No comments about Rock Art Savvy: The Responsible Visitor's Guide to Public Sites of the Southwest.

1 comments about Jefferson's Monticello.

1. "In its design, history, symbolism and metaphor, Monticello is the quintessential example of the autobiographical house" (2). Not only did the house remain in a state of architectural momentum for forty years, but it also was the site of its master's involvement in governmental structure. Thomas Jefferson was the architect of his mansion and the key builder of his country.
   
   When young Thomas decided to study at William and Mary, he focused on classical studies and mathematics, while independently trying to put together an architectural foundation. Architecture as a profession did not exist in the colonies of his day.
   
   Thus, Monticello became a dwelling in flux and a site to try out new ideas as he learned them. Herculaneum and Pompeii had been discovered in 1738 and 1740, respectively. These preserved ruins became the basis for the dignity, majesty, beauty, and facade of permanence of the buildings of a new country. Again, Thomas Jefferson was the architect of ideas and substantiating them.
   
   I bought this book years ago and used it when I taught the Declaration of Independence in high school American literature. I wanted to show students the man behind the words. Monticello was great evidence of a man of the Enlightenment--rational thinking, classical studies, science as the basis for philosophy, Deism as religion. The Great Watchmaker creates the world and leaves man to run it. When various people say that our Founding Fathers built this country on religion, I try to tell them that they must mean the Settling Father--the Pilgrims and Puritans, who did establish their settlements on the basis of a New World free from religious tyranny. (The witch hunts are certainly an example of that.) The true founders were inevitably Deists in a time of Enlightenment.
   
   Jefferson's incessant adding to and taking away whole parts and various parts so exemplifies the Enlightened thinker. I am Man. I can make it better. A beautiful winding staircase graced the front entry. Jefferson decided one day that the stairway took up too much room. He removed it and built a little tiny, skinny one large enough for only one person to ascend or descend at a time.
   
   He did not like the kitchen near the dining room so he put it under the main floor on the other side of the mansion. Servants had to carry food from one end to the other, then slip into the dining room to serve. That intrusion annoyed him, so he invented the dumb waiter. Servants--out of sight, out of mind. He hated wasting space for beds, so he built them into walls, including his own. Next to his, leading to the attic, "where he stored his clothes" and Sally Hemmings had her "official" bed, was a built-in ladder.
   
   Many of his inventions are displayed all over the house. He thought of everything: week-long day clocks, windows that can be pulled down or up, a widow's walkway around the property looking out over Richmond's University of Virginia, whose Rotunda he designed. He experimented with many many plants--flowers, fruits, vegetables.
   
   "Jefferson's Monticello" is just one of many books about this man and his architectural gem, but it is the one I own and love. It is a reminder of my tourist visit there.

5 comments about Lonely Planet Vietnam.

1. I recently spent about 3 weeks in Vietnam. It was a great trip and I highly recommend visiting Vietnam to anyone who enjoys travelling in Asia.

   With that said, I feel that during a trip to Vietnam, the Lonely Planet book is absolutely one of the most important books to have, to read before you go, to look at while you are there, and to reflect back upon when you get home.

   The book was great. It was so good, that I was constantly passing it up and down the bus to other people on the trip. Everyone used it, and to my surprize there were some people that had never used a Lonely Planet book. LP is the best, and they have never let me down. There Vietnam book is no exception.

   If you are going to Vietnam, buy and use this book.

   It is a great purchase.




2. I spent this summer studying in Vietnam, and it became clear that the Vietnam in the LP is quite different than the real Vietnam I saw with my own eyes.

   I think the book was intended for travelling businessmen who only plan on staying in Vietnam for a few days, and have plenty of money to spend for plush hotels. This is regrettable since there is so much more to Vietnam than tourist traps, tourist-oriented restaraunts, and hotels.

   For example, in my first couple weeks in Hanoi, Vietnam, I followed the book's suggestions for restaraunts, only to realize they were severely overpriced, and not nearly as tasty (or exotic) as the more "local" restaraunts. Before long, I stopped going to the LP's preferred restaraunts altogether. Only when I stopped following the LP altogether did I really start to delve into Vietnamese culture, both the good and bad.

