5 comments about Loving and Leaving the Good Life.

1. In today's youth-obsessed contemporary culture, it is a rare treat to be able to find a book so full of loving wisdom written by someone so involved socially, politically, and spiritually in the events of the 20th century. Therefore, I was enthralled in reading Helen Nearing's moving, absorbing and often quite disarming recollections and reflections on her life, both as an individual and as the lifetime partner of one of the most celebrated critics, iconoclasts and individualists of our time, economist, philosopher and social critic Scott Nearing.

   The two lived lives singularly devoid of apologies, half-efforts, or excuses, living it largely on their own terms, based on their own labors and ingenuity. Early in the 1930s they struck out from New York City to escape the Depression and social convention by starting a revolutionary experiment in rural Vermont. In many respects the experiment succeeded, yet they were never able to transform it from a personal adventure to one more largely social and community-based in the Vermont setting. With the coming of ski resorts and encroaching exurbia in the early 1950s, the Nearings moved once again to rural Penobscot Bay in Maine to start again.

   Of course, in due time they were suddenly "discovered" by the baby boomers and the counterculture in the late 1960s, and became the elder statesmen of the `back-to-the-land' movement of the late sixties and early seventies. In all this, Scott and Helen continued in their commitment to a socially aware, civically responsible, and environmentally sustainable way of living. By the time Scott died at age 100 in the early 1980s, thousands of curious counterculture hopefuls made the pilgrimage to visit with the Nearings at their celebrated farm in rural coastal Maine.

   This is a lovely, thoughtful, and wise book, full of the almost endless love and care and compassion Helen Nearing brought to all of her endeavors for her many decades of purposeful and socially responsible living. This book is no small treasure; it looms large and lovely for those who are aware of the incredible journey the Nearings made as fellow citizens, and also of the loving and special relationship these two rugged individualists shared. I have read it several times, and love having it on my bookshelf. I suspect you will too.




2. Having encountered the Nearings in Mother Earth News in the 70's I quickly became an avid admirer as well as a sincere follower of their wisdom. Thus I was overjoyed to buy Helens book because it allowed me to see a side of both Scott and Helen I never knew that well. The man whom I had admired as a wise soul but a tad put off by people, comes across as such a loving and yes "romantic" soul which made me like him even more. And Helen sharing how she was raised and the experiences she had and how she was encouraged by Scott to spread her wings and not allow him to fence her in, is a must read for any woman who questions where she belongs in the whole life circle.

   We must own a good five hundred books that we love, but this book is amongst a handful that get read and re-read over and over, with something new being learned each time. I also think the book like all their books is a must read, because it reminds us how fascists this country (united states) has been and can be and the price sincere patriots often pay. As well as the value of taking the path less traveled and not relinquishing ones personal integrity or perseverance. And that in the end the good guy can win.




3. When your 100-year old husband of 55 years has passed on and you, at 88, can see your own end, and when you have spent most of those years seeking and living the good life, and when you take the time and trouble to record your thoughts for posterity, it is surely worthwhile for us, the readers, to take note and reflect on what might be of value in our own goal of living the good life. This is not a biography of the husband, Scott, nor an autobiography of Helen but it is offered as a tribute to Scott's being as Helen knew it. She wants Scott to be remembered as an unassuming, kindly, wise, husband as well as a principled, uncompromising, intellectual radical; she also wants to share with us his peaceful, intentioned, and premeditated ending.

   Born in the upper echelons of society, he worked alongside immigrant laborers in the Pennsylvania mine run by his grandfather. This was a formative experience that resulted in his speaking publicly in his early twenties on liberal reform. '''Even before I began the study of economics,' he said in an early lecture, 'I was impressed by the monstrous inequality which exists between the rich and the poor in modern society. The rich enjoy wealth, leisure, and boundless opportunity. The poor are overwhelmed by misery, overwork, and insanitation. The rich have a heaven of opportunity; the poor a hell of misery, and the heaven of the rich is founded upon the hell of the poor. If I was impressed by these conditions before I had studied them, I was appalled after having given them careful consideration. I had heard of poverty; I believed that misery and vice existed, but I was not aware that they were prevalent in every town and city of the land. Ability and capacity were suppressed; together with the progress which might well be attained, were opportunity more universal ... The poor are ignorant of the fact that by standing together at the ballot box, they might revolutionize conditions in a decade.'"

