3 comments about Frommer's Irreverent Guide to Manhattan (Irreverent Guides).

1. Head and shoulders above your average guide book. I used it in my last visit to nyc and found it to have a lot of information that no other guidebooks have. It was hip, up-to-date and easy to read. It's also really funny.



2. I thought this would be an insiders guide;things not covered by usual guide books,undiscovered gems,restaurants etc.It wasn't.This is just a poorly laid out, same old same old, guide book,don't waste your money.



3. Listed amongst hotels to stay at Four Seasons or Waldorf Astoria. Then of course, there is the NY YMCA - hardly irreverent. Well they do list the Chelsea Hotel - but how 60s is that! Restaurants, well there's Nobu and Next Door Nobu, The Pink Teacup, a group of Italian Restaurants all owned by Mario Batali - Po, Babbo and Lupa and I quote from the book "the only thing more remarkable than the cuisine and impeccable service is how hard it is to get a reservation"!
   
   I then wanted to take a trip around Harlem. If you research on the internet there are a couple of very cool and different tours, but in this book - Harlem Spirituals or Harlem Your Way...are the suggestions - what could be more reverent!
   
   Take shopping.... well Macy,s, Tiffany's, H and M, Bloomingdales and Saks get good reviews and of course there is the 'Low Down for Style wise guys' - sheesh! and for kids (To Buy your Kids Love...)FAO schwarz, Toys R Us, the Disney Store and the Scholastic Store are the only ones mentioned. I know a store were you can buid a doll from scratch, or a bear, and take your home made baby home for a few dollars!
   
   Now, I can tell you some great hotels to stay in in town at a reasonable price and just brimming with help and comfort. I can suggest some great clubs for nightlife, fabulous restaurants at out of city prices and tours to blow your mind and I found them all on the internet. This book is a complete and utter waste of money, not to mention a great big phoney!

No comments about Not For Tourists Guide 2009 to Brooklyn (Not for Tourists Guidebook).

No comments about The New York Subway Finder.

No comments about A Journey into Mohawk and Oneida Country, 1634-1635: The Journal of Harmen Meyndertsz Van Den Bogaert (Iroquois and Their Neighbors).

1 comments about Paris and Elsewhere (New York Review Books Classics).

1. This collection of Cobb's essays is another book in the NYRB series which I did not want to finish reading. These essays are about more than Paris or Normandy or even Europe; here is a record left by an Englishman who passionately loved a place, a bi-cultural historian and writer who grew his soul between the rare archived records of France and the living streets he loved.
   
   Richard Cobb has shown me that writing a memoir of place is a sensory experience. His essays are so rich in textured intimacy that I feel "le Cobb" is living still. One can find him strolling down an avenue observing every alteration of the weather, every change in the pavement, in the passersby, their clothing and language. I imagine Cobb still sitting in his favorite haunt, the late night and early morning caf?, sipping the 4:00 a.m. calvados, or apple brandy, as he watches the barges come up the river. From his youth, to his late travels, Cobb had found that one cannot write history without knowing the living. Le Cobb called himself a "prisoner of habit" (301), and this, I believe, is the key to the depth of detail in his writing. He frequented the same places, the same towns, kept in touch with the same French and Belgian friends. But there is also something exquisitely lonely about Cobb, the solitary observer, that appeals to the wounded romantic in every traveler.
   
   I'm concerned that the general reader will not pick up this book; the density of language in Paris and Elsewhere appears to be for the intimate specialist only. But the essays are about desire for a place, about human interaction in that space, how people create each other's lives, and the anger and grief one feels when a beloved city or village is altered forever--phenomena and feelings which anyone can apply to anyplace in the world. I highly recommend this book for people involved in city planning, the New Urbanists, any reader wondering why the French no longer wear berets, or any reader looking for a context or background as to how or why the recent riots and rebellions occurred across France in the past year.
   
   Cobb loved France enough to criticize the French particularly in the decades from the Baron Haussman in the mid 19th-century to Georges Pompidou in the 1970s when so much destruction was visited upon Paris in the name of `architecture.' Cobb shows that Brussels and Paris sustained more damage after World War II than before: "The damage which has been inflicted on these two cities is not, then, the result of enemy--or Allied--action" (200). In Paris distinctive neighborhoods were destroyed by the French themselves with no concern for how people's lives were being altered or the monoculture being created. Well, Monsieur Cobb, this vandalism to intimate dwellings, social settings, tiny restaurants, private gardens, the homes and boulevards of experience, is now a global condition. Thank you so much, Professor Cobb, for such beautiful writing on such a bittersweet topic.

4 comments about Gangsters and Gold Diggers: Old New York, the Jazz Age, and the Birth of Broadway.

