5 comments about The Old Patagonian Express: By Train Through the Americas.

1. A remark that one reads often about Paul Theroux is that he is grouchy, critical of the people he meets, and generally unpleasant. Some readers seem to suggest that this makes him a worse traveller, not being pure-of-heart or sufficiently open-minded. On the other hand, some others suggest he is worth reading as a travel writer precisely because he's not afraid to tell-it-like-it-is. I think it is likely that both of these ideas are wrong.
   
   When Paul Theroux writes a travel book, he is not a journalist writing simply to produce a faithful depicition of the places he visits. He is not a social crusader writing in order educate the reader about the lives of the poor or to stimulate the reader to see the richness of life outside of North American. He certainly not an egotist like Thomas Friedman who writes in order to put himself in a positive light. He is simply an intelligent man who has enough humility to try to write down what he has experienced without drawing too many clumsy conclusions or false symmetries. When he writes that he didn't like a certain person sleeping in his train compartment, he doesn't expect the reader to sympathize with either him or the unpleasant companion. I don't think he means to argue that his dislike has any special significance beyond the fact that it was part of the travel story that he is telling. I like the fact that when Theroux narrates an encounter with someone in his travels he doesn't smooth out the details to make the encounter unambiguously positive or negative. For example, when he describes meeting Jorge Borges, the Argentine writer, he clearly admires Borges' memory and sensitivity and yet he doesn't avoid commenting on Borges' stuttering and his clowning smile. And yet again I don't think Theroux's remarks are meant to be cynical or knowing. When he tells-it-like-it-is he is not trying to steer an intellectual or moral high road and he is not valiantly trying to see past illusions. I believe that when he writes down a conversation or encounter he intends only to include his side as one of the characters in his story.
   
   Theroux has the patience to travel by train across a hemisphere and, thankfully for this reader, he has the patience to delay the moment when the mind can no longer calmly observe and rashly commits itself to streamlined answers and silly pet theories about what one sees and what it 'really' means. His books are, to me, humble because in them he shows us moments when he feels superior and they are wise because he doesn't try to step outside of his story to engage in falsely-wise pronoucements.
   
   It doesn't matter whether Paul Therous is a 'good' traveller or not. Few travellers have the writing ability to produce any sort of record of their travels anyway, whatever their nature. The reason one ought to read Paul Theroux is be reminded of what the world and oneself can look like through the eyes of an ardent traveller who just happens to love books a bit more than he loves people.



2. In 1979, Paul Theroux departed from his childhood home in Medford, Massachusetts, and began his train journey from the East Coast of the United States to Patagonia, on the southern tip of Argentina. A seasoned traveler, fluent in Spanish, Theroux brings to life his trip through the northern and southern hemispheres, traveling without a schedule and observing his fellow passengers on the train and people at stops along the way.
   
   In Texas he is astonished at the contrasts between Laredo on the Texas side of the Rio Grande and Nuevo Laredo across the border in Mexico, commenting on society and governments. Traveling through Mexico and Guatemala, he observes the poverty of the Indians and their lack of opportunities. In El Salvador he attends a soccer game and gets caught up in the melee and riots which follow it. In Costa Rica, the cleanest country he has visited, he finds himself stuck on the train with Mr. Thornberry, a New Hampshire tourist so boring that Theroux cannot wait to escape him--only to have Mr. Thornberry "save his life" by offering him a place to stay upon his arrival in Limon. In Panama he meets the "Zonians," from the Canal Zone, and in Cali, Colombia, he meets a married "priest" who cannot tell his devout mother in Belfast that he has "left" the church to marry and have children.
   
   Throughout his trip, Theroux reads classics, particularly enjoying Boswell's Life of Dr. Johnson and Edgar Allen Poe's The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym, both of which provide ironic reference points for his own journey. For literature lovers, the most fascinating section occurs in Buenos Aires, where Theroux spends many days visiting blind writer Jorge Luis Borges, who persuades Theroux to read to him. Ironically, one of Borges's favorite novels is The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym. As Theroux takes notes on his meetings with Borges, he becomes Borges's Boswell.
   