   Very soon he had offended the powers that be with his outspoken views and he would never teach again in the United States. From that point Scott's life can be summed up in these sentences: "The living of an ideal involves payment of a certain price ... the further the ideal is removed from the common practice, the higher the price that must be paid for it ... If your ideal is to live a mentally active, mentally honest life, to seek the truth, then you may have to sacrifice even food, clothing, and shelter to get it." and "The majority will always be for caution, hesitation, and the status quo - always against creation and innovation. The innovator - he who leaves the beaten track - must therefore always be a minoritarian - always be an object of opposition, scorn, hatred. It is part of the price he must pay for the ecstasy that accompanies creative thinking and acting." Scott was aware of the price he would have to pay for his convictions; he regretted enormously the loss of the day-to-day contact with his university students who lost an outstanding educator; but he never regretted standing alone. One of his file cards clearly defined the problem: "If a man is one step ahead of the crowd he is a leader; if two steps ahead, he is a disturber; if three steps, he is a fanatic and not to be trusted." Scott was too many steps ahead of those in authority and he was a danger who had to be removed. At the age of 34 his chosen career was in ruins; his books that had been standard textbooks in public schools were banned and royalty income ceased. He was at the low point of his life and that was when he met Helen.

   Helen, born in 1904 into a family of high principles and adequate means was the unconventional child, always reading and addicted to the twelve volumes of the Book of Knowledge at a young age. She had a talent for the violin, preferred the company of trees and rocks, drew and wrote poetry. She did not accept unquestioningly the world in which she lived. As a teenager she felt there was a power and a purpose in the universe and queried what we are here for and what life is all about. At seventeen, she sailed to Rotterdam to study the violin, met up with the Theosophists and the young Krishnamurti who she followed for several years on his mission to be a world teacher. But she saw the vast abyss between the ultra rich and the homeless in Bombay and Calcutta while Krishnamurti surrounded himself with the well to do, the famous and the influential. It was time for her to strike out on her own path. She returned to Ridgewood and there received a phone call from Scott.

   The formative years for both of them were over; they were ready for each other; they were ready to build a life together; they were ready to create their version of the good life. We have much to learn from this couple because their life together was built on high principles. We are indeed fortunate that Helen left us this book.




4. Scott and Helen Nearing spent half a century building stone houses, growing their food, and making a living on primitive homesteads in Vermont and Maine. Scott died at age 100 in the 1980s. Helen lasted another 10 years or so and this is her account of her life before Scott and their life together.
   
   Helen was born into a well-to-do family but had a rebellious streak that led her into music, astrology, the occult, and philosophy. In the 1920s she was the lover -- at least on the mental plane -- of an Indian philospher named Krisnamurti who was apparently famous in his day. Helen assumes that the reader knows who this "world teacher" was. I confess I never heard of him --and more explanation as to who he was and what he taught would have been helpful. Later Helen took up with Scott and they moved to the country and spent the rest of their lives as homesteaders.
   
   Scott was a cantankerous communist and I didn't grow any fonder of him by reading Helen's account. He was rigid and narrow-minded. Helen quotes some of his letters. He wrote her in a tone that would inspire my wife to respond, "Buzz off, you old goat." Although she wouldn't say "buzz." Scott's wrote savage letters to his son by a previous wife. Small wonder the boy dropped the last name of Nearing. In Scott's eyes, his son committed the unpardonable sin of criticizing the Soviet Union -- and Scott refused even to go to his funeral. One wonders whether Helen might be getting a bit of posthumous revenge on the old radical by publishing letters he wrote that show him as less than benign.
   
