1. ISBN13: 9781741791518
2. Condition: NEW
3. Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

Customer Review :

INFINITESMAL TYPEFACE ( HEFTY BOOK )

Found the book nearly impossible to read due to the tiny, tiny font which is employed. I wear 2.25 reading glasses. NEVER HAVE I HAD SUCH DIFFICULTY READING A BOOK BEFORE.

THE BOOK IS PONDEROUSLY HEAVY AND CUMBERSOME. Not "fit" for backpacking.

Rating :

Worth it.

Unless you know exactly where you want to go already which is highly unlikely, it might be worth having this book for the maps.

Pay absolutely no attention to the guesthouse prices etc.

Of course as soon as a guesthouse gets a good rating in the LP they put their prices up, this is the same everywhere in the world. In India however, they will actually create three more guesthouses with the same name and you will never know the difference until you walk past the real one. I miss India :p



Rating :

Difficult to navigate on Kindle; maps useless

I was pretty excited to get this on my kindle and finally leave behind the days of bulky travel guides, but this was a waste. The chapters are long and difficult to navigate (you have to page through all of each state to get to the city or area you're interested in) and the maps are unreadable-- only one corner of each map is on each page, and the guides and keys on another page, so they're 100% useless. Get the guide in paper, or just look on the LP website for each part you need, but don't bother getting this on Kindle.

Rating :

Going on leave there in a few weeks

I have been doing alot of information collecting for my trip to India, and this book has been on the money with all other information that I have collected. Also I know a few others that have been and they all say this is the book to use while in India. I will update comments once I am back!

Rating :

Happy with a Lonely Planet once again.

For the past 14 years we've been using the Lonely Planet as our primary guide for every country in the world. Our collection of Lonely Planets for countries we've traveled occupy a whole bookshelf. Although we haven't gone yet and so haven't actually put it into "on the ground" use yet, from the planning aspect, The Lonely Planet India appears as thorough and reliable as the others. As we say: "We don't leave home without it".


It was an easy transaction. And the book arrived quickly and was in good condition.

Rating :

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1. ISBN13: 9780935039252
2. Condition: NEW
3. Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

Editorial Review :

Streetwise Paris Map - Laminated City Center Street Map of Paris, France - Folding pocket size travel map with integrated metro map including lines & stations

This map covers the following areas:
Main Paris Map 1:14,000
Paris Metro Map
Map of France

There are more clichés about Paris than there are tourists at the Louvre, but the fact is that underneath each overused hackneyed cliché is a glistening kernel of truth. The City of Light, the City of Love and the City of Romance, familiar platitudes, but once you experience it for yourself you understand why. There is a je ne sais quoi allure to this city that beguiles, but never completely reveals what makes it so universally appealing. Artists, poets, writers, and composers have tried to define exactly what it is about this place, and yet they succeed only to a point. Perhaps it is as elusive as defining love, for to be in Paris entails experiencing love, about someone, something, some place.

There is so much to do - you know the big ones, the Louvre, Musee d’Orsay, Sacre Coeur, St. Germain des Pres, the Left Bank, the Right Bank, the Arc de Triomphe, the Champs Elysées, the Opéra- but don’t miss the fun of discovering the small ones, the ones off the beaten path. Nothing like taking your time strolling thru the turn of the century mansion that houses Musée Marmottan then enjoying a café and patisserie in the museums jewel box café.

Wandering aimlessly is romantic. Getting lost isn’t romantic. In fact there are few things that can drain the romance out of a situation faster than realizing that you’re hopelessly lost. So take your travel map and put it away if you want to wander, but have no fear that your wandering will turn into a lost odyssey. You can always pull out the STREETWISE® Paris Map and get yourself pointed back in the right direction.

Paris is not without faults. Sometimes people can be rude, but that’s the case anywhere in the world - be it a large city or small village. You get what you give. And in the case of Paris, as with any true love, you accept the flaws with the charms, the weaknesses with the strengths. In the end the true beauty of Paris will surpass any blemish. Life from a Parisian perspective is beautiful. But that’s another cliché, isn’t it?

Our pocket size map of Paris is laminated for durability and accordion folding for effortless use. The STREETWISE® Paris map is one of many detailed and easy-to-read city street maps designed and published by STREETWISE®. Buy your STREETWISE® Paris map today and you too can navigate Paris, France like a native. For a larger selection of our detailed travel maps simply type STREETWISE MAPS into the Amazon search bar.

Customer Review :

Dont Bother

Once you arrive in Paris, there are MANY free maps that are actually easier to use.

Rating :

Very useful map to us!

Really liked that the main monuments/attractions where drawn, including the train map. The downside for us that cost the lost of a star was that we stayed at the Marriott on the South side of town and it was not in the map. Other than that, highly recommend this for first time Paris visitors like us. Oh, we had 1 1/2 & 8 y.o. boys with us, and we thought this map made it easy to look up thing quickly.