   More an observer than a participant, Theroux has an unfortunate air of superiority about what he sees and hears. Sparing little sympathy for American and German tourists, he rarely gets excited about his surroundings, expressing genuine emotion only when he talks with three boys, ages ten to twelve, who live in a doorway and scavenge for food because their rural families have abandoned them. Theroux's self-congratulatory attitude gets a bit wearisome, but the picture of Central and South America, thirty years ago, and the section with Borges are unparalleled. With beautiful, carefully observed prose and a great ear for dialogue, Theroux's Patagonia Express is a landmark travel memoir. n Mary Whipple



3. One of Theroux's best train trips. You can really feel the shifting landscapes as he moves through the latitudes...



4. Terrific in every way, as all of Theroux's travel books are! Not a word too many, and not an insight overlooked in this adventure through the Americas. Wonderful, beautiful, and a treasured book in my library.



5. Note: I made some immature Mormon angry because of my negative reviews of books that attempted to prove the Book of Mormon, and that person has been slamming my reviews almost as fast as they are posted.
   
   So, your "helpful" votes are appreciated. Thanks, and note that a short review is not necessarily a bad review if it leads you to a great book.
   
   From Boston to Patagonia by train. What an adventure. As I wrote in my review of the "Great Railway Bazaar," treat yourself to traveling the easy way and read one of Paul Theroux's books.
   
   Peter Mathiessen described the "Old Patagonian Express" perfectly: "Sharp-eyed, honest, and exceptionally well-written...an implacable landscape, conveyed through a series of marvelous encounters."

5 comments about West Virginia Atlas & Gazetteer.

1. I bought the Atlas and Gazetter for WV and MD. These books are essential equipment for getting out and enjoying the back roads. The topo info tells you if it will be flat and sunny or hilly and shady. I am really impressed with the detail of the maps. If they could make it in a water proof edition it would be perfect.



2. I bought this West Virginia Map and Gazetteer in order to help my husband and I find our way through WV. We're most interested in the topography - elevations, rivers, creeks, etc. I would recommend using this book map in conjunction with a regular road map, because there isn't quite enough detail for smaller roads, but it's a great place to start.



3. This atlas fills a void because it gives a very clear picture of the terrain as well as roads. I like having these atlases along to give the context for hiking excursions, as well as showing the back road ways to get there. The section on special sights to see in WV is very helpful as well. There is no substitute for more detailed topographical maps for actual hiking trails, but this atlas is a necessart intermediate step between topos and road maps.



4. This book provides complete and thurough topographical maps for the entire state of West Virginia. If you enjoy hiking, fishing, camping, exploring in this great state, you need this atlas. At first I was surprised at the details provided in this book. I was able to find even the smallest of streams and geographical features. Now, after using it so many times, I would be surprised if a stream is not on this map.
   
   The bottom line is that you need this atlas if you enjoy the West Virginia outdoors.



5. Once again this series of maps has been outstanding. The ease in reading and applying the info to the road is way above par. And for railroad enthusiasts, this is the only map published with railroad details that are current and precise.

2 comments about Frommer's Chile & Easter Island, 1st Edition (Frommer's Complete).

1. I just went guidebook hunting at the local bookstore, and I settled on Frommer's Chile & Easter Island.. It's the most recently updated, and that makes a big difference. Santiago is in the midst of finishing (and beginning) some very big infrastructure projects. For example, Santiago has a new modern (but very confusing) bus system, and the metro more than doubled in miles over the past year. This Frommers guide has a great color map with metro stops in the front cover.
   
   The info in the Lonely Planet and other guidebooks is a couple years old. Plus the Frommers book seems to have the best information about private tour operators.
   
   Other bonuses include a chapter on Ushuaia, Argentina.



2. As the author of the newly-revised "Complete Guide to Easter Island" I believe I can say with some authority that I am qualified to comment on the Easter Island portion of this book and I might not feel so strongly about doing so if the title of the book didn't include "Easter Island".
   
   With the release of its first edition of "Chile and Easter Island", Frommer's has joined the community of guidebook publishers to offer coverage of, duh, Chile and Easter Island, though in keeping with many such guidebooks -- Moon Handbooks and Lonely Planet among them -- there is an inexplicably inadequate and disproportionate percentage of space devoted to Easter Island despite the fact that "Easter Island" shares half the book's title. (Note, by the way, that this review focuses on the Easter Island portion of the book and does not address the coverage of Chile in general -- so please keep that in mind before turning on Flame Mode.) As for the coverage here, 12.5 pages out of 483 are devoted to Easter Island, which represents only 2.6%. Compare this with Moon Handbooks Chile and Easter Island at 3% and Lonely Planet's Chile and Easter Island at 3.7% and it doesn't seem too out of line. However, there's more to coverage than the number of pages. Moreover, and interestingly enough, despite the absence of "Easter Island" in the title of Moon Handbooks South Pacific or Moon Handbooks Tahiti or even Insight's Chile, the number of pages devoted to Easter Island in these works is much more generous at 21, 23, and 21 pages, respectively. Even looking at more than half a dozen major recent guidebooks by number of pages shows that Frommer's is below the 17.4 page average.
   
