If you're planning to move to Brooklyn and you have no idea which neighborhood you'd like to live in this book might be for you -- otherwise, don't bother! The author doesn't go beyond the basic stereotypes for each neighborhood, i.e. "Greenpoint sure is clean! All those Poles!" or "Williamsburg is full of artists!" and the bar, gallery, and restaurant listings are very out of date. I think "real" Brooklyners (not me!) would be even more disappointed than I was with this book.

This is still the most comprehensive guidebook to old and new Brooklyn. And, a little birdie tells me that there's another one in the pipeline...

Wanna check out Brooklyn. Dis is da book for you. The author covers a huge city in its own right with quick, snappy reviews of the best restaurants, stores and things to do in Brooklyn. Everyone I know who lives in Brooklyn has one and swears by it, and we carry ours in the car. I just wish she'd write an update!

I travel a lot -- both nationally and internationally and I use travel books often. I took my first trip to Maine this summer and was excited to see that a book so highly rated was coming out with a new edition shortly before my trip. Unfortunately I found this book disappointing time and time again. If you like the way that Lonely Planet presents information (town maps, opinionated recommendations, and historical information) then stay away from this guide book. It offers very few of any of those things. It is more of a guide to available restaurants and lodgings with little or no real concrete information or opinions about those places.

For example, we traveled to Campobello and needed to stop for dinner. One of the restaurants they listed was "known for its fish and chips". Such a description doesn't reveal whether their fish and chips are actually worth the stop. We did stop and found the fish and chips to be VERY average and the microwaved fish chowder to be very bland. A B&B we stayed at was described as having "furnishings reminiscent of a simpler time". What does that mean? We found out but that description told us very little. The vague descriptions were frustrating when we were calling from one area of Maine to make reservations in another. We weren't sure what we were going to find. One more example: We were in Acadia driving the park loop and I reached for the book in hopes that it would give a brief description of the different sites on the tour. There was a sign for Bubble Rock and I wanted to know what that was in reference to. The book was of no help.

The book is also awkward to use. The key to their symbols are buried in the book. Their reference section is also awkward and lacks a "when to go" section among other useful information. Considering the fact that much of Maine consists of small towns whose streets are too small to show up on maps of Maine, it would have been such a help to have had small town maps in the book. I think there were a couple but nothing near what there should have been. This may be the best that is out there but if that is the case, then there is room for some one else to write a much more comprehensive and useful guide to Maine.

This is a terrific guide book. It's personal but thorough, and - like Maine - it has character and characters. It's written with an eye out for the personal experience and the hidden treasure. Maine is a beautiful place with a quirky side. Thanks to the Explorer's Guide for helping me get to know it.

This is a terrific guide, detailed accurate,judgemental when called for, funny and user friendly. The author clearly spends a lot of time traveling around Maine keeping in touch with changes and updating information. A new addition is virtually another, better book. So,I'm surprised that Amazon.Com listed the new 10th edition as No.3, behind two earlier editions.The two older editions certainly contain useful information and are more deeply discounted.However, when you're spending a lot of money on a trip or vacation it makes sense to have an up-to-date guidebook.

Now in a fully updated fifth edition, Allison Blake's The Chesapeake Bay Book is a comprehensive and thoroughly user friendly: guide to all the great getaway adventures to be found in the Chesapeake Bay area of Maryland. Maps, indexes to the best places for lodging and dining, recreation opportunities by locale, and much more, enhance this superbly presented travel guide which is ideal for anyone planning a local day trip or an extended vacation in the Chesapeake Bay environs.

Now in a fully updated fifth edition, Allison Blake's The Chesapeake Bay Book is a comprehensive and thoroughly "user friendly: guide to all the great getaway adventures to be found in the Chesapeake Bay area of Maryland. Maps, indexes to the best places for lodging and dining, recreation opportunities by locale, and much more, enhance this superbly presented travel guide which is ideal for anyone planning a local day trip or an extended vacation in the Chesapeake Bay environs.

a college friend invited me to spend a few weeks with her in annapolis, but, when she got a job she couldn't refuse just before i arrived, i had to fend for myself entertainment-wise. thank heavens i wandered into a local bookstore and picked up this book. i didn't know a thing about the area. nor did my friend really. (i'm from texas, and she just moved there from connecticut.) but, with the help of this guidebook and a rental car, i wandered happily throughout the back roads of the chesapeake region. i found great little towns to stop in with its help, deliciously fattening restaurants to eat in and cool things to see. if you're a newbie there, i highly recommend that you pick it up!

Although it's a little light on the 50's and 60's overall this is a good read. Great presentation. Nice photography.

This is one wonderful book. It gives a better understanding of Brooklyn's surroundings. I particularly found interesting the histories of Street-names. Now I'd like to know the histories of all the neighborhoods of NYC: Queens, the Bronx, Manhattan, and last and definitely least, Staten Island, particularly the neighborhood of Grasmere.

