5 comments about In the Kennedy Kitchen: Recipes and Recollections of a Great American Family.

1. I live about ten miles from the compound and own over 2,000 cookbooks and this is one of the best I've ever seen. It has receipes that are easy to follow with ingredients that are readily available and is both current and traditional. It's the best addition to my collection in a long time.



2. I bought this book as one of our prizes for out annual 4th of July races. I skimmed it and copied a few recipes before placing it on the prize table. Wonderful stories with every recipe. The three recipes I made have been excellent. The meatloaf is the best I've tasted and easy to make.
   
   I plan on ordering another copy for myself and trying more recipes.



3. I love the Kennedy family and I love New England. This is the best cookbook I have ever read. The photos are amazing, and the stories are wonderful. Everytime I read the book it makes me hungry for authentic New England seafood. It also makes me wish I lived in New England.



4. Interesting collection of recipes & anecdotes, spoiled for me by the overly servile tone of the authors. Actual recipes that I've tried are delicious, easy to follow & easy to cook. Wonderful photography. Well worth buying



5. This book contains recipes and recollections of a great American family, the Kennedy's. It contains the family's favorite, Meat Loaf. I made this on 4-27-07 and it was incredibly delicious! The Lobster Stew is a rich stew which is quick to make and elegant at the same time. The Honey-Pecan Sweet Potatoes are so good, you'll want to slap someone! You will also enjoy the family fotos included in the book and the little stories that go with them.

4 comments about A Force of Nature: The Frontier Genius of Ernest Rutherford (Great Discoveries).

1. There have been many biographies of Ernest Rutherford; what does Richard Reeves 'A Force of Nature' contribute to what has already been done? In a few words: popular accessibility. This is a book of scientific biography for a popular audience, and it works.
   
   Like other entrants in the Norton 'Great Discoveries' series, the point is the explication of a great scientific discovery and the life of the person most responsible for bringing it about. Reeves has already proven himself an accomplished biographer, especially of Presidents Reagan, Nixon, and Kennedy. This is apparently his first biography of a scientist.
   
   Reeves traces Rutherford's trajectory from New Zealand to the Cavendish in Cambridge to McGill (in Montreal) to Manchester and beyond. But the real story is Rutherford's discovery of the structure of the atom. Although the topic may sound boring to those not interested in such things, Reeves effectively relays the excitement and drama of this particular scientific discovery (the ability to do so of which is the real strength of many of the books in the 'Great Discoveries' series). Here's but one example: Reeves describing Rutherford's reaction after his team first split the atom:
   
   "Rutherford's first reaction was to swear Cockcroft, Walton, and Chadwick to secrecy...until the results could be published in 'Nature'. Only God could know what the Americans would come up with if they knew in advance of publication. ... Of course the secret did not really hold...Rutherford [soon] told members [of the Royal Society] what happened...then he swept his arm toward Cockcroft and Walton and boomed out, 'Stand up, boys! Let everyone have a look at you!' " (p. 147-48)
   
   Because politics and history appear to be Reeves' own biographical strengths, we learn perhaps as much or more about Rutherford's impact on politics and history (e.g. helping 'rescue' European scientists during WWII) as we do his impact on science. This is not to say that Reeves does not adequately discuss or understand Rutherford's scientific accomplishments (he does--he was an engineer early on in his career), but rather that Reeve's does not do any original analysis of Rutherford's scientific work. The author admits there are better (e.g. longer) sources available for this (see his bibliography at the back of 'A Force of Nature').
   
   Overall, this is a highly readable biography of one of the 20th century's greatest scientists, and is a good starting point for those interested in learning more about Rutherford.
   
   Final note (for full disclosure): As a reviewer for a major newspaper, I often receive books that I am not able review in print. I was pleased however to receive this one and was impressed enough to review it online.