   As a new entry in guidebooks with Easter Island coverage I'm inclined to be more forgiving, except that it seems evident the authors failed to learn from earlier and better works on the subject, such by David Stanley or Wayne Bernhardson -- authors who seem to have a handle on what Easter Island is about, not just what it is to visit the place. Thus, what is particularly damning about this first Frommer's edition is the relative absence of anything about the people of Easter Island; it is informational about a visit, perhaps even a bit abstract, but little more. Still, the text is reasonably well written and informative and appears to be fairly up-to-date, except for a few gaffes (they pluralize some Rapanui words like "moai" by erroneously using an "s" -- Rapanui has no such letter in its alphabet); they make the same stupid statement many authors ignorantly make about Ahu Akivi being the "only ahu facing out to sea" (when in fact it, like all other ahu, face inland to ceremonial centers); there is an inane reference to the Te Pito te Kura stone as being magnetic, which is sensational at best because much of the geology of island has magnetic properties; and they employ the usual blather about the stonework at Vinapu giving rise to theories about South American connections to Easter Island (but without explaining why such theories are not only incorrect but have been abandoned).
   
   The authors wisely recommend that visitors rent a vehicle to get the most out of the island rather than relying solely on local guide services, though they appropriately heap high praise on Ramon Edmunds and Josie Nahoe Mulloy of Haumaka Archaeological Tours -- and they rightfully observe that even four days is barely enough time to see what the island has to offer. They also note that one can and should walk the streets of Hanga Roa rather than having to rely on other transportation, but oddly enough they devote virtually no space to shopping for souvenirs, checking out the feria, or mentioning why one should experience the island's church on Sunday mornings. Neither do they devote much coverage to "night life" but that may be just as well given the sedate contrast between the restaurants and the raging intensity of the discos on the weekends.
   
   As with other, similar guidebooks, this one divides accommodations by price range, though departing from their own convention, they do not divide dining this way, despite the fact that there are big differences from, say, Merahi Ra'a (which is modest and relatively inexpensive) and Te Moana (which is fancy and expensive). As is typical with many tour books about Easter Island, they rave about La Taverne du Pêcheur probably because it has become chic to do so rather than acknowledge the banal truth about its pricey food, its pathetically slow service, and its needlessly surly owner. (With alternatives like the recently-opened Au Bout du Monde, La Taverne hardly has a monopoly on French cuisine on the island and the quality of food and service at the former could very well run the latter out of business.) The book also sub-divides the island into South Coast, North of Hanga Roa, South of Hanga Roa, and Northeast Coast, with routine if woefully brief information as to what's available to see in these regions, and, with only a single page devoted to rudimentary maps of the island and Hanga Roa, one hopes the visitor will have another guidebook or other resources to turn to before planning a trip to or arriving on the island. There is brief mention of the Biblioteca William Mulloy, MAPSE, and outdoor activities like horseback riding and scuba/snorkeling, though the statement that, because vehicular access to places like Terevaka has been prohibited, "some locals still sneak up" to Terevaka "in a 4×4" is irresponsible to mention, as if it were a tacit encouragement to violate this prohibition.
   
   In short, this first venture by Frommer's barely meets the minimum standards for coverage of Easter Island, despite such high billing in the title of the work. Since there are many other, better works available, and since the authors apparently didn't see fit to turn to them to make their own guidebook better, to say nothing of the question of just how much time they spent on the island itself (because it doesn't appear to have made it onto the pages of the book), it seems they merely wish to compete with guidebooks using similar names -- but the similarly shallow depth of information contained in this guidebook will ultimately make for a disappointing visit by anyone solely relying on it for a visit to our favorite little island.