   However, the bulk of the book is a a highly favorable account of Scott and Helen and their life together. They were the gurus of the back to the land movement in the 1960s and the 1970s and their books about their life in the country are minor classics. Read "Living the Good Life" first and if you are interested in learning more about the Nearings read this book. Whatever you may think of them the Nearings were an interesting couple. Their homestead can be visited near Castine, ME.
   
   Smallchief



5. For the reader who is interested in principled people who made a series of transitions out of choice and necessity. The Nearing's rugged individualist days of trial, triumph and living in ways they wouldn't trade for other compromises are defining and provide an excellent source of perspective on values and points of conclusion.

5 comments about Wandering Home: A Long Walk Across America's Most Hopeful Landscape:Vermont's Champlain Valley and New York's Adirondacks (Crown Journeys).

1. This book is thin. I mean literally. It is really just a somewhat longish essay. I was disappointed that there was not more depth, more history, more "more."
   
   This is the story of McKibben's amble from Vermont to the central Adirondacks, with a crossing by row boat of Lake Champlain. McKibben is a good writer and he loves this landscape and is very concerned about it and its place in the global environment, but I could not help comparing him and this book to another Bill-namely Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods. Bryson is a much more energetic writer. In my opinion, he is funnier and deeper than McKibben. A Walk in the Woods is a great book, Wandering Home is light weight by comparison.
   
   McKibben has some very good thoughts on environmental issues and expresses an admirable moderation in this book. He is especially sensitive to the complexity of many environmental issues and actively criticizes the "knee-jerk" environmentalists for over-simplifying the issues in many cases. On the other hand, McKibben is something of a romantic airhead. Often his ruminations are fatuous and patronizing; for example, his dogma that those simple Vermont farmers and old Adirondack loggers that he's met are more "authentic" than you or I (McKibben makes this claim more than once in Wandering Home).
   
   Nevertheless, I liked this book and enjoyed reading it. McKibben loves the Adirondacks and so do I. In this short book he's managed to capture something of the flavor of the hidden Adirondacks, that fortunately so few people know. The Adirondack Park of New York is the most beautiful sylvan landscape in the world. McKibben's book raises, but barely starts to answer, such questions as why and how to protect and preserve the Adirondacks and other similarly blessed places.



2. Bill McKibben walks for sixteen days through the Adirondack Mountains to share his love of the land with his readers but what makes the book so special are the people Bill introduces, walks with, and talks with (and about...) along his journey. I was a Travel Agent for five years and was lucky enough to be sent to some of the best, first class places in America and this journey that Bill McKibben takes us on with his words is more meaningful than many of those places I went to which include the Grand Canyon & Scottsdale, AZ; the San Francisco Bay Area; Paradise Island & Nassau, Bahamas; Manhattan; the Sierra-Nevada Mountains (by train); and New Orleans & Mississippi River Cruise!
   
   Each authentic and real person that McKibben joins on his trek lends a hand in telling the story. The book is as much about the beauty of the people as it is of the land. I grew up twenty miles away from the Allegheny National Forest in Pennsylvania, and presently I am a steward and guardian of 400 acres of land in central PA with my husband, his uncle, and my husband's brother and I share and appreciate Bill McKibben's deep love for the power of nature, the wild, and the people. I found John Davis (owns a bicycle, no car) as one of the most interesting characters in the book. I also like the stories of Chris Shaw, who has the good sense of memorializing the people who have passed on but that once lived in the Adirondacks and give the book historical authenticity. My favorite stories in the book are from Donald Armstrong and especially Armstrong's memory he shares with McKibben (and us) about Don's wife, Velda and a fly-fishing event. I laughed so hard I cried! It is a funny moment, but this husband-wife story is so cute and sweet, and gives one a feeling of nostalgia. (The church steeple is a cool part, too.) This is a gem of a story and Wandering Home is a gem of a book.
   
