No comments about La Harpe's Post: Tales of French-Wichita Contact on the Eastern Plains.

No comments about Big South Fork Nra Tennessee and Kentucky.

1 comments about Old Santa Clara Valley: A Guide to Historic Buildings from Palo Alto to Gilroy.

1. From the San Jose Mercury: "A delightful balance of historical, personal and architectural background...that will please both old-timers and newcomers." "Phyllis Butler has given us stories, superb stories, to go with architecture...hopes, dreams, passions of men and women." Kevin Starr

No comments about Fodor's Bermuda 2006 (Fodor's Gold Guides).

1 comments about Compass American Guides: Michigan, 2nd Edition (Compass American Guides).

1. I should have known better than to purchase the Compass Guide to Michigan. I owned a travel bookstore for 9 years and I chose not to carry this series in my store. Lots of pretty pictures, lots of history (yes, that is important), but not enough practical info. Plus, these guides are heavy! I think the only other guide available was the Moon Handbook to Michigan. Moon Handbooks are wonderful guides, but they are not updated often enough and the shopper must check the publication date; in this case I think it was 2002. So if you are looking for a lot of information about lodging, restaurants and activities, the Compass Guide is not the answer. Hopefully, Moon will update their handbook to Michigan soon.

5 comments about The Lost Tribe: A Harrowing Passage into New Guinea's Heart of Darkness.

1. This was an author I had hoped would deliver something that many travel-writers don't - a sense of the freedom and anguish of the way we once lived, portrayed through the experiences of the living. In review, he largely managed this. But I still felt strangely unsatisfied when finishing the book. A feeling that emerges from the fact that you leave the story without actually knowing all that much about the tribe. You see, in truth this book is more about a series of events along a storyline than an expose of a 'lost' tribe. Of course this has much to do with his difficulties in communicating with the tribe, but nevertheless it is a shame.

   I did though feel that this story highlights the gulf still existing in the world across the spectrum of human cultures. It is for the reader to decide (or not) the value in maintaining or trying to close such a gulf, and for whose benefit - ours or theirs. For example, the impact of western religion on such tribes is shown in the book to be thoughtless and combattant in the way it is taught. Perhaps to be expected in the 18th or 19th century, but quite disturbing when it is in the present day.

   In conclusion, I think Marriot has done the Liawep justice with this story, but the damage he did during the course of his stay will probably haunt him and the Liawep for many years to come.




2. This was a great book, it read like a novel. It was fascinating and honest, Edward Marriott weaves a mystical story of the indigenous tribespeople of New Guinea, the Liawep. It at times seems too fantastic to be true, but the amazing thing about it is, that it is true. I hope he will write a follow up if he ever goes back! He's a great writer, never lingering too long on any episode, just enough to keep the reader interested. I read a lot of non-fiction and I must say that I recommend this one highly! An amazing book!



3. From the very start of the book, this author has gone out of his way to slam the missionaries working in Papua New Guinea. In doing so, he has thrown out some "facts", startling mostly in their complete inaccuracy. For the record, the Summer Institute of Linguistics does NOT forbid all books but the Bible; there are no books. The whole point is that they are working to create a written language where one did not previously exist. There ARE no written texts in the languages with which SIL work.
   
   Given that I spent 8 years in Papua New Guinea growing up, reading this book is painful. The author's interpretations of cultural mores are naive at best, intolerably patronising at worst. When one of his contacts balks at the prospect of getting into a PMV (not a "minivan", Mr Marriott) on payday Friday, the tone of the narrative is ever-so-slightly scathing, as if he can't believe this person is afraid of a few noble savages. As a former resident, I can assure you that payday Friday was the day each fortnight when violence and drunkenness were endemic, and no Westerner or female of any persuasion would voluntarily put themselves in any sort of vulnerable position on that night.
   
   There is a clear overtone of life being viewed and interpreted through a certain ?cultural? ?moral? ?anti-religious? filter; while the events the author describes may well have actually happened, his interpretation of their meaning leaves much to be desired.
   
   I am slightly horrified to see that the author has written several other "my true tales of adventure" type of books set in Nicaragua and other places, and I can only imagine what sorts of nonsense those contain.