5 comments about Eat Smart in Peru : How to Decipher the Menu, Know the Market Foods & Embark on a Tasting Adventure (Eat Smart in Peru).

1. (Planeta Journal) - This latest title in the Eat Smart series helps travelers decipher menus and shop in the lively markets of Peru. There are so many options for visitors throughout the country, this book is the definitive guidebook for enjoying Peruvian cuisine. Includes tips on shopping in markets, a menu guide, helpful phrases and a list of helpful resources.



2. "...picarones, a doughnut-like snack or dessert made from a yeasty pumpkin dough. The rings of dough are formed by hand, deep-fried and served with raw-sugar syrup flavored with orange, aniseed, cinnamon and cloves." ~ pg. 14
   
   The Eat Smart guides are an exploration of cuisine itself and are interesting even if you never reach the desired destination. You can order ingredients online for the recipes featured. There are pictures of delicious cultural favorites, food markets and unique ingredients. Some of the main sections include:
   
   Early History through Pre-Inca Civilizations
   The Regions of Peru
   Tastes of Peru
   Shopping in Peru's Food Markets
   Resources
   Helpful Phrases
   Menu Guide
   Food and Flavors Guide
   Restaurants
   
   Joan Peterson and Brook Soltvedt also show how various cultures influenced Peru's culinary world and the first part of this book contains a lot of culinary history that may appeal to food writers. Maps and pictures of the food make it easier to understand the cultural significance of food choices.
   
   "Rare is the Peruvian dish that does not include chile pepper. Each river valley oasis along the western slopes of the Andes has a microclimate that produces unique varieties of chile peppers, which are, in turn, completely different from the peppers native to the jungle." ~ pg. 19
   
   Recipes for Rice Pudding look familiar and if you can find gooseberries, you can make the gooseberry marmalade to serve with quinoa crepes.
   
   Other highlights include a section on helpful phrases you can use in restaurants. List of foods like "nuez moscada" have translations, nutmeg. If you order a tortilla, you will get an omelet.
   
   Eat Smart in Peru will appeal to anyone who is curious about new culinary discoveries and wants to either travel to Peru or incorporate new recipes into their cooking repertoire.
   
   ~The Rebecca Review



3. People who love combining great food and travel make pilgrimages to Italy's Po Valley, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Hanoi, Singapore, France's Lyon, San Francisco, Charleston, New Orleans and other shrines to fine cooking.
   
   Add Peru to the list.
   
   If you aren't aware that Peru has its very own fusion cuisine -- very approximately like that of New Orleans with a blend of Indian, Spanish and African styles -- plus contributions by Chinese and Japanese settlers, Eat Smart in Peru will open your eyes to yet another fine gourmet destination.
   
   Authors Joan Peterson and Brook Soltvedt are way ahead of the curve in discovering Peruvian cuisine. I was only aware of Peruvian chicken, based on a carryout in my neighborhood that serves this dish, cooked on a rotating spit over charcoal, with a rosemary-based spice shoved under the chicken skin, and a fine salsa verde on the side. Peterson and Soltvedt found a vast variety of other dishes, including curries, desserts and appetizers. A section on recipes includes Aji de Gallina, a chicken stew that I plan to try.
   
   In addition to the recipes, Eat Smart in Peru contains a history of the development of Peru's cuisine, a regional specialties chapter, a glossary of ingredients and menu guide.
   
   Finally, Eat Smart in Peru tells you how to shop in a Peruvian market and how to locate rare ingredients stateside. It's an easy read, with nice illustrations and a logical organization.
   
   By the way, the author has done other "Eat Smart" guides to Brazil, Mexico, India, Turkey, Poland and other destinations.



4. Eat Smart in Peru by Joan Peterson and Brook Soltvedt, Illustrated by Susan Chwae is a travel guide for food lovers which guides the traveler in Peru through the market and the menu in order to have a savory tasting adventure. The unique concept of this book is one of many in the EAT SMART series. The guides include a history of the culture and development of its unique cuisine. There are many recipes sprinkled through the book to try before making your trip to Peru or to enjoy as a special memory after returning. Especially useful is the chapters about shopping in the market with the needed languages phrases.And every traveler to Peru needs this book even if it is just for the restaurant guide which lists the dishes and food items in alphabetical order with descriptions of what it is, with national and regional Peruvian favorites indicated. With this guide you will no longer be ordering mystery foods when you dine. The book is unique and really well organized. Be sure to pack it for your trip!