2. There are probably only a handful of scientists the average educated person could name, among them Galileo, Newton, Einstein. And, of course, even a typical educated person might have trouble saying something about why these scientists are so important. This is too bad. Not just because of what it says about science education in the world today but because there are so many scientists whose work deserves better recognition. Ernest Rutherford is one of those who deserves better.
   
   Many students comes across Rutherford in middle or high school during the study of the atom. Rutherford's "gold foil experiment" through which he identified the atomic nucleus and developed the "solar system" model of the atom is a standard part of the curriculum. However, this only touches on Rutherford's body of work and says nothing about the type of man, and scientist, he was. In A Force of Nature, Richard Reeves does an excellent job of bringing both to the fore.
   
   Mr. Reeve's describes many of Rutherford's achievements in a very accessible way. Rutherford's work ranged from investigations of radio and radioactivity to basic sonar concepts during the war. His work on the atom included more than just his well-know discovery of the nucleus. He also was the first to split the atom, though he never realized (or admitted he realized) the awesome power potential of this process. His work earned him a Nobel Prize (in chemistry, Rutherford would sneer) as well as a number of other awards and honors, including the prestigious directorship of the Cavendish Laboratories.
   
   But Mr. Reeve is also able to give a real sense of Rutherford as a human being. As a "colonial" (a New Zealander), Rutherford found it difficult to fit in with the Cambridge set when he earned a scholarship to attend. It wasn't until he became one of the most famous experimenters in the world that he was generally accepted and, even then, his loud voice and rough manners were a matter of note among his contemporaries. Still, few scientists in history have been as successful as both a researcher and a teacher--he pointed many of his students in the direction of earn their own Nobel Prizes.
   
   As a science teacher, I have struggled to educate my students not only in the key ideas of the field but also on the people who brought these great ideas and discoveries into the world. As one of the true experimental geniuses in history, Rutherford still often doesn't get his due. (Theorists get all the glory.) Yet, in his time, only Einstein was revered more. It is nice that Mr. Reeve has put together a book that can bring Rutherford to the public's attention again.



3. I ordered this little biography because it was on sale. It was not a good deal. It lacks depth or insight. Although the author has a technical background, most of Rutherford's experiments are poorly described and their importance virtually ignored. Interactions between Rutherford and his many collaborators and students are trivialized. Because it is short and cheap, it will find it's way into libraries around the world. That's a good thing because Rutherford was one of the greatest scientists of the 20th century and certainly New Zealand's most famous son. Hopefully, interested readers will have access to "Rutherford: Scientist Supreme"
   by John Campbell, a much more complete and authoritative biography. If not, then check out the following website for better information: [...]. For the technically inclined, get a copy of the recently reprinted "Radioactive Transformations" by Rutherford himself - absolutely fascinating!



4. Although this biography is aimed at a general audience, it does an effective job of presenting Rutherford's contributions to our early understanding of the atom and of the subatomic world. Using laboratory apparatus quaintly primitive by today's standards, Rutherford in the early decades of the 20th century found elegant, indirect methods to "see" into the structure of the atom. Guided by intuition as much as by previous knowledge and experience, he drew startling and startlingly accurate conclusions from data generated by his own experiments and by those of other scientists around the world. He is remembered not only as one of the greatest experimental physicists of the 20th century but also as one who fostered an international approach to science based on cooperation and sharing of results.

4 comments about American Transcendentalism: A History.

1. This is an excellent work on the Transcendentalist
   movement in America. Famous names; such as,
   Emerson and Thoreau are contained in the work.
   The tireless efforts of Brownson are extolled with
   regard to improvements in the plight of laborers.
   Margaret Fuller's efforts on behalf of women are set
   forth in detail. The reformer, Alcott brought about
   new education methods/methodologies.
   
   The presentation is in the
   tradition of deep religious and philosophical
   thinking in Europe and America. The 1850s brought about
   a considerable opposition to slavery and this aspect
   is highlighted in the book. The transcendentalist,
   Ellis spoke about the origination of ideas via
   Divine Revelation. The scientist, Dr. Benjamin Fain
   developed this connection in his work-
   Creation Ex Nihilo.
   
