Charles Calhoun's MAINE is a departure from most travel guides. Rather than just pages and pages of lists of motels, restaurants, and things to see, Calhoun focuses on the state's people (past and present), natural history, and state-of-mind. Instead of simply an address and phone number for the famous L. L. Bean's (outdoor outfitters, for example, Calhoun gives us several pages, including the story of the founder of the company.

The book opens with a chapter entitled "Learning Maine" and is organized geographically into nine main sections which cover the entire state. The final chapter, "Practical Information" gives all the usual, plus "A Dozen Fun Places to Eat" and antiquarian booksellers. Scattered throughout the book are literary excerpts and topical essays by authors such as May Sarton, John McPhee, and Longfellow. There are maps, reproductions of period art, and plenty of gorgeous color photos. Whether the reader is planning a trip to Maine or merely wishes an intriguing armchair journey, this guide is a must.

Kimberly Borrowdale, Under the Covers Book Reviews

An excellent book to take along with you during your travels to Maine. The photos in this book are simply beautiful! The photographer, Thomas Mark Szelog actually lives in the lighthouse on the cover!! I was lucky enough to meet him and he was kind enough to show me some of his photgraphs. Absolutely beautiful work. This is a great book and I highly recommend it when you travel down east!

Don't let the title turn you off. This guide is complete. Read it, study it and be proud to carry it with you. It is just the best, full of honest reviews and recommendations. All of the info is current and up to date.

Marie Morris...I'd love to meet you. My husband and I LOVED this book. I found it to be better than most of the travelogue books because it was written with a personal, been-there-done-that attitude.

Whether I am at home or on the road, books like this one provide this traveller with a lot to do without having to go very far. Personally, I view Connecticut as one of those often overlooked states which gets unfairly dissed because of its close proximity to NYC.
In my case, I was abandoned by my husband who was attending a business conference. I wandered into a book store and found this little gem in the local interest section. On the way to Mystic Seaport, I checked out a few locations. Had a lot of fun and enjoyed myself thoroughly. My only regret was that I didn't have more time to cover all the locations cited in this book. However, even that was o.k. because I now have the impetus to return and check out other interesting places.
Travel books like these are a real treat for locals as well as visitors because they educate and also provide a sense of familiarity to often strange and/or unfamiliar places. They provide a different way of looking at a specific state or region.

If you want to explore interesting things in Connecticut, this is the book to start with. My son and I often do interesting things on Saturday mornings. Part of it is just "bonding time", but part of it is that mom works every other Saturday, so those days we have special freedom to do interesting things. And we do. During warm months, an emphasis is on hiking and outdoor activities. During cold months, if we are not sledding, we try more indoor activities.

Many of the things that we have done are in this book. I was pleasantly surprised. I bought this as a present for mom so that maybe she can join in more often (she does better if she has a picture in her mind and this book is full of pictures).

Explore Connecticut by visiting "everyday" places you might not have noticed. These are the kinds of places that out-of-staters might ask "have you been there" but the residents do not even know they exist -- right next door. Definitely worth taking a look at.

Yes, the story is excellent, if I do so say myself, but I don't recommend that anyone buy the iUniverse / Author's Guild edition. The photos didn't hold up well in the reproduction, and instead of "bleeding" off the edge of the paper they're set with a one-inch margin, so what was a 7x10 inch book comes out to magazine size.

Far better to buy a second-hand copy of the New Hampshire Publishing hardcover or softcover editor.

-- Dan Ford

I own this book in hardcover and I think it is great that it is available again in paperback. The author hikes through the White Mountains of New Hampshire and across into Maine. But more than a journal of his mini-expedition this is a glancing history of the Whites. Excellent! But the politically correct should take heed because the year is 1975 and the author among other things is a (gasp!) cigarette smoker. Let's hope that he has since reformed!

Good photographs taken along the way. Highly recommended.

Every recipe that I have tried to date is a winner. The pearls of wisdom contained between recipes are entertaining and enlightening. Makes a great gift for yourself and for all your friends who enjoy being in the kitchen.

A delightful and easy to use cookbook that captures the history of country cooking and family farm life. Simple recipes from years back have been updated for a slightly more sophisticated palate, but the charm and pleasure remain. Contains some very enjoyable anecdotes from farm and country history. A very pleasant and readable cookbook. What a terrific heirloom gift!

This is an excellent book for covered bridge finding. The directions are perfect to the tenth of a mile, roads are well defined as to location from the nearest town. Photo tips are very helpful. Plus, you get a short history about the bridge and the maker. I recently used this book to find several bridges in Vermont and was very happy that the information here is so pricise

Covered Bridges of Vermont was a delight to read. Have visited 103 of the ones he writes about, and the directions to them are very good, historical background accurate, and pictures are also very good. He gives tips for the best time of day to take photographs, taking into consideration the location of each bridge. No covered bridge enthuiast should be without a copy! He lists other places of interest as well. Now will have to find the ones we missed on our trips! Would have paid twice the price, and well worth it.

I lived and sailed Narragansett Bay all my life and never knew the history behind all I was looking at. Excellent book and great fishing section!

I always wondered what those old ruins were hidden on overgrown islands, the history of secluded anchorages.... Great naturalist, along the shore information. Excellent cruising guide!

Wow! Once in a while a book comes along that is so satisfying that one wonders if you really read it. I can't praise the author enough for bringing to life the life of Maine 100 years ago.