5. This is a handy, travel sized guide to eating in Peru that greatly enhanced our trip to Peru. There are two excellent glossaries, one for menus with the names of foods in Spanish and in English, and the second listing a number of markets. There are recipes for some typical dishes from different regions in Peru (I've included one in the Comments). I especially liked the history of dishes.
   
   Our tour arranged for Sunday dinner at the home of a penal judge and an office manager; the family prepared the meal using many foods grown on their their own farm, and the judge and his law student son ate with us. The menu included guinea pig fried in deep fat served with large kernel white corn on the cob and sweet potato. The second course was braised beef served with carrots, cucumbers, green beans and tomatoes. Dessert was strawberry gelatin. Except for the guinea pig, the meal sounds quite American, but this book added interesting information which helped us understand the seasonings and enjoy the meal more fully.
   
   My son and I are greatly addicted to street food, and the book was helpful on street dining as well. The steamed white corn at the railroad station on the way to Machu Picchu was superb; roasted beef heart at a greasy spoon in Miraflores was excellent; and we were delighted to learn more about the fusion of Chinese and Peruvian foods at the many chifa restaurants.
   
   There are a couple of useful websites that make this book even more useful. The publisher, Gingko Press, maintains an interesting website with news about the authors and other books in the Series. ginkgopress.com The site announced recently that this book received the 2006 Gourmand Award for Best in the World Award for a culinary travel guidebook. There is also the helpful perufood.blogspot.com devoted to the foods of Peru; Joan Peterson contributes suggestions on how to find ingredients, and suggests alternatives for those that aren't available in the US.
   
   As a portable guide book on the foods of Peru, this one can't be beat. But,if you are really serious about Peruvian food, consider obtaining the beautiful and encyclopedic The Art of Peruvian Cuisine by Tony Custer. The Reviews on Amazon and elsewhere (including my own) are glowing.
   
   Robert C. Ross 2008

5 comments about Marching Powder: A True Story of Friendship, Cocaine, and South America's Strangest Jail.

1. I read this book about 3 years ago. I never read a book with so much interest as this. It was very interesting, entertaining, frightening and attention grabbing. I am not sure if the story is 100% true but it certainly made a good read. I am planning to read the book again sometime soon.



2. This is an amazing story. It really opened my eyes to whole nother world. Well written, never boring, this fascinating true story reads more like a novel than non-fiction. The main character, Thomas McFadden is a very likeable person. He seems very down to earth and very easy to relate to. I saw a lot of myself in him. The way he handled situations and his thought process is very similar to my own. I couldn't put this book down. I picked it up and stayed up til 6am reading it. Very impressing. I would reccomend this to anyone.



3. Marching Powder was a great read. Despite the actions that led Thomas McFadden into the San Pedro prison system, you root for him to succeed in this sub-world that is ruled by the best and worst of capitalism.



4. In early 1998, while traveling solo through South America, I was told I had to visit Thomas McFadden when I got to LaPaz. After I visited Thomas, I told two other travelers, so I can see how his tour business was so large. When I came back to the USA, I only told a few people about visiting Thomas because being a female traveling alone it wasn't the smartest thing I ever did. So, when I read about this book in Oprah, I was so excited to read his story. I thought the book was very well written, easy to read and very entertaining; I think everyone who reads this book will like it.
   
   Some of the reviews don't believe his is for real, but I know he is. As far as embellishing I can't comment on that, but he is a very likeable guy. I spent the day with him as his visitor. He was extremely courteous and nice. In the afternoon, I didn't know how to repay him for showing me around so I asked what I could do for him. He wanted a pizza from outside the prison. When I came back with the Pizza it was when visiting hours were ending, so Thomas bribed the guards to let me in. I didn't know all this until later. I was brought to his section and locked in. At that moment, I was pretty scared. But, once I found Thomas, we had a fun time eating p



5. I coldn't put this down once I started it. The three other people I lent it to, felt the same way. It is an amazing story of one of the most bizarre prisons in the world and what it took to survive there for 4+ years.

5 comments about The Mapmaker's Wife: A True Tale of Love, Murder, and Survival in the Amazon.