One of the most accurate portrayals of Brooklyn ever. Accurate neighborhood borders and fantastic descriptions. I was especially fond of Professor John Manbeck's historic "time line" added to this book. Well worth the price!

I briefly saw the review under mine, and I agree. This book isn't the best guide book I have bought - and I wouldn't reccomend it to others. Sure, it has some ok reviews of places to eat and shops, but not a lot else. The layout isn't that appealing or friendly to use and I HAVE seen better. Usually I buy "Lonely Planet" (I dont know why I didnt this time! ) so if going to New York city, I dont think you should buy this book. "Lonely Planet" guides are a lot easier to read and include EVERYTHING you need to know. Anyways, this is just my opinion, I'm a traveller and I wanted a good travel book and this didn't provide.

Used to Fodors and Lonely Planet books, I thought I'd try this one as it came so highly recommeded. I found it to be disorganized, with an awful index. There was very little history or neighborhood information that I'm so used to with the other travel books. It also doesn't keep restaurants, museums, hotels, etc. separate in the listings; it's very easy to miss stuff. Some of the restaurants have their logo above their review, which makes me wonder if some of them paid for placement. When we got to New York, we left the book in the hotel room and successfully relied on advice from the concierge, cabbies and just wandering around. Personally, I'd recommend Lonely Planet or Fodors!

I purchased the Access New York City guide earlier this year for my first trip to the Big Apple. My trip was made quite easy by the Access guide, which is incredible when you consider the complexities of New York City. It really is complete and just about all you need for a successful trip. Highly recommended!

I can't swear for the rest of the boroughs, but I can tell you that the author doesn't appear to have all his Brooklyn facts straight. A couple of examples: He talks of a stop on the "N" line at 86th Street and 8th Avenue (p.259). Not only is there not a stop there....there is no "there" there. Those two streets do not cross. Eight Avenue ends in the 70's. Also, the author talks of the view of the Ave X subway yards and overhaul center that can be "clearly seen from the "N" and the "R" Lines as they begin the Stillwell Avenue descent into Coney Island" (p.5). Problem is, the "R" train goes nowhere near Coney Island. In fact, it is underground for its entire run in Brooklyn. There were others, but I won't bore you with the details. In a book that purports to be a "guide," attention to detail is important. In a lot of cases here, we are not talking about minor details. The prose style, if you can call it that, is way too cute. All in all, if you want a guide to the subway, get the free map from the MTA. If you want to know about the neighborhoods, take a bus tour and see for yourself. Given the unreliability of the book regarding areas of the world with which I'm familiar, I'd be very hesitant to count on it for anything at all.

Blessed with a hefty wit (and an appetite to match), Frattini has a good time bouncing his way through the New York City Underground, and his enthusiasm for the subway system he obviously loves rubs off on even the most jaded subway patron (Having spent 18 years myself riding the less than stellar "F" line, I can tell you NO ONE brings the 179 Street Station alive like Frattini does). From Duffers hocking scholky Rolexes in rundown stations to the not necessarily Hi-Class glories of New York cuisine (lovers of Greaseburgers, Indian Buffets, and Jamaican Beef Patties have a friend in Frattini), you really get a distinct feel for the less glamorous, yet no less interesting, underbelly of New York. The addition of local eateries is a Nice Touch, and I hope this "Cesar" of the Subway continues to skewer and yet love, his home town.

Dave Frattini writes with wit and detail about the Subways of New York. As a native of New York, Frattini gives a very candid view of the subway stations and their decor, the subway lines and their neighborhoods and an understanding of the culture of New York City. His humor is great and pokes fun at himself as well as some of the outrageous things that occur in the City. He also gives to the point details of the best and worst of the places that you can or cannot visit. You will laugh out loud at some of the wry observations he makes about his hometown and the City. I would recommend this book to anybody who would like understand the heart of New York City and all of its many neighborhoods and boroughs. Buy it and enjoy!

The Access New York City Guide is divided into sections for each region in the city, with separate maps for each area and detailing, in color code, destinations and places of interest in each area, including hotels, restaurants,(both rated for quality and expense), and shopping. It is the easiest New York guide book I have used, because I am able to find where I want to go, see the easiest way to get there, and know what's there when I do. The guide contains maps for subway and bus travel and airport access. I prefer this area-by-area format because I can see easily all the attractions in each part of the city. This has a distinct advantage over guides which group by topic; for example, I might find a hotel that suits my needs, and by checking the area on the map, I can find a restaurant on the same page, in my price range, within walking distance, and know what's cooking for dinner. Other guides would have you searching another chapter. This is the latest of many editions of the Access New York City guide, and is just as enjoyable from your armchair at home as it is from your tourbus. Also included are such fun tidbits as a list of movies filmed in the city, books written about New York, and little-known facts about the histories of the most famous landmarks. Altogether this guide and its logical format would make your hundredth trip to the city as exciting as your first.