   The Transcendentalists worked from Biblical associations
   to create unique utopian reforms. Emerson believed in the
   notion of a primitive universal language to facilitate
   commuication.
   
   Charles Fourier envisioned a grand Ediface of Association
   consisting of a medieval-like elongated building with
   multiple stalls lining the front. This style of architecture
   epitomized a unique housing arrangement integrally related
   to the form of social organization within.
   
   There is a unique discussion on spontaneous reason in
   the "essential nature of things" . This comports with
   life itself. Much thought is inspirational and spontaneous
   in nature and implementation. The work is a marvel for
   students of the American Religious Experience , as well
   as American History buffs and philosophical thinkers.
   In addition, the work has a number of very realistic
   portraits of famous transcendentalists and important
   edifices of the period. It is well worth the
   price of admission.



2. It's the question that you dread to be asked, if you're a follower of Emerson or Thoreau: "What the heck IS transcendentalism, anyway? Where did it come from?" You stutter and you stammer and you explain what the concept means to you, which is probably not what someone else would say. And you hope that if the inquirer was merely being polite, you won't have to launch into any further details about the influence of German, French, and English writers and philosophers on New England Unitarians in the 1830s. If you're lucky, you'll be able to steer the conversation toward a safer topic. Like the contemporary political scene. Or the war in Iraq.
   
   Phil Gura has made our lives much easier by publishing this history of the American transcendentalist movement. Now all the loose ends are tied up in this one, valuable volume. He traces those European ideas back to their sources, then shows how they surfaced in America. Those were the days when folks read pieces of literature and philosophy in their original languages, and aspiring scholars took the time to translate those works into English. Those were the days when religious debate was a common occurrence, and men of the cloth published opinionated pamphlets that others vocally supported or viciously denigrated in the popular press or in their own esoteric periodicals. American religions were still in a period of evolution and transition, and the Transcendentalists emerged as a result. You'll have to read this book to find out how that happened.
   
   And while you're poring over it, you should also have one of the published compendiums by your side: either Lawrence Buell's "The American Transcendentalists: Essential Writings" or Joel Myerson's "Transcendentalism: A Reader." That way, you'll be able to read the actual selections referred to throughout the text. It will all make sense, and you will come away with a more complete understanding of the individuals many people feared could do undue damage to American religious thought in the mid-1800s.
   
   Perhaps one of the most useful parts of the book comes early, when Gura identifies the Transcendentalists by name on pages 7 and 8. It's nice to have a succinct list, and it sets the stage for those players to resurface throughout the text. Transcendentalism was bigger than Emerson and Thoreau, and it included both men and women. According to Gura, transcendentalism was embodied by: Amos Bronson Alcott, Cyrus Bartol, Charles Timothy Brooks, Orestes Brownson, William Ellery Channing, William Henry Channing, James Freeman Clarke, Christopher Cranch, Caroline Healey Dall, John Sullivan Dwight, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Convers Francis, Margaret Fuller, William Henry Furness, William Batchelder Greene, Frederic Henry Hedge, Sylvester Judd, Charles King Newcomb, Samuel Osgood, Theodore Parker, Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, George Ripley, Sophia Ripley, Samuel Robbins, Caleb Stetson, Thomas T. Stone, Caroline Sturgis, Ellen Sturgis, Henry David Thoreau, Jones Very, Anna Ward, and Charles Stearns Wheeler. Transcendentalism's "second generation" was represented by Moncure Conway, Octavius Brooks Frothingham, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Samuel Johnson, Samuel Longfellow, Franklin Sanborn, David Wasson, and John Weiss. Once you know the WHO, you can attend to the WHERE and WHY.
   
   This book will no doubt become one of the standards on the subject and a welcome update to Frothingham's 1876 "Transcendentalism in New England: A History." Scholars of American literature, philosophy, or religion should put this title on their to-read lists.