1. I enjoyed this book so much that I have bought two more copies for friends of mine. Both friends are female. I thought they would be drawn to the romance of the book. But there's adventure and science and history for all to enjoy. There's the comparison narrative or Lewis' and Clark's Voyage of Discovery. It's a good book



2. I took this book with me when I headed down to Brazil to explore the Amazon Basin. Caveat: reading this book before heading down to Brazil to explore the Amazon is like going to see the movie "Jaws" before you go on your first scuba dive. Disturbing.
   
   Whitaker's description of Isabel Godin-Grameson's horrific ordeal of being lost in the Amazon is mind-boggling, to say the least. It was not the poisonous snakes, the crushing boa constrictors, jaguars, caimans, electric eels or the fierce head shrinking Jabaros that were the worst. It was the thousands of insect bites (giant ants, fire ants, wasps, bees, chiggers, assassin bug, mosquitoes, botflies and their eggs) which turned into open, oozing, festering sores, hundreds of sores on their faces, arms, legs or any exposed flesh. Whitaker's writes. "They had no mosquito nets, no tents - only the clothes they were wearing. It was futile. The insects feasted on them. They would huddle together in the blackness (of night) and hoards of ants would begin their onslaught, crawling over them, under their pants and over every inch of exposed skin. During these awful days, they were plagued with botfly eggs. When the mosquitoes, laden with botfly eggs, feed on the body, the heat from the host causes the eggs to hatch. Immediately, the larvae burrow beneath the skin. The botfly maggot has two anal hooks that anchor firmly in the flesh and there it grows for more than a month . . . They were taking their turn as food for the botflies, even as they were slowly starving to death." Whitaker captures the horror of their situation.
   
   There is much more than Isabel's gripping journey that makes this a great read: the scientific expedition to determine the size and shape of the earth, the descriptions of the culture of 18th century Europe and South America, the tragic treatment of the slaves (African and Indigenous Americans), the dedication, the love and the will to survive. This is a must read for any student of South America, Cartography or Life. Highly recommended.



3. Combine the quest for scientific advancement with exploration, adventure, human empathy, a gutsy survival storyline and you have a captivating read. The author has done just that.
   
   Along with the accomplished scientist Charles-Marie de La Condamine, Jean Godin was a member of the mid-1730's French expedition to Ecuador for evaluating earth's physical attributes. Their mission was to put an end to the century's old debate on earth's circumference, gravity pulls and longitudinal measurements. Little did they know that these scientific observations were to occupy ten years of their lives. For Godin, many more years of frustration were to be had in South America.
   
   Early in the expedition Godin met and ten years later married Isabel Grameson. Due to the political bureaucratic strife of the day, the two were separated for twenty years. He in French Guiana, her in Ecuador. Isabel's risky venture from the Andes into the unforgiving jungles of the Amazon to rejoin Godin is an unbelievable story of survival and human fortitude.
   
   I have come across references of this somewhat mythical and legendary narrative in other South American exploration literature. Mr. Whitaker's account is a page turner of what occurred two and a half centuries ago.



4. I enjoyed The Mapmaker's Wife, but felt that it was more a history book about the region than the romantic story it claimed to be. Therefore I was disappointed with it. I hoped to read it for recreation, but ended up feeling I was back in school.
   Diana Banat



5. "The Mapmaker's Wife" by Robert Whitaker lives up to its intriguing subtitle, "A True Tale of Love, Murder, and Survival in the Amazon."
   
   Covering a span of four decades in the middle of the eighteenth century and based on documents and letters written at the time and a wealth of secondary sources, the book tells the story of a decade-long expedition to South America launched in 1735 by a team of French scientists hoping to measure accurately a degree of latitude at the equator. Their aim was to calculate the circumference of the earth and resolve the continuing debate over its shape. Was it flattened at the poles as followers of Isaac Newton believed, or was it prolonged at the poles, like a double-ended pear, as those who subscribed to the theories of René Descartes believed?
   
   Thus the team of ten Frenchmen, three noted scientists and their seven assistants traveled across the Atlantic Ocean to Cartagena in the Vice-royalty of Peru. There they were joined by two young Spanish military officers - at the insistence of the Spanish king - and together, and sometimes individually, they traveled along tropical rivers and the crests of the Andes, reaching Quito, just over a year after setting out, to begin their task on June 4, 1736.
   
   Whitaker provides useful digressions on the nature of science, on Spanish and colonial history and attitudes, and introduces the reader to Isabel Gramesón, "A Daughter of Peru," and her family. Isabel provides the love interest and adds a final incredible tale of adventure to this wide-ranging story.
   