I lucked into buying this guide when I first moved to New York seven years ago, and it served as a perfect introduction to the city. Even in a city that changes as rapidly as New York, I continued to find this book useful for several years after I bought it, and I still frequent some of the off-the-beaten-path restaurants that the author recommends. (But I'm not telling you the names; you'll have to discover them for yourself!)

As much as I liked this book, I can see how it might not be ideal for everyone. For one thing, unlike a lot of guidebooks, it doesn't go out of its way to prioritize the different sites and to dictate what you ought to see as a visitor. Unless the book has changed since the edition I bought, you won't find any walking tours or suggested itineraries. But if you have enough time and are willing to give serendipity a chance, the best way to experience in New York is on foot, exploring neighborhood by neighborhood, with this book in hand. Whether you're interested in architecture, shopping, arts, or history, you will find this book an excellent travel companion.

I found this book to be an excellent guide for New York because it focuses on places to go, not so much the history of the place like other guidebooks. I don't know who comes to New York just for the history, anyway! (There's Paris for that.)But for restaurants, hotels, and even some clubs ACCESS was better than even my hotel concierge. Although there was no way to try everything mentioned in the book, every place I did go to, or restaurant I dined at, was current and good even though sometimes the chef was different. Maybe even more details on the downtown scene would be good, instead of pages on boring Upper West Side, etc., but overall this is a tres bon map to a good time to what is still the greatest city in the world. And that's coming from a Frenchman...vive le New York!

Hey Barry, I'm thinking that by now your incessant and bothersome needling to the people at Let's Go is amusing to them, hence they don't want to change their "Big Apple" falsehood just because they know it irritates you. Relax man, why don't you go down to Bowery Bar and have a Manhattan! Other readers: check out the comments by Barry A. Popik to understand what I'm talking about. Anyway, regardless of this small detail, I've traveled with many Let's Go books and have never been disappointed.

I am untravelled, unexperienced with city life, and un-financially blessed. Let's Go was my bible in NYC last winter and I had a grand ol' time. Between my pals and I we had like 800 guide books, and Let's Go had by far the most readable, most helpful maps. The fact that its written by poor students (with wit and style) helps too. A good mix of traditional tourist activities with "undiscovered" budget happenings.

I bought this guide after looking at numerous others, and this is still the one that I liked the most. Maybe it's b/c I'm a college student on a tight budget, but the Let's Go guides are lifesavers. I skimmed thru the Frommer guide before buying this one and that was just too boring for my taste. Let's Go tells you the truth and what you would really find in nyc. Before your trip, you can use it to map out your entire schedule if you wanted to, which was great b/c it included sites that ppl like me would actually want to visit.

I found that this book was not worth the money I paid for it. When I got it, I found that most of the information was useless to me and my other family memebers. I found several mistakes in it and was surprised to see that the author could let all these mistakes pass. I wish I could return the book but the book will remain under my table to make sure it sits flat.

I was quite surprised at how young the author is, but was amazed at how informative the book was. Names and reviews of all the park rides, eateries, fun facts and stats fill the book! There is even a section on local hotels/motels and a fun questionnaire! Andrew Hyde is definitely a dedicated young man--and obviously in love with all the thrills Cedar Point has to offer! I look forward to seeing how he reviews future rides. If you are heading over to Cedar Point anytime soon, buy this book!

I think that this book will help people when they want to visit cedar point!

This is an excellent book about the Cape and its history.
There are lots of nuggets of interesting and original information. The book, however, suffers from its rambling and discursive format. It really is a ramble.

I thought that Schneider attacks this book with the best of intentions and scores on many points, specifically the history of the Naussets, Champlain's adventure on the Cape and early whaling ships (including the Essex). Where he failed was in the telling: too often he jumped from event to event in a disjointed history or re-related events in a clumsy narrative. Too skimpy to be history, too spotty to cover the entire Cape, I liked this book despite its problems because it gave me some great historical perspectives of the beaches and sea where I live.

The amazing deluge of tourism each summer truly ignores the elaborate history of some of New England's most beautiful coastline. For many of us who live or travel there when time and traffic allow there is this fine book to fill in the grey areas.

Unfortunately, regional history is not as popular to most readers as a spy novel or biography. This book bounces between the author's journeys in Kayak along the islands and coastline and the chronological history of travellers and settlers to the coast. There are humorous accounts of indian encounters, misguided settlers and an all too unpleasant tale of life aboard the Mayflower. Not all as we had once been told in grammar school.

The endnotes are substantial and the book can at times seem more academic than entertaining. However, I passed this on to two friends and we have laughed and shared our favorite stories over beverages. A good book and a nice read.