5 comments about New York: 15 Walking Tours.

1. This is the best guide of its kind which I have seen. Wolfe is thorough, engaging, sometimes funny and a joy to read. As a tour guide I have read many books on NYC, and this is one of my favorites. Unlike many other authors, he pays more than lip-service to the outer boroughs, and also offers a good guide to Roosevelt Island.

   Let's see an updated edition!!!




2. There is only one word to describe this book: Sloppy. So sloppy that you have to ask yourself if the author has ever taken his own tour.

   I don't know if the blame falls to the author, or publisher McGraw Hill, for failing to edit this book.

   I pulled a page (142) from a neighborhood I happen to know something about and found these errors on a single page:

   # 21 "The former Metropolitan Savings Bank", opened in 1867 not 1868. He uses the apprehensive phrase "attributed to Carl Pfeiffer." A newspaper article about the grand opening day of this building as a bank reports it as May 21, 1867, and declares that the builder is Carl Pfeiffer.

   Then he repeats an urban myth from a discredited revisionist "historian" that McSorley's Old Ale House did not open in 1854, but in 1862. He goes on to describe the items "on the grimy sheet-tin walls." The bar has no tinned walls. (With the exception of the lavatories) Step inside if you are going to describe the inside!

   Save your money. McGraw Hill did when it came to hiring an editor to check his facts. Buy the AIA guide and make your own tour. Although the old photos are pretty good, they are not quite enough to be the saving grace here. Wolfe gets the addresses right, but if this one page is any indication., no one checked his historical facts, and that makes me even more surprised by the American Heritage review of this work.




3. I learned more about Manhattan's Lower East Side in this book, than any other in my collection. As a licensed, NYC tour guide, this is now the first book I go to, the ultimate reference. 15 neighborhoods are highlighted with solid information on the architecture of hundreds of buildings as well as nuggets of fascinating stories. Read about how one now defunt NYC Dept. store shipped an albino elephant to one skeptical customer. All true! Anyone studying for the NYC sightseing exam needs to have this book in their collection.



4. I took my first walk today, taking one of the tours in the book, Greenwich Village. Although the book led me through a nice, interesting tour, it committed an unpardonable sin. At one point on the tour, the map did NOT match the textual guidance. It was only a few blocks off, but this is a mistake that should be caught prior to publishing.



5. "15 Walking Tours" is a treasure trove of information about New York City. It is heavy on neighborhood by neighborhood facts, nearly to the point of overload. There are virtual building by building narrations! "15" is also loaded with historical anecdotes. The author seems immersed in fascination with old NYC department stores from the halcyon days of the "carriage trade". That was when New York was really New York! The text is also buttressed by some wonderful old historical photos. Serious work went into this publication and it shows. There are some factual glitches: The text misstates the tenure of former Mayor Wagner (it was 1954-1965) and misdescribes the Vietnam Veterans Memorial next to 55 Water Street. The plaza has been upgraded substantially in recent years. It had fallen into disgraceful disrepair. There are other slips but this reviewer would give the author a pass here. This is New York and there is so much to keep track of. The question here is who will use "15"? This is not for the casual tourist. Only the most dedicated need apply. Potential applicants for becoming a licensed tour guide come to mind! This reviewer is awarding 4 stars based on the serious nature of the text and the amount of research involved. "15" has been around since 1975; silent testimony that many have found it useful, if not casual reading.

5 comments about Field Guide to the Natural World of New York City.

1. Fabulous! Leslie Day's passion for nature is evident in this beautiful guide to NYC's surprisingly abundant natural resources.



2. Leslie Day possesses an extraordinary, singular talent for inspiring enthusiasm and a life-long passion for learning and for the natural world around us. Dr. Day has been our children's science teacher since our now 17 year-old son was in her class in Kindergarten; and in order to be her students, our now 14 year-old twins commuted for six years, starting the day before 9/11, from the island of Manhattan across the Washington Bridge to the Elisabeth Morrow School in Englewood, New Jersey. Her Field Guide is a beautifully-written, gorgeously-illustrated and very smartly-organized celebration of big-city nature. A naturalist's version of "I Love New York", it provides pathways and subway directions to thousands of acres of magnificent parks and nature preserves that even most New Yorkers don't know. Now, in addition to knowing of Central Park, Broadway Theater, Carnegie Hall and our 157 museums, visitors and New Yorkers - including the Mayor (who wrote the introduction)- can always have a ready answer to that proverbial, weekend question, "what shall we do today?". This is a great read and a must-have.
   
   Paul Tobias, New York City



3. BTW, I was born Brooklyn in 1926. My family "emigrated" to Staten Island in the early 1930s. Having last lived on rural Lighthouse Hill on Staten Island in 1951 I am well-acquainted with Staten Island's flora and fauna.
   