1. Gangsters and Golddiggers is a fascinating book that introduces you to the unique characters that made up early broadway. From its early existence as an Indian trail to the rise of theater and organized crime, this book offers a glimpse into a world that vibrates with violence and lust. Gangsters and Golddiggers reads almost like an epic motion picture. Definately pick this one up.



2. Author Jerome Charyn provides the reader with a cast of colorful characters such as Arnold Rothstein who used to enjoy wasting his time in Lindy's Restaurant, Al Jolson who was very difficult to live with and a self promoter, Legs Diamond, who detective Johnny Broderick once stuffed into a garbage can, Flo Ziegfeld, who glamorized the American girl, former singing waiter Irving Berlin who sang at Nigger Mike's and then went on to become the writer of over one thousand songs. Author Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald and wife Zelda, gangster Owney Madden, Fannie Brice and her husband Billy Rose who was 5' 3 1/2" in his elevator shoes "who walked with the bounce of an overwound toy." Bert Gordon, W.C. Fields, Ruby Keeler, boxers Jack Dempsey and Johnson, and, of course, The Bambino himself, George Herman Ruth. The book is filled with anecdotes of these and other famous and infamous characters that made The Great White Way the historic place it is today. If you like social history you should love this book. I did come to one conclusion about a great majority of these individuals. As famous or infamous they may have been, many of them shared a feeling of loneliness even though they were major players in American social history.



3. Well, this book is filled with lots of interesting stories, but it's so disorganized it seems like it was written by an Jazz age drunk! Better editing would have done wonders for this book which has great stories about some of the celebrities of the 1920's, but flows sloppily from one anecdote to another.



4. This book is simply awash in great little anecdotes about the folks who spent their days in and around the Broadway of the early part of the 20th century. We get tales of the famous and the infamous, the good and the bad, the rich and the not so rich, and a myriad of supporting characters so colorful they could fill a Damon Runyan book of stories. It's not meant to be a book of mini biographies, but there are some interesting lives explored. The book also contains one of the most incisive analyses of "The Great Gatsby" I've ever read. If the author leaves you wishing for more information about some of the people you meet, that may be the book's only failing: it's too short. I could really have enjoyed reading another few hundred pages about the people and places he describes!

4 comments about Ethnic New York: A Complete Guide to the Many Faces & Cultures of New York (Passport Books).

1. It's definitely useful to have an A-Z guidebook to NY's many immigrant groups. But this book has many shortcomings and inaccuracies. For example, it barely mentions the huge Russian presence in Brighton Beach, and its section on Germans ignores their best restaurants in the Glendale section of Queens. Errors include a statement that the early Greek immigrants settled in the South Bronx between 14th and 15th Streets (there are no such streets in the Bronx!) and locating the Masjid Al Farouq mosque between 4th and 5th Streets, when it is really between 4th and 5th Avenues.



2. I found this book accurate and amazing! Mr. Leeds highlights so many neighborhoods with a keen understanding for New York and its cornucopia of ethnic flavor. Mr. Leeds, adding to what few tour guides know and understand, recognizes the recent Jewish immigrants to Brighton Beach-- in addition to pinpointing the best restaurants (Russian, Germnan, Italian Polish, Puerto Rican, etc.) with a simplicity, profundity, and flair that makes visiting them extra special!



3. I found that this guide assists you in discovering the diversity, background, and curiosity within Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and Bronx neighborhoods. I used it to uncover new restaurants and cuisines, especially authentic, unpretentious, inexpensive ones, whenever visiting the Big Apple.

   It is great when you go into neighborhoods where they just don't speak English and often new immigrants (natives) on the street or over the phone are too myopic in giving directions.

   It is great for the NYC visitor as exploring Queens and Brooklyn by subway doesn't come without some intrepidation, especially in the evening. But after qualifying the areas that I do know quite well, Little Italy and Chinatown, I read areas that I recently visited Koreantown, Manhattan and Little Columbia in Jackson Heights, Queens. I now value the insight and comprehensive amount of research the author presents.

   Each ethnic group has a clear vignette on when they came and settled, the reasons for immigrating, noteworthy aspects of their culture, political and religious organizations, and restaurants, markets, shops, museums, and cultural activities. Some 500 pgs worth!

   He gives a lot of practical info, phone numbers, hours open, specialties, so that when you are on a quest, you can find it. Lots of factoids and city trivia are sprinkled everywhere. Many opinions were on the mark. Good index.

   The first reviewer needs to read more thoroughly: a) Russian Jews in Brighton Beach, p 223-8; b) Germans in Ridgewood, Queens (next to Glendale), p 55-7; c) even a random tourist like me knows that The Bronx starts at 140-150th St, a typo.

