If you are in the market to buy a map of the Chicagoland area, this is the one. Daniel Burnham, one our cities first urban planners, may have created the plans for a grid system but this book it still a necessary tool for navigation.

I found it useful when searching for tiny side streets within the city and in the suburbs when circling around the mazes known as subdivisions.

Christmas in the Midwest! the very best of all! From Chicago's Miracle Mile with its myriad of gaily colored lights and its blazing store windows - to the small midwest cities with their downtown lampposts festooned with evergreen and silvery tinsel - to the small towns with their Season's Greetings bannered across the intersection of Main and Elm Streets - to the farm scenes with strings of red and green bulbs entwined round the spindly legs of long-unused windmills and the picture window curtains drawn back to let the tree lights gleam out over the new fallen snow.

And Christmas Eve in little frame and brick churches with "readings" and songs by the children - a decorated tree and some rosy-faced neighbor in a Santa Claus costume - Christmas mornings with families round the tree and the gaily wrapped gifts with their promises waiting to be unwrapped.

And then go over the hill to Grandma's house where all the aunts, uncles and cousins gathered for a gala Christmas feast!

These are images and recollections that M idwesterners and exiled Midwesterners share. You will find these memories and more in the pages of Christmas in the Midwest. Here is a rich assortment in poem, picture, and story, all done by the best of midwest writers and artists such as, Hamlin Garland, Bess Streeter Aldrich, James Whitcomb Riley, John Muir, Marjorie Holmes, Paul Engle, Hartzell Spence, Phil Stong and Susan Allen Toth. They share stories about the Midwest's very first Christmases, Christmases of the pioneers, and Christmases in this changing twenty-first century. Wether the stories and poems are real or imagined, or mixtures of memory and "might-have-been," this collection is guaranteed to stir heartwarming memories of Christmas in the Midwest, and the spirit of the season everywhere.

Betsy and I enjoyed creating this book because it gave us an opportunity to introduce visitors and residents to places that make Indianapolis special. Strolling, shopping, or sightseeing, visitors will be guided to those places that gave them the richest flavors the city has to offer.

The book is divided into thirteen chapters, including Where To Stay, Shopping, and Nightlife, making it easy for readers to pinpoint the topic they are searching for. Entries are short and fact-packed, and the book includes plenty of pictures and fun facts about the city.

We are particularly pleased that a portion of the books profits go to the Indianapolis Parks Foundation. Helen O'Guinn

I met Bob in the spring of 1986 when I took his Architectural Photography course at Columbia College Chicago. It would be wrong to define Bob as an Architectural Photographer. He goes beyond the definition. The only thing "architectural" in his work are the buildings themselves. This guy is a documentarist and a good one! I thank him for the hard time he gave me when I took his course because he wanted us to do more than "just" taking pictures of buildings. It is quite difficult as you can imagine! The subject matter isn't flexible ...I guess I sometimes achieved that. An image such as "Near North Side neighborhood, Chicago, 1973" on page 2 isn't an architectural image. It is a document and a good one. I know for a fact that Bob spent many days studying the Art Sinsabaugh collection at the print study room of the Art Institute of Chicago. He actually took us there once. At the same time I sense some sadness and also shyness in these images. But they are beautiful and I can respond to them. Bob is a sensitive man and his course was more like a seminar where he opened himself to us as an image-maker and thinker.

There are a number of images in this book, which would make the day of a gestalt analyst: plates 13, 22, 31 (gorgeous isn't it?), 68, 69, and 70. The strange thing about these images is that images of alleys presuppose that there is more to them than what we are shown - "What is beyond that?". After all an alley is only the side, or back, of a building or of two or three buildings. Plates 18, 21, 24, 28, 34, 36, 48, 51, 52, 54, 65 have tremendous tension in them. I mean to say that the tension is created by the subject matter itself, and by the composition used. It is somehow difficult to close them. They go on and on. Great photography!

For those of us who think in terms of photographic images in the "great American tradition" of the view camera, this book is a breadth of fresh air. In his other books Bob achieves the greatness of an Ansel Adams when he produces images of urban landscapes. In this book he teases you! Thanks for the books and the 1986 course! I continue on learning a great deal from you and I sincerely hope that your current students do to!

I grew up in Chicago but haven't been back for 20 years. So, when I was assigned to Chicago to open a new business, I bought a few guides, this was one of them. While not intended to be an absolutely complete guidebook (ala the Fodors gold series) it does a good job of listing the top restaurants (by cuisine), top hotels (by price) top entertainment spots (by type) and top 25 sights to see. I especially liked the brevity of this feature because it helped me focus on the most important museums , entertainment and other features of the city. Every listing has a location, nearest mass transit stop, and map coordinates that match the city map that is included with the package. If you're looking for a simple but very useful guide, this is the one.

My wife bought me this book for a Christmas present a few years ago. The author presents a very humorous account of his college days at the University of Michigan. Since I also lived in the same dormitory as the author,as well as in much of the same time period, I could vividly recall many of the people he descrbed in this narrative as well as many of the events. Jerry brought back to memory many humorous times in our lives as engineering students. I couldn't stop laughing because what he described was how it was in the 1950's and believe it or not those stories and events really did happen.

This book is great. I never knew there were this many dining choices in Cleveland. Laura adds just enough detail about each establishment that you can enjoy the history as well. New to this edition is an expansion beyond Cleveland to include other cities in Ohio.

As a nanny in the Cleveland area, I'm always looking for new activities to do with my charges. This book not only lets you know great places to visit, but rates what age ranges would best like a certain activity. Great book to get if you are looking for things to fill a slow week.

As a basic fisher.......person? (What's PC these days, anyway?) Anyhoo - as a beginning angler, I found this book to be great - it really describes most of northern Ohio, and will keep me busy for some time. Barbo tells you where the fish are and how to get there - with enough information to keep you from getting lost if you've never been there before. Barbo also has a enjoyable writing style - easy to read, and humorous, and he sounds like a great person to go fishing with (So - John, if you read this - drop me an e-mail, and maybe we can hook up together....sorry - no pun intended :)

If you fish in the Cleveland area, buy this book!

This book is great. It has showed me many new areas of the city to explore. And I have lived here all my life!! Hikes are rated from easy to very difficult making it a good book for everyone... regardless of their fitness level. If you live in the area BUY IT!!!