   Also, the LP tends to whitewash the more unpleasant aspects of Vietnam, such as being harassed by people on the street, who are more than eager to rip you off, and the grueling poverty. If one really wants to appreciate Vietnam, these less pleasant factors have to be taken into account.

   If you plan on just "visiting", but don't really plan on getting to know the culture, this book may be enough. However, to truly appreciate both the good and bad of Vietnam, I suggest avoiding this book, or at least not relying on it too much.




3. LP Vietnam, as several others have mentioned, is misleading and out of date. But even worst, is that it tries to scare most travelers into following its suggested itinerary instead of venturing out on their own. I was going to outline some of the more glaring mistakes, but other reviews beat me to the punch.

   In defense of LP, who have produced decent guidebooks in the past, Vietnam may be changing at such a fast pace that as soon as it was published much of the information was already out of date. However, not all the mistakes can be blamed on a country in the throws of rapid changes and as such as easily dismissed.

   Hopefully the next edition will have greatly improved and won't be written in such an amateurish way. However, I think I'll pass and try the Rough Guide or take my chances without a guidebook! What a novel idea...




4. I bought the Vietnam LP on advice from my roomate who never travels to a new place without one. The Vietnam LP soon became my bible in Vietnam, not to mention every other travelers that I met there as well. In fact kids on the streets of Hanoi and Saigon often sell photocopied versions of these LP's to tourists. No other tourist book is more popular there, and for good reason.
   I used my LP all the time. I kept a bottle of water under one arm (Vietnam in July is hot) and my lonely planet under the other. Every question I could possibly think of LP had an answer for and a story and a map to go along with it. Honestly I can't recommend a book higher.



5. I just got back from a three week trip to Viet Nam, and would have been lost without my trusty LP guidebook. I travelled from north to south and was never at a loss with the help of this book. Granted LP should have put in diacritics because without them, communication breaks down when you don't know the tones, but the in depth research and care that went into this book (and subsequently, all of LP's books) shines through to provide the reader with a competant, user-friendly travel guide. Plus, LP is much more gay-friendly than the other guidebook series.

No comments about Travels of Four Years and a Half in the United States of America; During 1798, 1799, 1800, 1801, and 1802.

No comments about Northern Virginia's Equestrian Heritage (VA) (Images of America).

5 comments about Small-Town Restaurants in Virginia.

1. As a fan of small town eateries, I applaud the author of this valuable guide to the Old Dominion. Highly rated!



2. Though a fun book to refer to, I would advise anyone to call ahead to make sure the restaurant still exists. In the 1998 edition there were several restaurants that had closed down, so I was eager to see what the newest edition contains. As I reviewed the new edition's table of contents, I noticed that some of these same closed restaurants were still listed (for example, Fiddler's Green in The Plains has been gone for years, and in it's place is Just Breakfast/Just Lunch. Magpie's in Middleburg has also closed; Maxwells has replaced it); I'm surprised the editors did not make quick phone calls prior to reprinting to see if restaurants were still operating. Also, I was interested in the quality of the restaurants that were listed; I noticed that quirky, fun, local restaurants were sometimes bypassed in favor of a restaurant that lacks atmosphere or appears trendy. That said, I still found the 1998 edition loads of fun, and take it with me whenever I go on Virginia road trips. I'm also looking forward do the 2000 edition.



3. This book was recommended to me by a co-worker. We love this book. My family goes driving around Virginia on the weekends and then we pull out the book for a local small town restaurant experience. We have not been disappointed. Ever! We have gone to over 50 places and everyone was a dining experience. We leave the book in our car for spur of the moment expeditions. We usually try the "recommend specials" that are listed in the book. It's a fun adventure!



4. Now in an updated and expanded second edition, Small-Town Restaurants In Virginia by regional writer Joanne M. Anderson features 240 restaurants in almost 150 small towns and villages throughout Virginian and ranging from Abingdon in the Blue Ridge country, to Leesburg near Washington, D.C., and from Monterey on the western edge of the Shenandoah Valley, to Williamsburg and Chincoteague in the eastern area of the state. Each restaurant is provided with basic information included price ranges, meals served, styles of cuisine, local history, dining atmosphere, decor, and variety of foods offered. Whether a local gourmet in search of regionally authentic, or the family out on a day trim, or passing through vacationers and business travelers, Small-Town Restaurants In Virginia is a wonderfully recommended resource for itinerary planning purposes. It would also serve as an ideal template upon which other state restaurant guides could be developed.