   My main critique is that the author could have included simple "bigger-picture" maps showing the neighborhoods and Metro stops to make it more tourist friendly. While he gives general directions on where they are located, often I couldn't determine which borough it was in.




4. If you want to stay in the cocoon of midtown Manhattan don't bother with this book. But if you want to see the REAL, non-homogenized-Middle-American New York, read this. If you want to see the outer boroughs, read this to know what's interesting. Thanks to this book, I discovered:

   *Jackson Heights (mostly Columbian) *Brighton Beach (mostly Russian) *Greenpoint (Polish) *Bensonhurst (the REAL Little Italy) *Belmont (another Italian area in the Bronx; I liked Bensonhurst better, its easier to reach by subway, bigger and better kept) *3 separate Hasidic Jewish areas (Crown Heights, Boro Park and Williamsburg) *Washington Heights (Dominician/Puerto Rican) *Astoria (Greek) *Flushing (Chinese) *Atlantic Avenue (Arabic) *Midwood (Syrian Jewish)

   One caveat: if you are interested in one particular restaurant call to make sure it is open.

5 comments about The Other Islands of New York City: A History and Guide (Second Edition).

1. As a native New Yorker, I heard of many islands that occupied the waters that surrounded the five boroughs of the city. As I flew back into LaGuardia and JFK airports I even began to notice them from above. Obtaining information about these islands was very difficult, even from local libraries, and therefore when I found this book at a local bookstore, I was delighted that someone came up with the idea of publishing such a book.

   From Roosevelt Island to Cuban Ledge, the authors give a very thorough and well researched book on the many islands inhabiting the New York archipelago. Many islands which were once islands, but have long since been connected to the boroughs by artificial landfills are also covered here (e.g. Coney Island-Brooklyn, Hunter Island-Bronx, Battery Park area-Manhattan, etc..) are also covered here.

   If you live in the city or plan on visiting, please make sure to pick up a copy of this guide, and make sure to visit the many hidden treasures found in this city.It makes an excellent companion book while aboard a plane or even in the subway.




2. As a native New Yorker, I heard of many islands that occupied the waters that surround the five boroughs of the city. As I flew back into LaGuardia and JFK airports I even began to notice them from above. Obtaining information about these islands was very difficult, even from local libraries, and therefore when I found this book at a local bookstore, I was delighted that someone came up with the idea of publishing such a book.

   From Roosevelt Island to Cuban Ledge, the authors give a very thorough and well researched book on the many islands inhabiting the New York archipelago. Many islands which were once islands, but have long since been connected to the boroughs by artificial landfills are also covered here (e.g. Coney Island-Brooklyn, Hunter Island-Bronx, Battery Park area-Manhattan, etc..) are also covered here.

   If you live in the city or plan on visiting, please make sure to pick up a copy of this guide, and make sure to visit the many hidden treasures found in this city.It makes an excellent companion book while aboard a plane or even in the subway.




3. NOTE: This is not a review. We are the book's authors and are writing in response to the careless and misleading comments made by reviewer "erikbaard."

   "erikbaard" seems to think we should have written a narrowly focused book catering to his personal interest as a kayaker, describing such minutiae as seagull eggs. But our book is intended as a history and guide book, an approach we believed would entertain, intrigue and inform a far broader audience. So while we did detail the natural beauty-from the garnet and feldspar on Twin Islands to the towering hickory trees of Hunter Island--we gave far greater focus to the tales of colorful people (Nellie Bly and Mae West) and momentous events (the General Slocum fire and the building of the Statue of Liberty) as well as the marvelous attractions that those islands accessible to the public hold.

   "erikbaard" also attacks us for a "self-congratulatory" tone because we dubbed a handful of islands as being "forgotten." How can they be forgotten, he asks, if he and other kayakers know of them. While kayaking is growing in popularity in New York, it's a safe bet that a small percentage of the 7 million New Yorkers are out there paddling. And having spoken with thousands of New Yorkers about the islands since this book was first published in 1996 we are equally certain that the vast majority of people coming to this book know little or nothing about most of these islands, even those that we didn't call "Forgotten"-islands like North Brother Island or Swinburne Island. We are not self-congratulatory, simply enthusiastic about sharing all we learned in our research.
   (But "Erikbaard" is quite self-congratulatory, and mistakenly so. He boasts several times about visiting these islands in his kayak. However, many of these islands-including Swinburne Island, which he mentions-are part of the Harbor Heron Project and if he visits without permission he may be doing irreversible damage to an important bird refuge through his adventurism.)