3. In "American Transcendentalism: A History" Philip Gura, has written a learned and detailed account that is both inspiring and critical of an important movement in American thought. Gura is the William Newman Distinguished Professor of American Literature and Culture at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
   
   Many readers have only a vague notion of what the Transcendentalist movement was about together with a notion that Emerson and Thoreau were at its center. Gura shows that the movement was, indeed, quite loose, with many people finding many different meanings and goals in Transcendentalism. He also shows that Emerson was, at least initially, not at the center of the movement and that he differed from many of his fellow Transcendentalists in key ways. The movement flourished from the 1830s to the 1850s, was basically subsumed by the Civil War, and then reappeared in several modified forms in post-War American. Ultimately, it was largely replaced (or modified) as the paradigmatic American philosophy by William James and his fellow pragmatists.
   
   Transcendentalism was a form of philosophical idealism which stressed the immediacy of individual consciousness as a means of understanding what was valuable in experience. In addition to its subjectivism, transcendentalism had a strong universalist component as it found that every person would share essentially the same intuitions of value and meaning if they looked inside themselves. Transcendentalists opposed the empiricism of John Locke, which they found despiritualized people and reality, and they opposed as well conservative Calvinist theology. Broadly speaking, the movement sought a spirituality not tied to the teachings of a specific organized religion or to a claimed revelation. Teachings that lead towards this goal are still highly attractive to many Americans, and the Transcendentalists thus amply deserve a hearing to see what may be learned from them.
   
   Gura's book is full of intellectual and spiritual excitement as young unitarian scholars and ministers learned of and translated works of German and other European scholars on the Higher Criticism of the Bible and on philosophical idealism subsequent to Kant. It is inspiring to read of such intellectual ferment and growth. Early Transcendentalists, such as George Ripley, sponsored large-scale projects to translate the work of German thinkers, critics, and poets into English for American readers. Schliermacher and Swedenborg, although perhaps not the leading influences on the Transcendentalists, were among those who most fascinated me in Gura's account.
   
   Much of Gura's history shows how the Transcendentalists ultimately diverged over issues of social activism. Many Transcendentalist thinkers were devoted, given their commitment to the equality of people, to social change and to reform. This led to Ripley's experiment at Brook Farm and to the work of preachers such as Theodore Parker to work for better social conditions for the poor and to oppose the Mexican War and slavery.
   Emerson and his followers tended to be skeptical of social activism and to turn inward. It was more than a difficult task, for Emerson, for every person to work on cultivating him or herself before trying to impact the behavior of others. This tension in approach between self and other-directedness is, of course, still much alive.
   
   Besides the history of the movement, I found most intruiging the lengthy summaries Gura offers of the primary works resulting from the movement. He discusses works such as Emerson's essays and Thoreau's Walden (which Gura says "embodies a love affair with America as the writer struggles to square his devotion to conscience with the republican ideals on which the nation was founded." p. 269) and the writings of the early feminist Margaret Fuller. But Gura also introduces the reader to the work of Theodore Parker, Orestes Brownson, and Bronson Alcott. A host of lesser-known but fascinating writers are also included, such as the novelist Sylvester Judd the minister William Greene, who became fascinated with Jewish mysticism and wrote a work called "The Blazing Star, with an Appendix Treating of the Jewish Kabbala" (1872) the teacher Eliza Thayer Clapp, Samuel Johnson (1822-1882), an early student of comparative religion, and Octavius Frothingham, a religious thinker in his own right and the first historian of Transcendentalism. I wanted to hear more of, and to read, these and other Transcendentalists that find a place in Gura's history.
   
   Many historians of American philosophy, such as Bruce Kuklick in his "History of Philosophy in America" make a great deal of the split between a philosophy of individualism -- contemplation of the relationship between science and religion and of the good life for the individual -- and a call for social action, as exemplified, for some, in the philosophy of John Dewey, in understanding the United States and its intellectual history. This tension first played itself out in the Transcendentalist movement and it continued, as Gura points out, through the pragmatists. Emerson's thought was appropriated, probably unfairly, as supporting the materialism and lust for success of post-Civil War America.
   