BOOK REVIEW

A Day's Work: A Sampler of Historic Maine Photographs, 1860-1920, Part I, annotated and compiled by W. H. Bunting. Sponsored by Maine Preservation, Tilbury House Publishers, 132 Water St., Gardiner, ME 04345, 1997. 380 pp., oversize, paperback, $35.00

This is a wonderful book, so don't let the title drive you away. You must read halfway through that forbidding title to find out that it's about Maine, farther yet to learn that it's photographic, and "Part I" leaves you dangling. I would have called it Maine at Work, 1860-1920: Photographs and Text; the rest is superfluous--and I have added the word "text" because the text is just as delightful as the photos. I am writing this review because it's a book that people who love Maine shouldn't miss.

I have been summering in Maine for about forty years. The mountains and the skies and the rockbound coast make one constantly aware that Maine is different--the most northern and most eastern state in the USA, with a thousand of miles of shoreline and huge expanses of forest wilderness. Its wild geography has shaped its people and determined how they live. Vestiges of the past are everywhere, from the old docks and windjammers and lighthouses to the barns and sawmills and huge piles of firewood. If one wants an understanding and a feeling for those old times, this book is for you.

William Bunting's fascination with these historical photographs is communicated through the text. He has spent decades immersing himself in local history, and he not only explains each photo but goes behind it, delving into the history and significance of what is shown. If you want to know how to make hard cider, see p. 150 opposite the superb photo of the farmyard with a pile of apples by the old barn. The complex process of logging in the wilderness and getting the logs downriver to the mills and eventually by ship to market is followed through many photos with descriptive text (see pp. 34-44, 86-88, and more). Many buildings in Boston and points south were built of Maine granite; here you can see the granite cutters and the ships and men that carried that heavy cargo to market. Would you like to know and see how in the old days lobster fishing, seining, dip-netting, and canning were done? Or railroading, hunting, or harvesting ice? They're all here, and much more.

Start reading at the Introduction, a fine evocation of Maine today in relation to the past, and a convincing demonstration of the value of photos as historical documents. You will also discover that the author raises cattle and is a bulldozer operator, which doesn't quite explain his mastery of local history (this is his third book) but puts him closer to the down-to-earth people in the pictures. The introduction takes you directly into the text; there are no breaks or chapter headings. Bunting explains that the book is like "taking a journey," one that he took himself--and fortunately it has a good index. I began by looking up the places I know best: Waldoboro, Boothbay, Edgecomb, Casco, Bath, Damariscotta, but the book is a trap--once in, it's hard to get out. You go from photo to photo and from text to text.

The content of the pictures and text is absorbing, but I have said nothing about the aesthetic quality of the photographs. These old black and whites, from the days of heavy cameras and glass plate negatives, have a crispness and wealth of detail rarely seen in today's polychromatic action photos with artificial photo-effects. Many of them were taken for the purpose of making a record, and they project an authenticity that makes the viewer a participant. They have the grip of reality. The photos are worth the price of the book, and the text multiplies their value.

A Day's Work (Part I) focuses on many economic aspects of life in Maine in the late eighteenth and early twentieth century. The author, or annotator and compiler as he calls himself, says that some topics will appear in both volumes, but Part II will emphasize the pulp and paper industries, cotton textiles, coopering, axe manufacturing, etc. Perhaps he's waiting to sit down with the photographs and see where the journey leads. If it's anything like this one, it will be worth waiting for.

Herbert S. Bailey, Jr.
Fearrington Post 248
Pittsboro, NC 27312

What a WONDERFUL book! I've always enjoyed Tasha Tudor, and bring out her books when I need to "escape" and have a pick-me-up. I happened upon this beautiful history written by her daughter, and have since shared it with others....Tasha Tudor is truly a blessing to us all, and to have this insightful, introspective piece shared by her daughter is beyond words. I HIGHLY recommend it to all who are so enamored with what Tasha has done with her life, and for those, such as myself, who wish they knew her personally--this book gives you a wonderful glimpse into this special woman's life, as well as her special family! Enjoy!

I read this portrait of Tasha Tudor by her daughter Bethany with hunger and joy! I shall add it to my list of favorite books that I reread yearly at Christmas as a gift to myself. This intimate portait of one of this century's most unique women adds to a storehouse of wisdom not often found in the modern world. I feel drawn by this book to my own quest for that which inspires me. Bethany Tudor has written a memoir which will serve as inspiration for generations of creative women. The pictures are also exquisite and draw one into the peace and serenity which are Tasha's gifts to us.

I have been going to Durgin Park for the past 40 years and it is always the same. Real down home Yankee Cooking. The food is always great and very fresh. I was told that everything is bought daily and it is obvious by the quality of the food. If you are ever in Fanuiel Hall Market Place in Boston, this is a must to go too. Also, buy the book as there are real great recipes to try and there is also the history of Durgin Park in it. You won't be sorry you did............. Enjoy

Chef Tommy Ryan has been referred by many friends, associates and competitors as truly "The Czar of Yankee Cooking." After reading the book and visiting Durgin Park (as I have many times in the last 20 years) the reader will clearly see Chef Tommy Ryan has a basic principle and that is you must start with quality ingredients. Everything from the meat, fish, poultry, vegetables and deserts comes from the purveyors who sell the very best. After the Chef and his team prepare your meal it's truly a culinary masterpiece and this book gives the reader the steps to success in his/her home kitchen.