   I am a people person and for the first few chapters of Wandering Home I'm thinking that it is too bad Bill McKibben spends all this passion on the Adirondacks. I imagine what his passion could do to improve the lives of the infirm or impoverished people. Much to my chagrin, in the last few chapters McKibben admits this deficit with charm and honesty. He admits he should spend more time helping the less fortunate, and then justifies his love and preservation of the Adirondacks as his way of giving something back to people. And, I agree that he has. Furthermore, he explains that he tries not to be a drain on the planet. If only we could all think this way, maybe our global warming and environmental problems would vanish. For the first time in my life, I realize the full extent of the impact that people have had and still have on our surroundings and I am saddened and sickened by it. (I imagine a sunrise or a sunset over a mountain, or an ocean breeze I thank God there are still a few areas left in this world that man / woman hasn't been able to get his / her hands on.)
   
   I do have one eco-criticism of Wandering Home. Bill writes that he and John Davis climb to the top of Owl's Head on page 93 of his book. Owl's Head is a considerable distance away from Bristol, and is not included in the path outlined on the inside covers of his book. But, every author has to create mystery in some way, right? Judging by the description of Owl's Head I can see why McKibben would include it in his "walk" since Owl's Head sounds like a stunning place with it's 390 degree view of the Adirondack mountains. On my map, Owl's Head is about sixty miles north of Lake Placid one way, as the crow flies.
   
   Dr. Robert Bernard Hass (English Professor, poet, writer, and Robert Frost expert at Edinboro University) and I got into a discussion about hyper-individualism in class one day. Dr. Hass told me about his friend named Bill McKibben and how McKibben writes about hyper-individualism and that a good place to start on the subject would be Wandering Home. I am grateful that Hass recommended the book to me. It was a book that I was sad to see end, but a journey I will always remember in more ways than one. I was so inspired that I am planning on a short family vacation to the Adirondacks for this summer. I will do my best to demonstrate a sense of forest preservation and protection while I'm there, visiting the wild of the Adirondacks.



3. Bill McKibben describes a walk through place and community. The community is bound by a geographic region but the displaced reader is imperceptibly drawn into the mind-set of McKibben and his guests. You are introduced to a group who love the land on the Vermont/New York border and recognise it as one of the few "wild" places left in America. It is their passion to preserve and conserve that comes through and it is infectious. The book inspires the reader to analyse their relationship to place and modes of behaviour driven by place. The antithesis of economic consumption exists in all of us, however repressed. Bill brings it to the fore. The effect on the distant reader is such that you will join the community despite being so far way. Bravo Bill !!!!!!!!!!!!!!



4. I have spent much of my recreational time in the two places Bill McKibben writes about in this book -- The Adirondacks of New York and the Champlain Valley of Vermont. They both offer some of the most beautiful, pastoral scenery in the US. From Lake Champlain itself you can see the Green Mountains of Vermont on one side and the Adirondack Mountains of New York on the other. As Mr. KcKibben points out, while they may look similar and proximate from afar, each is quite different from the other. The Champlain Valley is more pastoral, bucolic and New England-like. The Adirondacks are much more rugged, wilderness-like and rough around the edges. Both can call to you in a way that becomes a lifetime's pursuit.
   
   This book is an easy and short read. It is engaging, paints wonderful pictures with words and gets you to think about the tension between a simpler life closer to the natural world and modern society and progress/development. He is fair in his assessment of the joys and the struggles associated with a simpler life closer to nature. I don't know who would enjoy this book more - the person who has enjoyed this simpler life or one who can only imagine it through books like this one. I highly recommend this book for people who love this part of the world or who have thought about getting closer to the land and living a simpler life.



5. Bill McKibben comes through again. This time it's "a walk in his woods," a three week hike connecting upstate Vermont with the Adirondacks.
   
   When you travel with Bill, it's a journey of body, a journey of mind and a journey of spirit, all rolled into one. You'll meet other folks along the way, people who have something to say to Bill and to you. You travel easy with Bill. This Bill is not as funny as Bill Bryson but he's more thoughtful. And he'll get you thinking.
   