   In their quest both for spiritual awareness and for social justice, the Transcendentalists still have much to teach. Gura's thoughtful book will provide a gateway into Transcendentalism for many readers.
   
   Robin Friedman



4. I found the sections dealing with the sociologiccal impacts of Transcendentalism quite interesting. However, those parts treating the theological implications bogged down in religious hairsplitting which would probably be of interest only to a theologian. Book does contain good descriptions of the main players in the movement.

5 comments about Hons and Rebels (New York Review Books Classics).

1. A view into the always fascinating Mitford family written by family member, and best-selling author, Jessica Mitford.
   The personal observations about the totally diverse life choices made made by the sisters boggles the mind and confounds the senses.



2. I was looking for a Jessica Mitford autobiography and discovered "Hons & Rebels". The original title of this (1960) book is Daughters & Rebels". Is anything other than the title revised/updated? I'm such a fan of Mitford, I'd rather read her memoirs than Mary S. Lovell's "The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family", which is supposedly more detailed.



3. I absolutely loved this book. I had just finished reading the very long and very good "The Sisters" http://www.amazon.com/Sisters-Saga-Mitford-Family/dp/0393324141 about the Mitfords, and wanted more when I was finished. Jessica ("Decca") was the most fascinating of all -- the one who ran away to Spain and America and became widely known for her politics and her book, "The American Way of Death." (and an Oakland resident, like myself, which is always intriguing!)
   
   "Hons and Rebels" is charming, witty, and in its pages is not only an interesting glimpse of life in upper class England between the wars, but a love story as well, as she retells the story the story of her romance with her first husband, Esmond.
   
   I never heard Mitford speak, but her voice comes through strongly in this book -- witty, determined, able to laugh at herself and family, but serious about her politics and trying to get by as a young idealistic couple in America. (And I imagine a very posh British accent...) What I also liked was how she treated the relationship with her closest sister, Unity, who, as a Nazi sympathizer, was the polar political opposite of Decca. What a family.
   
   Highly, highly recommended.



4. "I'm normal, my wife is normal, but my daughters are each more foolish than the other. What do you say about my daughters? Isn't it very sad?" Mary S Lovell has taken David Mitford's complaint to heart. She has a lot to say about his daughters. But after decades (it seems) of books on those mad, bad and sometimes dangerous-to-know girls, do we want to hear it?
   
   The six Mitford girls pursued lives which are footnotes to 20th-century history: Nancy, the socialist aristocrat, gentle satirist of the society she yet delighted in; Unity, conceived in the Ontario town of Swastika, destined to become Hitler's pet; Diana, whose marriage to Oswald Mosley set her at the fringes of acceptability; Decca, who ended up as a fiery Communist émigré in California; Pam, the country girl who married a scientist and lived quietly in Gloucestershire; and Debo, who declared her intention, and carried out the act, of marrying a duke.
   
   By drawing on new sources, Lovell presents a fresh version of the Mitford story. She fleshes out "Muv" and Farve" - the fictional Uncle Matthew and Aunt Sadie of Nancy's novels - and adds to our understanding of their progeny. David Mitford, "the most handsome man of his generation" according to James Lees-Milne, is as eccentric as his fictional portrait in The Pursuit of Love. He did regard almost all his daughters' suitors as "sewers"; but the word was Tamil, "soor", meaning pig. His wife, Sydney, achieves a Daily Sketch headline, "Peeress Saves Ha'pence", for her economies over home laundry (she used paper napkins).



5. Hons and Rebels, a memoir of the life of the "commie" Mitford sister, Jessica, details the authors life from her childhood in rural England up until the time she lived in Miami in the 1940s. The Mitford clan of six sisters (Nancy wrote The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate) and one brother was an unusual one, prone to playing tricks upon one another and outsiders. Jessica grew up to embrace the ideals of the communist party, while her sister Unity became a Fascist, hobnobbing with Hitler. Jessica then ran away with and married her cousin Edwin Romilly, later moving to the United States.
   