Rating :

Great Map

The Map of the city was very easy to follow and was accurate. The METROPOLITAN (subway) map was very valuable. Laminated map easy to write and mark wiht a pen and did not get managed even on a 10 day stay in Paris. :)

Rating :

Bring a magnifying glass and small flashlight

Nice map but note that it is a really small print and in the evening you need a little flashlight to be able to read the print. If you have sight issues bring a small magnifying glass.

Rating :

If you don't take anything else, take this!

This map was our constant companion while in Paris. Not only did it make it easy to figure out where we were and how to go where we wanted to go, but the highlighted sights suggested other outings which we hadn't even known about before. Works great with cab drivers - point and go!

Rating :

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1. ISBN13: 9780307378798
2. Condition: NEW
3. Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

Customer Review :

Great book, it was a page turner!

I heard about Tokyo Vice from the Daily Show and another friend who read the book. I finally started reading it and couldn't put it down. Jake Adelstein is great story teller and his experiences in Japan were incredible. I didn't know anything about the yakuza before reading the book, I'm interested in finding out more now. I highly recommend this book!

Rating :

Gripping, amusing, ultimately horrifying look at Japan's underworld

Having lived and worked in Tokyo in the 80's and 90's, I found Jake Adelstein's detailed narrative about Japan's criminal underworld fascinating. Most of his book is written with wry humor and the no-holds barred approach of a young, street-wise, foreign reporter fluent in the local language, who can explain the nuances and details of Japanese culture. Ultimately it is a horrifying tale of criminal exploitation, human cruelty, horrific violence and human misery -- very unsettling. Japan and Japanese culture have so many positive and admirable aspects, but this well-written book paints a horrifying look at the underside.

Rating :

Exellent Read! Fascinating window on the darker side of aspects Japanese culture and the human condition.

When I started reading this book I had a very different expectation as to its content based on my perception of Japanese culture. This book opened a fascinating window on darker aspects of that culture I was only peripherally aware of. It is also an interesting tale of slow self corruption where the fall is not from on high. Rather a fall from a place of moral ambiguity at best to a place that is way dark and twisted. One wonders if there is any true recovery from such a place but hopes that there is.

I highly recommend this book as a fantastic (if dark) read and a real page turner.

Rating :

This book is not 352 pages long...

Tokyo Vice is one of my favorite novels of all time. Not just because of the content within the confines of the hardcover, but because of the support the author has put behind it. This story covers such a wide spectrum of Jake Adelstein's life that writing it seems to have become his lifestyle. Which makes this book never ending. Once you finish the novel it points you towards a website: <[...]>. I read about this website with great doubt, the only reason I went to it was to see the one post I would expect on a personal website attached to a recent novel: "Sorry I can't update that often, very busy doing a book tour, etc., etc." Instead I found multiple posts as long as chapters in the book describing recent events that have happened since the novel finished. Not only are the posts well written like the novel, but he comments back in full to each comment left on his posts! Or in my particular situation I left him my e-mail and he sent a personal e-mail to me providing contact information since I was curious about going to Japan in the near future.

I can not believe the support behind this novel and I may pick up an extra copy to have in pristine condition (I have a tendency to rough up my novels when I read them the first time.) This is a novel for a new age where people are always connected to the internet, Jake's Twitter also provides access to any book tours that he may be on or whether he is going to have a reading here in America or back in Tokyo.

Rating :

Reportage that dances with personal memoir

This is how great Twitter can be: when I was just 20 pages into Tokyo Vice, I posted this update:
"Jake Adelstein's TOKYO VICE makes me want to be yakuza"

He responded the next day with:
"@calebjross It's supposed to have the opposite effect. :)"

Considering that this exchange was completely unanticipated, I was quite surprised by the direct line of contact with the author. I anticipated the exchange ending there. But, then I finished the book, and I realized how insulting my first comment could have appeared. Tokyo Vice is such an amazing story, one that, though filed under "true crime" touches on memoir. Adelstein's position as a reporter with the unique opportunity to out certain immoral (to say the least) yakuza behavior, bleeds into his personal life in deeply affecting ways. As soon as I finished the book, I posted again on Twitter:
"@jakeadelstein I must apologize for my earlier statement of wanting to be yakuza. I just finished TOKYO VICE. Incredible story, sir."

And he came back with:
"@calebjross Apology accepted. :)"

Such a gentleman. Tokyo Vice goes highly recommended.


Rating :

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1. ISBN13: 9780375705045
2. Condition: NEW
3. Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

Customer Review :

Breath, Eyes, Memory

First I would like to say thank you to Linda Jones for introducing this wonderful author to me. Being a Haitian girl who grew up in Brooklyn, this is the first time I have seen someone wrote about some of the issues I had face in my life. In all her stories I can relate somewhat to some of the issues the characters faces. I feel as if the Haitian women finally have a voice.
Thank you Edwidge!