4. I am no native English speaker, but I spent some time in New Guinea. And I know that there are no emus in New Guinea, but cassowaries. Apart from that, a rather good account of contemporary New Guinea, although too superficial for my taste.



5. As travel adventure this is a walk in the park. Really light stuff. So, why the four stars? What the reader runs in to, is the plight of the indigenous people, caught up in a free market of evangelicals and their "products." There must be some law against committing cultural genocide. The native people appear to be lost in their own land, drowning in an alien culture.

No comments about Cartography of the Northwest Coast of America to the Year 1800.

No comments about Fifty Hikes in Vermont: Walks, Hikes, and Overnights in the Green Mountain State (Fifty Hikes Series).

5 comments about Compass American Guides: Santa Fe, 3rd Edition (Compass American Guides).

1. We found this book to be very, very informative on where to go in Santa Fe as well as fun side trips complete with a "how to find the onion lady" on the road from Taos. Fabulous photography. Great historical and cultural detail as well. Highly recommend the Compass American Guides.



2. We just got back from Santa Fe. This book was wonderful! It has history, what to see (museums, ruins, architecture), where to eat (an interesting list -- we didn't particularly use it because we had personal referrals). It had great tips -- like buy the 5-museum pass for slightly more than a one-museum, one-day pass. I was very pleased I'd read it BEFORE I went and it was very useful while we were there.



3. I love Santa Fe and have been there numerous times. I'm always looking for new aspects of the city to see. I like this guide book because it is not mearly a list of places to stay and eat. I agree with the places recommended as some of the highlights of the city. I look forward to my next trip to enjoy some of the new things I've read to do in Santa Fe and the surrounding areas.



4. I am going to visit Santa Fe for a few days and to do a job interview there. I wanted a book that would give me all the information I needed about Santa Fe and the surroundings so that I could come up with a list of places I wanted to visit, restaurants I wanted to eat at, and so on. I definitely recommend this book for those who want to be able to have a clear picture of where they want to go once they reach Santa Fe!



5. I used this guide for a recent visit to Santa Fe, the most interesting and artsy/craftsy city of 60,000 people in the U.S. The photography and the maps in the guide are outstanding. Hotels and restaurants are described in helpful and interesting detail. The guide covers not only Santa Fe but also a good sized chunk of surrounding territory, including Taos, smaller and even more literary and artistic than Santa Fe; the atomic city of Los Alamos; scenic, old Hispanic mountain towns; and even Chaco Canyon, the prehistoric ruin hidden in the desert now inhabited by the Navajo.
   
   Nearby Albuquerque, however, is not covered in the book -- an omission that probably should be remedied as Albuquerque has attractions of its own -- excellent museums and a walk through the bosques of the Rio Grande, for example. Nor did I find directions to the grave of author D.H. Lawrence near Taos so I made my way there unguided. Another criticism is that the author's brief essays about Chaco Canyon and Taos' most famous resident, Kit Carson, were eccentric and perhaps not to the point.
   
   The Indian/Hispanic/Anglo culture of New Mexico is probably the most unique and colorful regional culture of the United States and is celebrated in enough art galleries and literature to last a lifetime. My favorite places to visit: a tie between the Bradbury Museum of Science in Los Alamos, which has a mock-up of the first atomic bomb, and remote Chaco Canyon. All in all, this is an attractive and reliable guide to the attractions of Santa Fe and its region.
   
   Smallchief

1 comments about Ancient Walls: Indian Ruins of the Southwest.

1. This is a beautiful pictoral journal of the ancient Native American sites of the Southwestern United States. The pictures and the text are both interesting and informative. If you have lived or will travel in this part of the country, it can be considered an arm-chair guide to many places in Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado. These places include Chaco Canyon, Mesa Verde, Canyon de Chelly, Montezuma Castle, Wupatki National Monument, Navajo National Monument, Canyonlands National Park, Aztec Ruins, Walnut Canyon, Casa Grande and Tuzigoot National Monuments, and many more. The only thing lacking in the book is a map of the region.