   It's a brilliant memoir, poignant and funny at the same time. Although Jessica's not always the most sympathetic character, she's always witty, touching her story every now and then with a hint of irony. Jessica describes everything in painstaking detail, from the Cotswold countryside to certain conversations she had with various people. The memoir is evocative of the time period in which Jessica lived in.

No comments about Maine Mountain Guide, 9th: AMC Guide to Hiking Trails of Maine, featuring Baxter State Park (AMC Hiking Guide Series).

5 comments about That Quail, Robert.

1. "That Quail Robert" by Margaret Stanger is a delightful book. It is a true story of a retired couple who find an abandoned quail egg and hatch it under a boudoir lamp on their kitchen counter. The quail grew up as a cherished & very willing member of it's human family. Robert also became quite a local star of sorts. Robert later turns out to be a 'Roberta' when she lays one perfect little egg. Robert's family tried to release her, but Robert chose to stay with his human family. It almost seems as if she knew she had to stay to teach her humans about love and life. Robert ends up deeply touching most any human whom she came upon.
   
   Anyone that loves animals would enjoy this story. This book is also well suited for young readers, as well as adults. I laughed at all of Robert's little habits. Then I cried when she finally put her head under her wing and fell asleep for the last time.
   
   This book will remain cherished in my book collection, hopefully to share with future generations.



2. The price was right, book was in new condition as indicated, shipping was timely and well packaged.



3. 
   This was just a wonderful little book. Animals lovers will adore it. I found myself re-reading passages over and over again. We have hundreds of quail in our backyard every year due to the crushed corn we feed them, this book will make my enjoyment of them even greater. Read this book!!!



4. An elderly woman friend recommended that I read the small little book "That Quail Robert" when I was still a very young man. On hearing the title, I thought, "No way. For old ladies only." A few months later I read it, and the deep fondness I had for this lovely true tale was instantly indelible. Many times I've read it since and frequently give it as a gift to friends. This is a small book with a gentle story which fills one with delight.



5. I bought this as a birthday gift because it is one of my favorite animal stories. So touching and endearing. It is still one of the best (along with my all-time-favorite, The Cat Who Went to Heaven). For a lovely, quick read, if you haven't yet picked it up, do so. You won't be disappointed. And for animal lovers, Wow!

2 comments about Madeline in London.

1. As with all the Madeline books, this one is simply wonderful and an absolute joy to read! It is an absolutely delightful story, and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves good books.



2. For this fifth book in the Madeline series, Ludwig Bemelmans decides to do several things a bit differently. As always we begin with the old house in Paris that was covered in vines, but this time the twelve little girls in two straight lines each do their own illustration to help set up this tale. As we know, next door in another old house that stood next door lives Pepito, the son of the Spanish Ambassador, who is sent to England. The little girls all cried: "Boo-hoo--We'd like to go to London too." Given that the title of this book is "Madeline in London," that seems likely to happen.
   
   In London, Pepito stops eating and grow fit, and his mama figures out it must be because her son misses Madeline and the girls. So the Spanish Ambassador invites them to the embassy and Miss Clavel and the girls pack and catch the next jet. There they find a birthday present for Pepito, and then take a tour of London town, from Trafalgar Square and Buckingham Palace to Drury Lane, London Bridge, and the White Tower. In London there is no need for Miss Clavel to wake up in the middle of the night or run fast and faster to some new disaster. That is because this time the disaster has to do with Pepito's present and Miss Clavel is not responsible for it (that is, until the end of the story).
   