   This book is a book about a place and about the history of that place. Having hiked in both areas, I especially enjoyed the subtle distinctions Bill is able to discern in landscape, flora and in the character of people between what he sees in the gentle hills of Vermont and the rougher landscape and terrain of the Adirondacks.
   
   Take this trip with Bill McKibben. You'll be glad you did.

1 comments about Maine Places, Maine Faces.

1. This book has absolutely beautiful pictures. Fred Field's use of light makes the subject come to life. He has touched on each and every aspect of life in Maine. For anyone who loves Maine this is a MUST HAVE book!

No comments about Newcomer's Handbook For Moving to and Living in Boston: Including Cambridge, Brookline, and Somerville.

5 comments about London: The Novel.

1. Another good historical novel. A little long at times, but certainly worth the read....Can get confusing with all the family lines and characters, but the family tree does help.....



2. If you happen to like hauling around 1000+ page books with you for weeks, you'll love this one! Although not in the same league as Ken Follett's "Pillars of the Earth" and "World Without End", this is a nice book for Follett fans who are suffering from severe withdrawal symptoms after finishing those two great novels.
   
   I probably could have done without the first 200 pages, I really didn't need to know how the White Cliffs of Dover were formed to lead into the rest of the book, but once I got past the first several centuries, the book became much more interesting. It also took a while for me to feel connection with the characters.
   
   Rutherfurd covers far more actual history than Follett, I found myself spending a lot of time Googling specific historical events as I read along. This book is taking me a long time to read because I wanted to see what the Tower of London looked like, I wanted to read more about London Bridge, I even rented several DVDs that coincided with the time period in the book to get a feel of the culture, costumes and setting as I read. I don't believe any book has ever "engaged" me to this degree. I certainly wouldn't consider myself a history geek, so it is a pleasant surprise that I am truly enjoying learning so much about British history.
   
   I am looking forward to finally finishing "London" (about 100 pages to go) and reading some of the other epics by Rutherfurd. After all, I've built up such great arm muscles already!



3. This is the 2nd book by Edward Rutherfurd I have read, "The New Forest" was the first, and I found it just as fascinating. The historical research behind each century of life in London, must have taken so much time. He has woven, like a fabric, so many lives and loves into what is in the end a fascinating tapestry. It is a collection of wonderful short stories with a common thread to tie them all together. Great characters, wonderful descriptions, both of the city itself and its inhabitants, and it ends on a thought provoking statement about touching the past. Super book. For anyone who likes a long read, this is an amazing book.



4. Quite simply, I loved this novel. I have no problem with lengthy texts if they are engaging, and I never found this less than fascinating. In my opinion, a better read than "Sarum" or "The Forest," both of which I also enjoyed.



5. This is one of those stories that treats you to generations of key families and historical stories you don't always learn in school. I especially like how they tie a seemingly unimportant event early in the book to other events later on in the story timeline. The genealogy chart really helps also. I kept referring to it throughout. This is a good book to read during a holiday vacation as well.

2 comments about The Colors of Fall: A Celebration of New England's Foliage Season.

1. This is a book for people who love the fall season in New England. New Hampshire photographers Jerry and Marcy Monkman have masterfully used their cameras to capture the beauty of autumn in this region of the country in their book THE COLORS OF FALL. The two are authors of Appalachian Trail guides to the White Mountains of New Hampshire and Arcadia National Park (as a matter of fact, they love Arcadia National park so much, the even named their first child Arcadia). Their knowledge and love of the area is evident in the photos presented in the book. Some of the shots are of familiar places, others are less well known. Many of the photographs contained in this book are grand scenic shots of the mountains in New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont, or the raging rivers in New Hampshire. Yet they also include close ups of smaller detailed subjects that are often ignored when we make foliage trips. Many of these shots demonstrate the Monkmans mastery of the camera.

   Those who have not had the opportunity to visit New England in the fall can take a vicarious trip with this book. For those of us who live in New England, the book gives us the opportunity to appreciate the beauty of this place we call home.




