, try Douglas Preston's beautiful TALKING TO THE GROUND, about a horseback journey Preston and his wife and daughter took across the northern Navajo Nation, and the landscapes, people, and knowledge they encounter there.

4 comments about Mexico's Copper Canyon: Barranca del Cobre, Canyon Train Adventure, Sierra Tarhumara.

1. Whether you plan to take a trip to Mexico's Copper Canyon or not, this book is a wonderful journey into that region. It provides both a fascinating look at the Tarahumara Indians as well as travel tips for the adventurous traveler.

   Padre Luis Verplancken, S.J., the co-author of the books, has lived in the Copper Canyon region for more than 20 years. He provides an intimate portrait of the Tarahumara, both in words and pictures. Through Padre Verplancken, we learn about the Tarahumara people, religion, and social structures.

   Mr. Fisher has compiled additional information on some of the other interesting places in the region. No trip to the Copper Canyon is complete, for example, without a visit to Batopilas. Or take a trip on the the Chihuahua El Pacifico railroad.

   So whether you are an armchair traveller or a hearty hiker, this book is a must.




2. Fabulous book--great color pictures! A must for every travel library. I am ordering a second book, so I can lend it out to friends!



3. This is the only book I could find on the canyon. It gives you a good overview of what to expect before you leave home and is a handy reference for when you get back. There are some photos - many of places you will not see unless you have your own independent mode of transportation.



4. It was just fine - for what it is. The layout is not so great -- has a sort of mish-mash graphic design. The maps are great -- it is written in both English and Spanish -- so a little hard to follow - but all the parts are there in both languages. It's fine for the price - tho' a bit odd.

4 comments about New Mexico's Wilderness Areas: The Complete Guide (Wilderness Guidebooks).

1. This is a guide that the hikers, desert rats, and general wilderness afficionados of New Mexico have long been in need of. It is the first truly comprehensive guide to both the known and "desperately need to be known about and protected" areas in the land of enchantment. Not only does it offer good general info about the areas but their historical significance, why they qualify as wilderness, and how people can access the areas. The more major areas all have some additional text, which is clear and intriguing. Also nice are the authors "favorite hikes" for some areas - they are an excellent starting point for the hiker with a limited schedule. The photos which accompany some areas are also spectacular. I have but a few gripes with the book and they are as follows: Some areas could use a little more description - especially about why they are so ecologically important. It would also be nice if the maps were a little better, but they are quite adequate. However my most major complaint lies not with the book itself, It is such a good guide that my "secret" areas will scarce remain secrets...



2. I honestly don't see why anyone found this book useful. I was totally fooled into buying it by the positive reviews here! The first thing that happened was that I looked at the front page map of the entire state to find out what areas were near the town I will be in for an upcoming trip. The map had lots of highways marked with NO TOWNS OR CITIES. Now maybe New Mexicans all memorized the highway map of their state, but for a visitor the lack of any towns or cities made this key map pretty much useless. The book has lots of nice photos on glossy pages, and gives tons of information on history and ecology of the various wilderness areas. It mentions some hikes and climbs and gives sketchy verbal directions, but if you are looking for a climbing or hiking guide to New Mexico this book is pretty much useless. The "maps" it has for the different areas are not topo maps, but just line maps of some surrounding roads and trails. I bought this book to help me plan some hikes and maybe easy peak climbs while I was in northern New Mexico. If I could return it I would, it will not be useful at all. If you are looking for a climbing guide, or even a guide to serious hiking in New Mexico don't get this book or you will be just as disappointed as I was!



3. Despite reviews by people from out of state, this book is an excellent source of information on the Wilderness areas of New Mexico. I only hope they update it soon with any new information. This is obviously not meant to be a hiking guide and is not the reason i purchased it. Finding a good source of all of the wilderness areas of the state on the internet was troublesome, even for me, who surfs a lot. While i could get a good list of the wilderness areas out of the gazeteer, i couldn't get a list of wilderness study areas. The book also gives some trail suggestions which are very helpful, but in the end, i went to other sources. Maybe my honoroble friend from Colorado should stay up there and leave the wilderness areas of New Mexico to us.



4. This book is good at what it is intended to be: an introduction and overview of the different wilderness and wilderness study areas in New Mexico. No hiker/backpacker should rely solely on this book however, so if that is what you're expecting to be able to do, you will be disappointed. Each section describes the wilderness area, lists the basics (elevations, best season, map references) and lists a couple of hikes, and has a very basic map of the area with the trails, access roads, and campgrounds. Once you've found the area you're interested in based on the author's fantastic descriptions, you'll need to get a topo map of that area in order to actually do the hike (but personally, I'd rather carry a topo map in my pack that is specific to my hike than lug a book around). And no, the overall map in the front doesn't have cities/towns, but really, how hard is it to tell what part of the state you'll be in?