   In addition, he implies that we didn't visit the islands and instead relied on interviews with historians. He also criticizes our tone toward working class residents as condescending. We did visit the islands-we even watched them bury the dead in the Potter's Field on Hart Island and Sharon went into the jails at Rikers Island-and did several years worth of historical research but we also talked to ordinary citizens, residents of the islands or people whose lives were touched by them, like Adella Wotherspoon, the last survivor of the General Slocum disaster. And if you ask them-as we have-- they will say not that the tone is condescending but that we accurately captured life on their islands in a way that few other journalists ever have.

   The reviewer also condemns us as squeamish and too liberal because we didn't mention islets-barely more than rocks, actually-that had the word Negro in them. In point of fact, those islets don't exist anymore and we make passing mention of just five of the many such islets that once existed there, picking just a few of the most colorful names like "Bald Headed Billy" and "Bread and Cheese." It seems that "erikbaard" brings this point up solely to glorify a short article he once wrote and to relive his glory days when he got to interview a city parks commissioner.

   Then comes a blatant inaccuracy when the reviewer accuses us of ignoring Native Americans. In fact, they are mentioned throughout the book, where appropriate-however, the reality is that they rarely lived on these islands and used them only occasionally so there is minimal recorded history related to them. If he was not so intent on trashing our book, however, he would have noted our chapter on Bergen and Mill Islands that delves into the Canarsie Indians, the wampum they produced and how they defended themselves from the Mohawks and later traded with the settlers.

   All in all, we were quite dismayed by the combative approach of this reviewer. If you are interested in a book on kayaking around New York, then maybe he will write one for you. In the meantime, if you want stories about Typhoid Mary, the invention of the hot dog at Coney Island, the inspiring presence of herons and egrets in New York, and the development of the tight-knit community of Broad Channel, then we hope you take some time to explore "The Other Islands of New York City."




4. fast, great



5. Whenever we take guests on a cruise around NYC I am the designated tour guide who points out all the sights. People are always amazed by all the little known stories about the history of the city as viewed from the water that I can relate to them. Many of them I gleaned from this wonderful book. After you read this book, a ferry or circle line ride will be a totally new experience.

2 comments about Cobblestone Quest: Road Tours of New York's Historic Buildings.

1. Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (2/06)
   
   "Cobblestone Quest" presents 17 self-guided tours, of cobblestone structures in upstate New York, that can be taken by car or bicycle. If you are unable to travel to this area, but enjoy learning about interesting architecture you will still enjoy this book. The authors, Rich and Sue Freeman, begin by presenting a background about the history of cobblestone structures.
   
   In the United States, from 1825 to 1860, 90% of these structures were built within a 65-mile radius of Rochester, New York. The authors also discuss the geological makeup of the stones and the building techniques used to put the structures together. They mention that cobblestone is actually a construction method and not an architectural style. The most common architectural style of the cobblestone buildings is Greek Revival. The buildings are all unique unto themselves.
   
   The book contains many photographs so that if you are unable to take the tour, you can see what some of these structures actually looked like. I really like how the book is set up. After reading the background information on cobblestones, the tours begin. Each tour lists the distance involved and the approximate time of the tour if taken by car. The authors give very detailed directions on where to start the tour and how to get to each location, much more descriptive than you would get from Mapquest.com!
   
   Very interesting descriptive information is given about each address. At most stops, the original owner, the year built, the time period and the style are also listed. I really enjoyed reading background information that was given about the people living at these sites and how some of the buildings have evolved over time. Some of the homes have continued to be owned by the descendants of the families that built them. "Cobblestone Quest" is a book that I would highly recommend to readers who enjoy traveling to interesting places and learning about the places and people who have resided there. These tours can be taken by car, bicycle or by armchair as I did. I would also recommend it to people that live in the area of Rochester, New York. I think that they would find it fascinating to learn about these places that are in their own backyards.



2. I live in the Rochester area but it took visiting friends, who brought this book with them, to discover the area's treasures. We spent a wonderful day following one of the trips - the directions were superb, the explanations about each structure were well done - in short - I bought the book, read it, found some more hidden delights! This book is worth every penny!

2 comments about Lake George Reflections: Island History and Lore.

1. For anyone who knows and loves Lake George, particularly those who have camped on the lake or are contemplating a camping trip to the lake this book is must reading. Frank Leonbruno has woven a history of the lake with his extensive personal experiences to create a sensitive and loving account of Lake George. As a result of his 42 years of faithful and caring stewardship as a ranger on Lake George, his proactive response to its environment, and now the recording of his reflections, Mr. Leonbruno has made himself a part of the history of Lake George.



2. Bought this book for my history-loving husband that spent many summers at camp in the Lake George area. He read it within a week, and commented each evening how much he was enjoying the history, stories and recommended the book to me.
   
   We'll be well read on our trips there in the spring - so much of the lure of Lake George was coming through in the book and I look forward to bringing the stories of the lake to life on our trip.