   The sheer magnitude of their task, the dangers of travel in wild uncharted terrain, the tangles of international politics, and the murder of one of their team by an angry mob keep the reader glued to the pages. A marriage, a separation of twenty years, and a final incredible journey along the wild and hostile Amazon River bring the book to its conclusion as most of the adventurers return to their places of origin, the last of them in 1773, thirty-eight years after setting out.
   
   "The Mapmaker's Wife" is a breathtaking adventure, a gripping human drama, and an enlightening glimpse into the history, the science, the culture and customs of a fascinating bygone age.

No comments about Lonely Planet Buenos Aires Encounter.

5 comments about Two Wheels Through Terror: Diary of a South American Motorcycle Odyssey.

1. While the title of the book and most of the comments focus on his stay with the Columbian terrorists, for me the most inspiring bits of the book were his descriptions of the parts of his journey through Mexico and Argentina. Now I want to visit Mexico and see if it is as wonderful a place as he described. Ditto Argentina, though it is not quite as close.
   
   A very well-written book by a talented and very versatile author. Much more than a tale of terror. You could skip the Columbian fiasco and still get your money's worth (and then some) from this book.



2. I bought this book for my boyfriend to read on the train after hearing the author speak on a radio program. My boyfriend loved the book, literally couldn't put it down.



3. Action packed true fact based chronicle of a motor cyclist's trip from Palm springs,CA down to the tip of South America and back. You will ride with him through splendid vistas, suffer with him during his capture by the ELN in Columbia and wonder how he would ever escape. You will learn from the psychologically trained mind how Greg Heggsted deceived his captures to eventually go on to complete journey. This is a must read.



4. I first came to know about Glen's journey through a tv documentary on the kidnapping, if you get a chance to see it, do so, it brings to life the book in real terms.
   Glen does an excellent job of describing the journey, his fears and feelings both before and after the kidnapping. It's not a "how to" book, it's an insight , in my opinion, to inner strength and positive thinking.
   Great read.



5. I bought this book because a friend and I intend to ride from North to South America in 2018 when all our kids have grown old enough not to miss us. I really hope that we don't have to live through what Glen did but who knows what the continent will be like in 10 years? This is a brilliantly written book with lots of good information and tips for travel. The section on Columbia is well done and doesn't overdominate the story. I wonder from Ted Simon's comments in 'Dreaming of Jupiter' after meeting Glen following his ordeal, if Glen has downplayed his emotional state a little. It must have been a totally awful experince and one I doubt I could have survived. It just goes to show that it helps to be strong when attempting a journey like this but like so many things at the end of the day its all about mental toughness. I take my hat off to Glen and he has inspired me yet again to start my own adventure.

5 comments about At Play in the Fields of the Lord.

1. Why do I never hear Matthissen's name come up when there is speculation about who will win future Nobel Literature prizes?
   AT PLAY is surely one of the great novels of the last half-century, and the reviewers hit on all of the reasons why. But add to that FAR TORTUGA, and the Watson Florida trilogy; and then add to THAT his brilliant and important non-fiction, from The Tree Where Man Was Born to The Snow Leopard, to In the Spirit of Crazy Horse; then, for good measure add in Matthiessen's involvement in The Paris Review, and you have a resume that is Nobel-quality.
   Hey, I love Roth, too (admittedly not everything), but get serious!



2. I see there are many 5 star reviews here on Amazon. I 2nd these reviews. Recommended.
   
   I am reading this book as a book on tape which is a good way to "read" it. This is a "good read" and worth your time. Recommended. Email Boland7214@aol.co



3. This case study of culture clash is the story of Protestant missionaries trying to bring the Word of God to jungle savages. They think themselves heroes of The Lord, but there are no heroes here save, perhaps, Louis Moon a reservation half-breed who lost his faith. Moon is now an aimless mercenary staggering through life, bouncing off one obstacle after another. When it becomes his job to massacre the indigenous people, he is revisited by drug-induced dreams of his youth and instead joins them as their rain god fallen from the sky (and a failing airplane).
   
   Self-righteous missionary Martin Quarier, becomes less certain of his beliefs as the novel progresses, but seems incapable of moving beyond them. He sees the absurdity of the doctrinal feud between Catholics and Protestants, yet cannot think of priests as anything but the Enemy, in league with Satin. And Satin seems to be working on him, as well, churning up lust for the wife of another missionary.
   
