No comments about Factory Outlet Guide to the Mid-Atlantic States: New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia.

No comments about Everything Family Guide to New York City: All the best hotels, restaurants, sites, and attractions in the Big Apple (Everything Series).

No comments about Palkhi: An Indian Pilgrimage.

1 comments about The Wildwoods in Vintage Postcards (NJ) (Postcard History Series).

1. This Book is a great memory of anyone from wildwood. My entire family loved the book and now i have to order more because everyone wants one!

2 comments about The Company of Strangers.

1. this is a decent book, but check out Robert Walker first - his new york stuff from the '80s being much stronger work if you can find it. powell's photos are rather shallow and mediocre compared with great street photographers and/or colorists of the past (eggleston, meyerwitz, shore, etc.) and present (walker, webb, manos). if you don't own those guys' books, get them first.
   
   in this book's defense, it's well put together and published.



2. ...as is most comtemporary color work (see CREWDSON) which makes an already elitist and rich man's game even more so with elaborate sets and million dollar prints the size of a house. but seriously, check out ROBERT WALKER if you are interested in this kind of colour street woyk. in the end, it's a worthy addition, why not?

5 comments about The Neighborhoods of Brooklyn (Neighborhoods of New York City).

1. One of the most accurate portrayals of Brooklyn ever. Accurate neighborhood borders and fantastic descriptions. I was especially fond of Professor John Manbeck's historic "time line" added to this book. Well worth the price!



2. Under the guidance of Professor John Manbeck and using the resources of the Citizens Committee for New York City, THE NEIGHBORHOODS OF BROOKLYN is a survey of Brooklyn that is as colorful and diverse as the borough itself. Examining the nearly 100 neighborhoods of Brooklyn, each section is part history, part tour, part reference. (It even tells you how to get there by mass transit! It even tells you the local police precinct!) Maps of each neighborhood are great for walking tours you can take on your own. And the abundant illustrations really put a face on everything. One time Brooklyn resident, Columbia University Professor Kenneth Jackson, provides the introduction which is both appropriate and enjoyable.



3. As a couple of other reviewers, I was disappointed in the lack of information about the neighborhoods in the 50s and 60s, when I grew up in East Flatbush. Even still, it is fascinating to learn of the full history of each neighborhood. How and when the original Dutch settlers bought the various sections from the Canarsee and Rockaway Native Americans. It is also interesting to learn of the fates of the various neighborhoods and their changing ethnic faces. I ALSO recommend the book "It Happened In Brooklyn: An Oral History Of Growing Up In The Borough In The 1940s, 1950s, And 1960s." The two books are VERY different. While this book is also light on the 50s and 60s, it brings back wonderful memories of Coney Island. It is actually a compilation of anecdotal memories from many people who grew up in Brooklyn, some of whom are world famous for various reasons!



4. This book gave a great overview of the neighborhoods in Brooklyn. However, if you are someone who is not at all familiar with Brooklyn you might be better off using this book in conjunction with other resources.



5. Listen, I was born and bred in Brooklyn, and lived there most of my adult life, though I've voluntarily exiled myself to the southland, just had enough of winter. But when I was given "The Neighborhoods of Brooklyn" as a sort of goodbye and look what you'll be missing book, I was kind of skeptical. How could anyone else know Brooklyn as well as I did?
   
   Brooklyn, of course, is a big and important place. If it were considered on its own, it'd be one of the largest cities in America, and a remarkably high percentage of Americans trace their families back through Brooklyn.
   
   As the authors write in the preface,"Why begin with Brooklyn? Because everyone, everywhere has heard of Brooklyn...Brooklyn is one of the best-known place names in the United States. In addition, it is one of the city's oldest settlements: many of its neighborhoods date back to before the beginning of our nation. Indeed, Brooklyn was present at the creation of the nation, the site of the Revolutionary War's Battle of Brooklyn. And for millions of immigrants it was--and is--their first home in America. If we are a nation of immigrants, Brooklyn, which boasts residents of 200 nationalities, is America's quintessential home town."
   
   So it ain't just about the Dodgers leaving town in the mid-50's, though believe me, I was there at the time, and it was quite a blow.
   
   At any rate, the writers of this book have obviously done a lot of first hand research. They have learned a lot about Brooklyn's neighborhoods, and transmit their knowledge in a highly readable fashion. There are also a lot of interesting photographs: their photo editor is really one of the book's unsung heroes. But I do wish they'd splurged on color, although that might, perhaps, have made the book too expensive for most people.
   
   This book will interest many sorts of people, those who've never lived in Brooklyn, those who are contemplating living in Brooklyn, those who have just moved there, and those who have left the place.
   
   That being said, I won't miss winter at all, but boy, I still miss the Dodgers.

5 comments about False Papers.