   The best endorsement I can give is the fact that I originally bought this book for a friend who is an avid birder in Connecticut. She was so impressed with it that I bought one for myself. Now I am a birder (albeit, an old bird!).



4. "What a wonderful resource NYC has in Leslie Day. I purchased her recently released book (hardcover edition) Field Guide to the Natural World of New York City, and was so impressed by her knowledge and intense communion with nature. This book is a work of art! Illustrated by Mark A. Klingler and containing many photographs taken by Dr. Day herself, it is a piece to be treasured. It is so complete, comprehensive and beautifully edited. It is also amazingly user friendly. Thank you Leslie Day for your dedication to NYC and the enlightening of nature lovers everywhere."



5. This book is a handsome, valuable addition to the library (or backpack) of NYC dwelling natural history lovers. Unfortunately, it is not "complete," as several reviews suggest. Missing, for example, is the red-eared slider(Trachemys scripta elegans), the most commonly seen turtle in Central Park. Migrant and occasional bird species, too, are not to be found. The wild turkey is now reestablished on parts of Manhattan, but does not find a place in Day's guide. There are many such oversights; generally, however, I recommend the book.

5 comments about Brooklyn! The Ultimate Guide to New York's Most Happening Borough, 3rd Edition.

1. I've owned both of the previous editions of this guidebook and the new one is the biggest and best yet. While I've hit a lot of these places before, the authors seem to have found a few new ones that even this veteran of Brownstone Brooklyn didn't know about. What I enjoy most is taking the book along and just cruising a new neighborhood from one end to the other. That's how I discovered Brighton Beach, with this book under my arm. I give this one a two-thumbs up and five stars. Want to know Brooklyn? This is the book!



2. This book is the best resource for everything-Brooklyn! This book puts Zagats to shame. It is the perfect guide to key Brooklyn neighborhoods, and you should not leave home without it! In fact, I keep a copy in my car, just in case... If I could give a book a 6 star rating, this book would get it!



3. I think this book is a great resource for someone who is new to the area. It gives a listing of various events, businesses, etc. in Brooklyn. It divides the borough up by neighbhorhoods which makes it user-friendly. I recommend this book for someone who is new to the Brooklyn area.



4. Not having lived in New York City since the early 1980s, until my niece graduated from Yale and moved to Brooklyn, I still thought that all of the action was in Manhattan. This riveting book furthered her endeavor to disabuse me of that illusion, even though I will always be an inveterate Upper West Sider at heart.



5. Apparently there is a DUMBO neighborhood, and a BAM neighborhood, there is also a BQE, and a BAC. Not once are any of these acronyms explained. Whenever I read a newspaper article they always have in parenthesis an explanation and spell out what the acronym stands for.

5 comments about Charlotte Sometimes (The New York Review Children's Collection).

1. 
   Charlotte Makepeace (there's a prescient surname for you) wakes up one morning and finds herself fifty years in the past, in the same English girl's school she knows, only in this case it is during the time of the First World War. At first understandably terrified and puzzled that she is being called "Clare" by denizens of a previous age who seem to know her, she soon pieces together the fact that she has switched places with a girl who is now living in Charlotte's own time, the 1960's. Charlotte and Clare ingeniously manage to communicate with one another via a diary hidden on the school grounds, and Emily, Clare's sister becomes the one confidant of Charlotte in a past that is foreign and frightening to her modern mind. Britain during this time is at war and terrible air raids are going on near the boarding school. There is death and sadness here told more darkly than in most mid-century novels intended for teenage girls, and it jumps to mind why Clare is so willing to return from the relative safety and prosperity of the future. I suppose the obvious answer is the love of family and familiarity outweigh lesser material things.
   
   Charlotte worries she will be stuck in the past, and exactly why she is there and how she might ever return home are carefully guarded secrets, revealed only at the opportune time, near the very ending: an ending which is very sad and involves the death of one of the two girls, a death that though of natural causes, harkens back to the fact it might not have occurred had the sacrifice that ends this book not been chosen. At this final point the main character poignantly becomes Emily, who waited thru half the twentieth century to see Charlotte again in the future, and discuss with her the events of the past they knew together.
   
   This story was the basis for the Cure song of the same name, with its dense, atmospheric video telling the story of two teenaged girls stuck in the same school in different eras. I admit I had no idea of the novel's existence during the time I loved the Cure song so much I named my dog "Charlotte Sometimes" in tribute, but wish I had. I think this novel may have gone out of print for a time, especially on the American side of the Atlantic, because I don't remember hearing about it until just a few years ago. I'm informed the ending to the version I'm reviewing was changed from the original in an "updating" and I've been on the lookout for a copy of the earlier edition. I have no idea why it was tampered with or what is different but hope I like it as well as this later one.
   