2. Having been to see the New England autumn colors myself, and taken some (amateur) photos, I wanted a compilation of professional photos to remind me of the "oooh" and "aaah" feeling I had. This book had quite a few really nice photos, but I expected a more wide-view show of the variations of color. There were too many close-up photos of rivers & rocks with some colorful leaves; I would've preferred a grander panorama of colorful trees in different stages of the season. There was too few photos of lakes reflecting colors, for example. I wouldn't say I totally regretted buying this book - it was Okay, but it could've been better.

No comments about AMC's Best Day Hikes in Connecticut: Four-Season Guide to 50 of the Best Trails from the Highlands to the Coastal Lowlands.

5 comments about The State Boys Rebellion.

1. I never gave the imposing Fernald School campus much thought, even though the house I shared with my friends was literally across the street from the large brick buildings. It was not until I researched the effects of radiation on soldiers during the Cold War that I learned Fernald's dirty secrets. I immediately bought this book, and it filled me with rage and despair. D'Antonio's style is not preachy, nor does he editorialize. He allows the recollections of those who were there to speak for him. Wherever he can, he uses several sources to shade each event, from conversations with the boys, to the memories of the staff members, to the cold, un-enlightening medical records from the school. As others have said, the story ends not in misery but in triumph. It is a cautionary tale about society's complacency and willingness to let the horrors of our past remain behind the locked doors of our crumbling institutions.



2. The State Boys Rebellion tells the story of the Fernald State School in Massachusetts. Michael D'Antonio does a great job of telling the story through the eyes of Freddie Boyce, a child that grew up in Fernald. The story is quite chilling, specially to those of us who did not live through that time period. It is disgraceful that we, the United States actually started Eugenics, although I was taught in school that Nazi Germany was the creator. This book should remind us that as a society, we sometimes leave out the bad stuff our forefathers did, even if they meant no harm. I would highly reccomend this book to anyone, but it will touch the heart of anyone with a child who is considered "special".



3. Michael D'Antonio has provided us with a very interesting book that he has subtitled "The Inspiring True Story of American Eugenics and the Men Who Overcame It". There is no doubt that he cares tremendously for his subject, but this is not a comprehensive history of the Eugenics movement or even of the the State Boys Rebellion at the Fernald School for the Feebleminded.
   
   From a journalistic perspective, this is a tremendous piece of writing & investigation. Evaluating the events primarily through the eyes of Fred Boyce, the author skillfully weaves in the stories of fellow inmates at the Fernald school and the events leading up to the rebellion. Unfortunately, the key point that I see as the "rebellion" only gets about 4 pages of treatment, with regular references to the people involved in the riot throughout the rest of the book. Boyce's life is traced up through the time when the book was written, and is a compelling story.
   
   From a historical standpoint, although there is no clear thesis, the book obviously was written to educate the reader about the Fernald school and a few key residents that were able to make great strides in their lives and lead a relatively "normal" life after being released from the institution. The most interesting argument the author presents is that some of the medical experiments conducted within the confines of the Fernald school were reflective of Cold War America, where government aims included furthering science in an effort to find a way to defeat the Communists.
   
   Overall, this is a very interesting book and an easy read. The story is enthralling, and keeps the reader entertained throughout. If the reader is looking for a comprehensive story of the American Eugenic movement, this is not the book; I believe there are probably better scholarly works out there that address eugenics in America. I would recommend this as a book to start one's understanding of eugenics and how this one school in the Boston area plays into the bigger picture.