5. This guide is fantastic for navigating your way through the many wonderful small restaurants that are hidden away throughout Virginia. It is too bad that updates to this book are not made more often since restaurants open, close, rename, or relocate so frequently. Virginia is a beautiful state, and a great way to top off a drive through its scenic countryside is with a visit to one of the great restaurants recommended by this guide. I have tried several new places solely based on this book's recommendations and I have never been disappointed. The book divides Virginia into five regions and then lists stellar restaurants for various towns in each of those regions. The guide tells you about the style, cost, atmosphere, etc. so that you will not be unpleasantly surprised. The guide even lists the special dishes for which particular restaurants are noted. One note of caution- some of the restaurants, particularly in the northern Virginia section, are not at all in rural areas. For example, Chantilly and Herndon are in the midst of very congested suburban areas. If you are already there you might as well try the recommended restaurants, but don't travel to these places expecting a dose of small town charm any greater than you would expect to receive in northern New Jersey.

No comments about East Coast Wineries: A Complete Guide from Maine to Virginia.

4 comments about Maine Lobsterboats.

1. I wish the author had spent more time to the east of Penobscot Bay. With her repeated references to the designers and builders of Beals Island and Jonesport, I felt she should have spent more time there than she did. Interestingly, the oft heard complaint about the impact the modern, fast designs have had on the traditional good looks of the Maine lobsterboat seem to have come from those designers and builders whose boats don't make the "cut" at the seven-event lobsterboat race series held though out the summer along the Maine coast.

   A better read than expected but not as complete as I'd hoped for.




2. Thorndike has assembled a thoroughly engrossing collection of solid information, individual viewpoints, opinions and tall tales about the Maine lobsterboat told in their own words by the people who know and love them best. Each interview unveils the character of the individual as well as the boats they talk about. Downeast life on the water comes alive in the droll understated humor that is their characteristic means of expression. The book is pure pleasure.



3. Informative and entertaining with local flavor from the men who build lobsterboats and fish them. Enjoyed it.



4. "Dinnie" Thorndike, ex-diary farmer and town selectman, also book writer, has written about a type of motorboat she likes. She and husband Phil bought one, a "lobster yacht" they named Sea Smoke. In it they cruised Maine waters and saw other lobsterboats and, about the same time, the urge to write about what she was seeing snuck up on her and she had to start writing. (This happens to us writers. Can't help it.) The book is the result.
   
   Don't expect a scholarly epistle on the origins of lobsterboats and their evolution although Dinnie somehow includes an awful lot of such information. Nope, this book is what its title says it is-a series of lively interviews with those that design, build, operate, and race lobsterboats (race as in "up to 55 mph"). She gets people talking, she listens, she remembers, and it all goes down on paper so pat and smooth I can but envy her skill.
   
   A chapter may be the result of talking to one person. Old-timers Leroy Dodge, and George Allen. Designers Arno Day and Spencer Lincoln. Builders-in-wood Peter Kass and Dick Pulsifer of Hampton Boat fame. Builders-in-fiberglass like the Young Brothers. Lobsterboat racers like Gweeka Williams and the Holland Family. (Did you know that Maine lobsterboats were invaluable support vessels in the unsuccessful effort to defend the America's Cup at San Diego in 1995? One was the famed racing lobsterboat Red Baron, which was used as a weather boat.)
   
   Or a chapter may be Dinnie's assemblage of facts and stories about a subject. Rum-running. Old-time "fishing" (meaning lobstering). Lobsterboat superstitions. Lobsterboats as water taxis and tugs. Lobsterboats as valued family pleasure boats. Lobsterboats seining, hand-lining, gill-netting, and even lobstering.
   
   Dnnie keeps up an easy flow of quotes, stories, facts, and fun. I highly recommend this book if only for the pleasure the reader will get from watching a very good writer stoutly march through a subject.

No comments about Petersburg Campaign: Abraham Lincoln at City Point March 20-April 9,1865 (The Virginia Civil War battles and leaders series. The Petersburg campaign).

No comments about Thoreau's Complex Weave: The Writing of a Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, With the Text of the First Draft.