   Young readers who liked "Madeline's Rescue" because of Miss Genevieve will be inclined to like "Madeline in London" because it also deals with pets. I was a bit disappointed that there are not as many wonderful full-color illustrations of the sights of London as we usually find in the Madeline stories set in Paris. Those illustrations are often the best part of Bemelmans' stories, as he goes beyond the simple yellow painted pages to more complex pictures. "Madeline in London" was originally published in 1961 and it turns out to be the last time Bemelmans did his signature yellow pages, as the sixth and final story, "Madeline's Christmas," will be entirely in color.

1 comments about The American Transcendentalists: Essential Writings (Modern Library Classics).

1. When we think of Transcendentalism, we first turn to Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. But the literary movement was made up of more personalities than just those two men; and while "Nature" and "Walden" are key writings, they're not the only examples anyone can or should read. Hence the need and attraction of any transcendental anthology: it brings us multiple voices, perhaps even some unfamiliar or unusual ones.
   
   This volume is a treasure-trove of transcendental goodies, containing more than 100 selections from 32 writers. Emerson's "Nature" and part of Thoreau's "Walden" are here, along with dozens of essays, sermons, and poems from a variety of personalities, men and women, too numerous to mention. Some pieces will be familiar to anyone who's read about the mid-1800s; others are refreshlingly new to most of us. Thanks to reading this book from cover to cover, I have discovered that I like Theodore Parker's writing quite a bit. I may have to stray off my Thoreauvian path and delve into Parker a bit more.
   
   And yet, I disagree with some of the editor's observations in this volume. Unlike Buell, I don't think Thoreau considered surveying "a day job he didn't particularly care for," and I'm fairly certain he was never a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. I'm also not fond of the titles Buell created for some of the selections, because that method makes it difficult to compare his anthology with others or with the original works. For example, what is labelled here as Thoreau's "Christianity and Hinduism Compared" is really a portion from the book "A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers." "A Walk to Walden" by Nathaniel Hawthorne is really an excerpt from "The American Notebooks." But the sheer diversity, variety, and thematic arrangement of the selections far out-weighs any misgivings about their titling. If you are interested in transcendentalism, this is a wonderful book to start with. It's a nicely-priced paperback that's easy to carry around, which is important, because it'll take you a while to pore over and absorb (or even skip) its entries.
   
   In addition, three older anthologies of transcendental writings may interest readers: "Transcendentalism: A Reader" (Joel Myerson, ed., 2000); "The Transcendentalists: An Anthology" (Perry Miller, 1977), and "The American Transcendentalists: Their Prose and Poetry" (Perry Miller, 1957). Each anthology has a focus, and surprisingly little overlap occurs when comparing their contents. And each contains a few jewels not found in any other contemporary anthology. Happy hunting!

2 comments about Discover Acadia National Park, 2nd: AMC Guide to the Best Hiking, Biking, and Paddling (AMC Discover Series).

1. and we were sure glad we bought this book. The map that comes with the book is five stars for sure. There were countless times we used the map to find out where we exactly were. The map was used to help people on the trail know exactly where they were. The book itself was a helpful planning tool for our hiking and biking times. I didn't get to spend as much time before the trip in it as I would have liked. It could be a five star book, but I haven't read enough of the book to feel comfortable giving it that rating; however, I do know that what I did read was accurate and helpful. It will certainly be an excellent resource for our next trip to Acadia.



2. We liked this book and did three hikes out of it. Overall the book was accurate. Probably next time we'd buy a pocket-size book, however, it was nice to read some of the detail and history about the areas we were hiking through. One item we suggest in the future is some drawing of the route. Although the book comes with a map and that worked (if we had it with us or handy).

5 comments about New England (Regional Guide).

1. I like Lonely Planet guides and find them very useful for other places. I also will concede that writing a guide of New England is really two books, a guide to Boston and a guide to everything else. I was psyched when I first got the book, but quickly became disappointed. I live in Boston and thought there were some big omissions locally. I found the guide to everything else to be lacking in major areas. I suppose if one is new to the area or only staying a week, this guide might be useful. For a reference for a New Englander, try something else.



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. 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.




4. 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.



5. 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.