4. A must read for anybody. I am currently employed at one of the said institutions in MA and heard of this book through a co-worker. I have worked here for over 20 years, long after they stopped admitting people. The residents that currently reside there get the best of care available and the staffing ratios way outnumber the amount of clients residing here. I am in no way condoning what happened to Freddie and all the other state children, I just wonder how some of the residents would have turned out if not institutionalized. My supervisor and I have roamed through the old dormitories and found a wealth of info and pictures. Some of the pics show young children about Freddies admission age that looked scared to death, it brought tears to my eyes to think of what these poor kids went through and reading Freddie's story helped me better understand just exactly why these children were admitted. When I started working here, over 1,000 residents lived here, now we have under 300 and the remaining people really do benefit from the care they receive. I just could not comprehend why some of the residents were there 20 years ago, now I know. My family has welcomed in a former resident in the shared living program and it has been benificial to both him and my family. After reading the "State Boys Rebellion", my only regret is that I never got to meet Freddie Boyce. In my eyes, he and all the other state children are true heroes for surviving the great injustice done to them. In closing, I have to truly say that I have been humbled.



5. Hello avid readers of true stories. I appreciated The State Boy's Rebellion, as I too was a victim of the mental health system when I was 8 years old. I remained institutionalized for 10 years; even though authorities were informed I was not retarded. Like the kids in The State Boys Rebellion, I was deprived of my civil liberties, denied an education, and horribly abused. If you want to read a remarkable story of the human spirit to survive horrific odds, read my true story. You'll be glad you did.
   Charles A. Carroll, Author, Victim/Victim's Advocate
   HARD CANDY: Nobody Ever Flies Over the Cuckoo's Nest

5 comments about New England (Regional Guide).

1. Hey, I bought this book and liked it...and I'm a native New Englander. The coverage for Maine is particularly good, or at least I thought so.

   However, I'm posting this not so much to let y'all know that the guide is good, but to say that this book is in it's third edition, published in 2001. All of the reviews here date from 2000 and before. They apply to the second edition of the book, not the third. So take them with a grain of salt, cuz LP changes it's content alot when they update old editions.

   Just my two cents.




2. Hey, I bought this book and liked it...and I'm a native New Englander. The coverage for Maine is particularly good, or at least I thought so.

   However, I'm posting this not so much to let y'all know that the guide is good, but to say that this book is in it's third edition, published in 2001. All of the reviews here date from 2000 and before. They apply to the second edition of the book, not the third. So take them with a grain of salt, cuz LP changes it's content alot when they update old editions.

   Just my two cents.




3. I've always bought Let's Go whenever I travel, but they didn't have a New England book, so I had to get this one. The organization is about the same. It doesn't have as much detail as the Let's Go Boston that I also bought, but I suppose it was because this has more content. The writing is a lot more entertaining that LG though. Also, I found the public transportation info really helpful. I plan on going on a New England road trip someday and I'll definitely bring this book with me.



4. I used LP lots of times before, and some are better than other, some are really really good, but this was the worst one ever: I used it on a road trip from CT to Maine in December 2006: predictable hotels, compact somewhat boring descriptions, and lack of good stories, interesting details, none of the tips you look for as a traveller.. . Could use some passion.



5. I have the 2008 edition of this guide book. As a lonely planet guidebook, it is not very good. As a guidebook in general, it is not the worst.
   
   I have frequently used lonely planet guides in the past when traveling and have generally liked them but this one is lacking. As several other reviewers have mentioned, the hotels, places and even towns mentioned are predictable. Also, unlike most lonely planet guides, this one is not geared to the budget traveler or backpacker at all unless you consider a hotel around $150 to be "budget". Certainly, the writers could have done more research to seek out unique places to stay. If I wanted a travel book written for my parents, I would buy Frommers. This is practically the same thing. This book is good if you are driving through somewhere for a few hours and need a place (restaurant/pub) to stop and don't know the town at all. For instance, it pointed us to an excellent pub with lots of microbreweries in Portland, Maine that we otherwise would not have found since we were just passing through. But any guide should be able to do the same thing. Overall, the writing does not add much general insight to the regions being reviewed nor does it point out many unusual finds or destinations. You don't get the sense that the writer really explored the region.

No comments about Zagat Connecticut Restaurants 2008/09 (Zagatsurvey: Connecticut Restaurants) (Zagatsurvey: Connecticut Restaurants).