   The religious beliefs of the natives give a glimpse of how faith gets started. Their minor gods clearly provide more for them on a day-to-day basis than the major one Quarier tries to serve. He creates a "rice convert" or two, but is ultimately a miserable failure.
   At Play in the Fields of the Lord is a classic tragedy of misunderstanding and miscommunication. If you haven't read it, it's worth that first read. If you have, it was probably long enough ago that it deserves a second look.



4. An excellent adventure story that is both fast paced and well developed. I've read a number of books by Matthiessen. This is the best I've read yet by him. His fiction is far better than his non fiction in my opinion.



5. This is a very good book, but not great. Matthiessen's writing is engrossing and it is difficult to put it down. However, the vileness of some of the subject matter is a bit hard to swallow. This is, no doubt, a realistic tale, written after Matthiessen had traveled throughout the continent. The movie does have an influence, as one keeps thinking of Ms. Hannah. The plight and evolution of the natives and their values is intriguing. The disaster that results from outsiders forcing culture and religion down the throats of the "savages" is thought provoking and relates to many situations one sees. The characters aren't all that likable, but certainly very real. Hazel is a sad case. The jaguar shaman-to-be is a character about which it would be nice to learn more. Matthiessen says that he rewrote the last journey many times. This is the toughest part of the book to follow; is it real or a dream? I actually did reread parts of the end. There's no escaping the depression that comes from dwelling on the conflict in the jungle. I still feel that, despite the author's beliefs, his nonfiction work is better. But this is an enjoyable novel, regardless.

5 comments about Virginia Atlas & Gazetteer (Virginia Atlas & Gazeteer).

1. This Atlas, like all in the DeLorme series of Atlas & Gazetteer references, are wonderful map resources. A wealth of information is included. If anything, the level of detail, coupled with the topographic information, may seem a bit too much at first glace (if you are new to these guides). But if you're willing to spend a bit of time with the maps, you will find these guides to be very useful.
   
   In addition to the maps and the useful indexes and cross-references, these guides include listings or location sources for hiking, camping, fishing, recreation areas, unique natural features (waterfalls, bridges, caverns, natural areas, etc.), bicycle routes, horse trails, etc. And of course, GPS (Lat/Lon) coordinates are printed on each map.
   
   Although the scale of these maps demand it, it would be nice if the guide book dimensions were a bit smaller. At 11" x 15.5", it's a good size book, so it's not quite as easy to stow in the backpack or the motorcycle storage area, etc.
   
   Overall, these are excellent guides for any traveler or outdoor enthusiast.



2. great product! these maps even show little dirt roads that are on private land! amazing!



3. I have used the NC version of this book for years and due to metal detecting alot in VA got this version. It works great in laying out back roads and areas I have been looking at on computer based topo maps. Great product.



4. We'll be using this atlas for an RV trip. Although we haven't yet done the trip, the maps look like what we need (detailed, topographic, forest/side roads). I will say that it's missing decent regional and statewide views. The Benchmark California Road & Recreation Atlas, Fifth Edition (Benchmark Road & Recreation Atlas)series does an excellent job of panning the state, and then drilling down. The Gazetteer series just has the drill-down. Makes it tough when you want to get a macro-view of your route.



5. This is the best Atlas/Gazetteer I've found around at least for the areas I travel and can vouch for the details. It's a great resource for those times when you need to get off the main roads and see where the back roads take you. This map has a lot of the small details that I was looking for, trail heads, boat ramps, camp grounds, wineries, ferries, waterfalls, etc. The topo lines are pretty easy to read and elevations are well marked for this style of map. It's also pretty easy to cross reference to your GPS unit.
   
   What this map lacks are the details you need for in-town travel, and that includes downtown in the small towns. When the roads get too tight you're gonna need a different map because this one only has one size (1:150k or 1"=2.4miles) I also think they should have included phone/web contact info for their places of interest and a couple of blank pages in the back for notes. (Quick tip: I covered the inside back cover with post-it notes so I can take notes and move them to the page I really need them on.)
   
   Quality of the book is decent and should last long enough. The book is a bit big (15.5"h x 11"w) so don't plan on keeping this one in the glove compartment!