1. Andre Aciman is an astoundingly gifted writer. When I first read his memoir "Out of Egypt" five years ago, I was amazed by its wit and wisdom, its precious and seamless blend of irony and deep feeling. Having followed his career in writing ever since, I am thrilled by the recent publication of "False Papers," a magnificent compilation of fourteen of his best essays from the past few years. These pieces can be seen as a kind of sequel to "Out of Egypt," an extension of its central theme of exile in new, often unexpected directions. In "Out of Egypt" Aciman vividly reminisced about his childhood years in Alexandria up to their dismal end, when amid the virulent anti-Semitism of Nasser's Egypt he and his family were expelled. The essays of "False Papers," by contrast, pertain more to the intellectual and emotional residues of exile-in particular the "confused, back-and-forth, up-and-around" way of thinking, remembering, desiring, and relating to oneself and to others that exile seems to foster. Aciman writes poignantly but analyzes ruthlessly: he may be one of the most introspective of current writers, and at a time when memoirs and confessions line the shelves, but refreshingly, he is also one of the least self-indulgent and complacent. Complexity does not faze him. He excels at finding a concrete metaphor, typically from far afield, to convey some paradox of memory or desire: for instance, his surprisingly apt use of the financial term "arbitrage" to illustrate how one might "firm up the present...by experiencing it from the future as a moment in the past," much like an arbitrageur might trade securities in different markets to benefit from different prices. He can qualify thoughts and impressions without diluting them into a muddle, and even, occasionally, cast doubt on the relevance of his most reliable figures and tropes-to wit, exile-without sacrificing any of his writing's underlying pathos. Few, in short, can match Aciman when it comes to a grasp of the fitful economy of the soul, and even fewer could hope to write about it so deftly and affectingly.

   Those, like myself, who have already read and enjoyed Aciman's essays on their first appearance in print will want to own a book that brings them all together. Those who have not are to be envied the opportunity to read them in "False Papers" for the first time.




2. I found Mr.Aciman's essays suffering from a infatuation with his own self-righteousness. Preachy, bigoted and too often innacurate, he bakes a quite dull mixture of bloated prose and shallow, prejuciced view about many subjects one suspects he knows little or nothing about. The books distils the grandiose retorique of cocktail-party chatter and leaves the reader with a sad sense of having wasted his own time. My advice would be to seriously check it out at a public library before devoting time and money to this thing. Life's too short for this kind of drivel.



3. Andre Aciman is our contemporary Proust--the same elegance, the same penetrating eye, the same love for memory and its cinematic clarities.



4. André Aciman's collection of essays on place and nostalgia is as absolutely gorgeously written as his superb family memoir OUT OF EGYPT, and covers the amazing array of places he's lived and left: Alexandria (first and foremost), Rome, Paris, and New York, with side visits to sites important to his sense of himself, Illiers-Combray (Proust's village) and Bethelhem. At his best, Aciman is funny, incisive and extraordinarily clever; his best essays involve sites where he can focus more on other people than just himself, and he can allow his wit and empathy to emerge. Since his topic is always nostalgia here, it is inevitable that much of his critical focus should be himself (as he points out repeatedly and intelligently, the urge towards nostalgia is always as much a yearning for one's self and one's memories as it is for a particular place). There are times, however, when his interest in his self tends more towards a carefully nurtured narcissism than an incisive self-critique and when you want to roll your eyes at the insufferably precious delight with which he can regard himself.



5. Like other Aicman books rhis really worth reading, some wonderful insights, into a long vanished world.

1 comments about Serendipitous Outings Near New York City: On Foot in New Jersey, Long Island, the Hudson Valley, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania.

1. Reviewed by Irene Watson for Reader Views (7/06)
   
   Anticipating a trip to the New York City and area, this book certainly has taken the scare out of visiting an incredibly large city. "Serendipitous Outings Near New York City" simplifies the trip and gives the reader an opportunity to visit New York City with ease.
   
   Harrison and Rosenfeld intended this book for all walkers - experienced trail hikers, antique hunters, nature lovers, as well as slow walkers that just love to browse and enjoy conversations with those they meet. The book starts off with the "Deserted" Village in the Allaire State Park of New Jersey. The authors give a brief history, description and when the village is open. They explain that guided tours are available if one so desires, but they also encourage self-guided tours. After the walk, they suggest a trek to the Atlantic Ocean where another small town exists.
   
   This is only one of the many walking trips that the authors suggest. They include an easy to follow map and there is no doubt they have trekked the streets and areas themselves. They say things like "Before leaving Stonecrop, be sure to walk on a small path through the woodland garden: Azaleas, rhododendrons, and other shade-loving plants have been carefully placed to blend harmoniously with this natural habitat. Nearby is a pond surrounded by lilies and groupings of..." How enticing is that! With descriptions like this, one can't help but wander on the path.
   
   I'm looking forward to using this book on my trip to the area. At first I wasn't anticipating visiting some of the areas which include New Jersey, Long Island, the Hudson Valley, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania. However, after perusing this book, the travel plans will have to include these areas.

3 comments about The Timeline History of New York City.

1. This is an amazing book. It has a fold out section that is over 10 feet long and you have the entire history of New York at your fingertips. It's well produced and -- for $20 or so -- it's an amazing bargain. I visited NY recently for the first time with my friend and we bought this when we were coming home. Every time I look at it I think about the great time I had. I can't wait to go back now that I know so much more about the city. Buy this book if you love New York or if you know anyone who does.



2. Here is an interesting idea for history fans of NYC. But, it is hard to read--too many tints, lines through copy. Hard to handle and very superficial. Inserted photos confusing. Copy begins and ends on binding with no end papers. The architecture page with it's wheel is a bit of a gimmic. This book would be a useful suverier for visitors and young students.



3. The Playnes' TIMELINE HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY is a convenient guide through New York's long and rich history. For most New Yorkers, there's nothing really new here; we've all heard it before. And a lot of the information just touches the surface of some of the historic moments; too many of the reasons for the events that created the history, and their ramifications for the rest of America, are glossed over. That said, this timeline is still of value (especially for the price). It does contain a lot of information, given its size. In that regard, I would recommend this to those who are just starting their voyage to the City's history. I also think that people from out of town would appreciate this compact publication, especially if their planning a trip to the Big Smear.

No comments about ZagatMap 2005 New York City Restaurants (Zagat Map: New York City).