1,000 Places to See in the U.S.A. & Canada Before You Die by Patricia Schultz Summary and Reviews
|
List Price: Our Price: $5.90 You Save: $14.05 (70%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $5.70 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of 1,000 Places to See in the U.S.A. & Canada Before You Die
Book Review: A great book for those that like to get off the beaten path
Summary: 4 Stars
Some of the descriptions are a little vague - but hey - there's a 1,000 of them.
It you like to travel or find yourself on a road trip, then toss this book in the car or suitcase. It will take you places others have missed.
It's fun to start checking off the places you've already been and making a list of destinations you want to visit.
You don't need a big budget for these 1,000 places. I'll bet many of them are within a long week-end from your home and are free.
This is a fun coffee table book. As you flip though it, it'll make you want to take a trip somewhere.
Book Review: Got a fat wallet and a bad case of wanderlust? This book is for you
Summary: 3 Stars
This is not the type of book you actually READ, but rather something you glance through lazily when dreaming up future travel plans, or when wondering what to do in your own state when you have an open weekend and nothing to do with it. The back-of-the-book index is very helpful in this case. Comprehensive in its scope, it's a good starting point for someone with a fat wallet and a serious case of wanderlust. Like all travel books--(except Abrams' ART OF THE STATE books, which are fabulous!)--this book is a skeletal guide requiring the traveler to flesh it out by his or her personal experience. Use it as a starting point, verify the information on the web, and go to the places yourself to color in the lines with your unique perspective.
Other reviewers complained that some of the recommendations were expensive. (It could be because the writer is from New York City, so she may be accustomed high costs.) What I do with expensive suggestions is go to the restaurant recommended and ask passersby where I can find something similar for less. It's a great way to meet local people who are usually glad to tell you about the better value around the corner.
Like most travel guides, it can't bear the weight of being the be-all end-all, but it's a good place to start. The reason I gave it only 3 stars is because the writing is a bit stifling (or maybe the small type makes it seem stifling) and the page layouts are dull. Otherwise a nice reference tool.
Book Review: A must have for someone going on a road trip
Summary: 5 Stars
I read all the reviews after I had ordered the book so it was with some trepidation that I sat down to page through it. 4 hours later I was tempted to grab my car keys and head out the door on the road trip of a lifetime. Even if you aren't planning a road trip this book will leave you pondering how you can work one into your year.
Book Review: 1000 Places to Eat Before You Die
Summary: 3 Stars
Let me get my chief complaints out of the way first: this author loves to eat. It sometimes seems that every other entry is a restaurant or local culinary hot-spot, from "Cheese Country" to "Big Pig Jig." These are not destinations, they're cuisines. Subtract those, and you probably have a book better titled 900 Places to See Before You Die. (Assuming all the eating doesn't kill you at number 600.)
Another minor quibble: some of the "places" are actually events, like Burning Man and the Indianapolis 500. I'll overlook it...
She also likes to go in style, and apparently hasn't met a spa she didn't like. Subtract all the ultra-ritzy exclusive hotel/spas, sculpture gardens, resorts, dude ranches and expensive art galleries, which are likely either of out reach financially or simply not of interest to a large base of the potential audience, and you're down to 500 Places to See.
So, then, if you can get it for half price, you've got a bargain.
Now, onto the good things. There are many, despite my protestations above. First is the very idea of the book. It's fun and interesting to see such a list compiled; invariably something important gets left out, but what is created by the greater-than-the-sum-of-its-parts compilation is a true sense of America as a destination in its own right, worth of as much attention as any other in the world.
Also, I was made aware of many places I wouldn't have found otherwise, like the Yoder Popcorn Shoppe in Topeka, Indiana. There are many hidden treasures in these pages.
Finally, despite being top-heavy with attractions for the chic looky-loo set as mentioned above, the book is saved from being completely out of touch by its inclusion of attractions that appeal to a broad section of people (as would befit a book about America). Burning Man Festival is here, as is the State Fair of Texas, the Civil Rights Trail, and others.
My strong recommendation is that a second book be created called "1000 Places to Dine Before You Die," (though the publisher may not want to have the words "dine" and "die" so close together), and all the restaurant entries removed from this and placed there. Then the gap filled with what got left out of this book and should have been in in the first place.
Book Review: not worth
Summary: 3 Stars
This is the book you buy and never read. A must-have, but not worth a read...