   One thing that has occurred to me as I do this review is I wonder if the character Clare from The Time Traveler's Wife was in any way named in tribute to Clare Moby from this earlier work on the similar theme of displacement in time?



2. Although it is very interesting and well-written, do not read her review, unless you do not mind finding out major aspects about the book's ending.



3. A friend picked this up for me because the song of the same name has been my favourite for many years. The song, Charlotte Sometimes, by The Cure was written based on the book.
   
   This sweet story was so well written and an enjoyable read. Its YA fiction, so its short (only about 150 pp) and easy to read, but very hard to put down.
   
   It very much reminded me of Coraline, by Neil Gaiman.



4. 17 years ago, I found this book in my elementary school library and checked it out. It had such an impact on me that I have remembered every detail of it since then. Such a magical, well-written story.



5. This book is a great idea, but, it seems that content is missing. It's as though the general idea is there, however, the author could have expanded ideas or methods in which the characters could be in contact with one another. I realize its a children's book though, so it cant be too full of information. Good book, I remembered it from my childhood and had to find it. I recommend it!

5 comments about Heatherfield.

1. Jean Pike has created an outstanding novel with Heatherfield.
   She takes the reader back to New York State in the 1940s and does it convincingly, something not every author can do. And she deftly combines a love story with the paranormal in a way that makes it totally believable.
   The reader can't help but love the central characters. I would like to say more about the story itself; but it wouldn't be fair to future readers who need to experience this intricate plot and group of complex characters for themselves. The ending will literally give you goose bumps.
   I thought Heatherfield was an absolute joy to read.
   Larry Hippler



2. Once again, M. Jean Pike establishes herself as a literary force to be reckoned with. With her sparkling style, she brings Heatherfield to amazing life with all the charm, emotion and mystery that her readers have come to expect - and with an ending will leave you speechless.



3. I stumbled upon this little gem totally by accident--I'm so glad I did. This book was jam-packed with all sorts of good things--romance, suspense, time travel to the past, likable characters and nasty villains. Simply put, the writing was superb, the pace was perfect, and the many twists and turns had me glued to this book. I don't know how the author managed to deliver such a wallop in just 252 pages!!
   
   Jake is a tortured man, scarred both physically, and emotionally. Tory is pulled into the past, just after WWII has ended. She feels pain for what Jake has endured, but wants to get back to her own time, 1999. I tried to hold back my emotions on this one, but I could not--IT WAS THAT GOOD!
   
   The latter part of this book was like watching a really good action adventure movie--riveting! The ending, well, let's just say it totally floored me. Excellent!
   
   This is a MUST READ for lovers of romantic time travel. You will remember these characters and this poignant story long after you've read this book. It is truly a keeper.



4. M. Jean Pike has done it again with her novel Heatherfield following her delightful book, Waiting for the Rain. Meet Tory Sasser, a young woman who feels frustrated in her work as a counselor and loves to read. When she stops into her favorite bookstore, she's given an unfinished romance novel. As she finishes the book, her tears turn into new writing on the pages. Tory is pulled into the novel and she realizes she is now in a fictional town called Heatherfield and the year is 1949. The town is a creation of Destiny Page, a bad romance writer. Tory meets Jake Benjamin, a war veteran who lives alone as a recluse. Tory must help the residents of the town fight an evil developer while trying to find a way out for herself.
   Jean Pike does an admirable job creating believable characters with a credible plot. I found myself unable to put this book down and finished it quickly. This is an engrossing tale of love, romance, and drama. And yes, I am a male reading a romance novel. This book is not a sappy romance novel, it is a nice breath of fresh air and anyone will enjoy it. I eagerly await her next book.



5. Normally, I love time travel books, but this one was a little too strange for me to get my mind around. A person who starts reading a book and becomes the book, Kind of like Harry Potter but in a romance venue. Luckily it was a short book and I finished it.

5 comments about Manhattan Block by Block: A Street Atlas.

1. I bought this weeks before my vacation in NYC and it helped in my planning - AND it was invaluable during my stay. The bus maps were highly useful (tourists: take the buses, it's a great way to get from point a to point b) and having the building called out is great. The varying levels of detail are also great. I can't say enough good things about this book. Also, everyone I have shown this book to (both tourists and native New Yorkers) loves it.



2. I purchased this earlier this year, just prior to my trip to New York City.
   It was really handy, especially considering it's size.
   It's really easy to read, and it makes using the subway simple.
   
   The street numbering is also very handy.



3. In this city, knowing EXACTLY where you're going is valuable because we are on foot most of the time: it's important to be able to plan what subway and/or bus combination it will take to get to a destination without extra walking/trudging about the city aimlessly.
   
   Having every single major building number marked on this street atlas is also helpful as I am not the type that does the "formulas" found in the tourists' books to determine cross streets based on building numbers.
   
   I have lived in NYC over 5 years and am astounded by the value this little book has. Buy it so you know where you're going in NYC!



4. If your new to visiting New York or you have been there before, this is great to have on you. I found a copy at my local library, wanted one for my trip, no one else had any in stock. Needed it in a week and Amazon delivered in two days. This is a great book, it has everything you need.



5. I recently took a trip to NYC and I got this and a few other maps in advance to get to know the layout of the land. This is an excellent, detailed close-up map. It would be especially helpful for those who are moving to NYC or are there on a long trip.

2 comments about Walking Brooklyn: 30 Tours Exploring Historical Legacies, Neighborhood Culture, Side Streets and Waterways.

1. I really enjoyed reading this attractive, well written guide and learned a great deal about Brooklyn. I'm looking forward to going for some walking tours and using this as a guide. Highly recommend to tourists and anyone interested in shedding a few pounds while walking through Brooklyn with this handy, informative, fun guide.



2. A friend turned me onto this book after attending a reading (and a mini-walk) by the author. I thought that I already knew Brooklyn, but -- boy! -- was I surprised! Who knew how much I was missing by not looking upwards (which the author, thankfully, reminds us to do constantly) or the history behind buildings that I constantly dismiss, passing them by without a second look and with hardly a thought? I've already done three of the walks and plan to do more in the fall when it's not so hot. They are easy to follow and make for a more interesting outing than the usual weekend social fare, such as dining, shopping and movies (lots of dining and shopping options are recommended in the book, too, though_ -- bars, as well). Also,the easy-to-read text is further enhanced by great photography that just jumps off the page. I plan to give copies of this book to friends as gifts. (My hard-to-buy-for boss will love this, I think.) For anyone who wants some excercise, fresh air and a leisurely day of looking and learning, this book is a must-have. I hope that the author plans to do other boroughs as well.

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.

5 comments about Not for Tourists 2008 Guide to Brooklyn (Not for Tourists Guidebook).

1. I was rather disappointed by this "guide"; it's simply a collection of names & addresses, a teeny bit of commentary, and a map printed on not-very-durable paper.

   I would suggest passing this "guide" by; get a copy of "The Neighborhoods of Brooklyn" for history & background, and a "Streetwise Brooklyn" map -- or just use Google.




2. This guide is....NOT FOR TOURISTS. There isn't supposed to be history or commentary. It's for those of us who live here who wonder if our bank is in this neighborhood, etc.



3. As a person that somewhat knows their way around Brooklyn and has recently moved there, I found this book to be grossly incomplete in content. I was expecting more, as far as the area that it covered. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the NFT Guides, they are usually a great resource for locals (please know that I also own a copy of NFT Guide to New York City, which I LOVE, and find extremely useful). As vast and expansive of an area that Brooklyn is, this book only covers a mere seven little neighborhoods along the west edges of Brooklyn (Greenpoint, Williamsburg, Brooklyn Heights/Downtown/DUMBO, Fort Greene, Cobble Hill/Boerum Hill/Carroll Gardens, Park Slope/Prospect Heights, and Bay Ridge). Unless you frequent one of those neighborhoods of Brooklyn, don't bother buying this book. As well put together as the NFT-NYC guide was, I expected this one to be just as information-packed; however, it failed miserably by giving info for only a few select areas of a borough that would be the 4th largest city in the U.S, if it stood alone as a city, and is home to some 2.5 million residents. Hopefully, NFT Guide-Brooklyn editors will think about the rest of us that live in the many other neighborhoods of Brooklyn when they come out with their 2nd edition.



4. While the alleged intent of this Guide is commendable, it only covers recently gentrified neighborhoods. Unfortunately for Brooklyn and for true Brooklynites, what is important to the onward and upward group of society is not a true measure of what this great borough is really about. The only good part of the book is the map; otherwise, a BIG disappointment!



5. After purchasing both the 2007 and 2008 editions of this book, I can definitely say that it is a good source about learning about the neighborhoods of Brooklyn and the borough as a whole. I docked this guide one star since it could do a better job correcting mistakes from edition to edition (although updates are made), and, like another reader said, there are more neighborhoods to cover, although this guide does cover a large chunk of the borough.

No comments about ZAGAT New York City Nightlife 2008/09 (Zagatsurvey : New York City Nightlife).