Rating :

Haitian horror story

"Breath, Eyes, Memory" is the story of a young Haitian girl, Sophie, whose mother travels to New York when her daughter is very young, leaving Sophie in the care of her Tante Atie. Eventually Sophie's mother sends for her child, and the girl must travel to the United States to start a new life. I thought this book would focus on the struggles of a Haitian girl adjusting to American society, but Sophie's real demons lay with her family's tragic history, which unfolds bit by bit as the years go by. Sophie ultimately breaks away from her mother but is unable to escape from the horrors of her past. She eventually returns to her home country in search of answers and redemption.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The subject matter is difficult to read, but this book depicts a lifestyle that was a reality for so many Haitian women. Although Sophie and her female relatives endure many tragedies throughout the course of this story, "Breath, Eyes, Memory" also celebrates strong family ties and the power that comes with being a woman. This is truly an amazing book.

Rating :

Reading with Tequila

Breath, Eyes, Memory is the story of the suffering of three women bound by family ties. It was strongly emotional with some heavy themes. The repercussions of rape, the cultural value of virginity and how mothers routinely sexually abuse their daughters in order to preserve their honor were all covered in great detail. The descriptions of Haitian culture both in Haiti and in the United States were fascinating.

The book flowed well and held my interest much more than I expected. The ending was filled with sadness and quite unexpected. Breath, Eyes, Memory was not my usual fare, but it was very good and more than a little eye-opening.

Rating :

Great novel

This is a great novel about the diaspora of a Haitian girl to the US. Beautifully written, is the story of how mother and daughter come to terms in the new environment. I strongly recommend it to all readers.

Rating :

Expecting more...

I was hesitant to read this book since it was an Oprah Book Club pick. Sometimes her books are very deep and thought inspiring and, while that is a good thing, I wasn't looking for that when I picked a book to read! Nonetheless, I picked it up and delved in.

I really expected a heart wrenching tale of a child (Sophie) struggling to make it in America while connecting with a mom she didn't know and missing a family back in Haiti that she was ripped away from. I didn't get that. A lot of her time in America was glossed over; her internal struggles weren't really relayed and the development of a relationship with her mom never did play out like I thought it would.

The author's writing is very simplistic. It's easy to follow--almost too easy! I felt like I was reading a book that was aimed towards a different generation (like teens maybe?)... I LIKED the book, but I didn't love it. Many parts of the book I found interesting - I loved reading about Haiti, the people, the tales, scenery, etc. I really wanted more out of this book though. There was one shocker at the end that really threw me but other than that it was just an O.K. read. Am I glad I read it? Yes... Would I hold on to it to read again? No.

Rating :

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Customer Review :

Gripping, amusing, ultimately horrifying look at Japan's underworld

Having lived and worked in Tokyo in the 80's and 90's, I found Jake Adelstein's detailed narrative about Japan's criminal underworld fascinating. Most of his book is written with wry humor and the no-holds barred approach of a young, street-wise, foreign reporter fluent in the local language, who can explain the nuances and details of Japanese culture. Ultimately it is a horrifying tale of criminal exploitation, human cruelty, horrific violence and human misery -- very unsettling. Japan and Japanese culture have so many positive and admirable aspects, but this well-written book paints a horrifying look at the underside.

Rating :

Reportage that dances with personal memoir

This is how great Twitter can be: when I was just 20 pages into Tokyo Vice, I posted this update:
"Jake Adelstein's TOKYO VICE makes me want to be yakuza"

He responded the next day with:
"@calebjross It's supposed to have the opposite effect. :)"

Considering that this exchange was completely unanticipated, I was quite surprised by the direct line of contact with the author. I anticipated the exchange ending there. But, then I finished the book, and I realized how insulting my first comment could have appeared. Tokyo Vice is such an amazing story, one that, though filed under "true crime" touches on memoir. Adelstein's position as a reporter with the unique opportunity to out certain immoral (to say the least) yakuza behavior, bleeds into his personal life in deeply affecting ways. As soon as I finished the book, I posted again on Twitter:
"@jakeadelstein I must apologize for my earlier statement of wanting to be yakuza. I just finished TOKYO VICE. Incredible story, sir."

And he came back with:
"@calebjross Apology accepted. :)"

Such a gentleman. Tokyo Vice goes highly recommended.


Rating :

This book is not 352 pages long...

Tokyo Vice is one of my favorite novels of all time. Not just because of the content within the confines of the hardcover, but because of the support the author has put behind it. This story covers such a wide spectrum of Jake Adelstein's life that writing it seems to have become his lifestyle. Which makes this book never ending. Once you finish the novel it points you towards a website: <[...]>. I read about this website with great doubt, the only reason I went to it was to see the one post I would expect on a personal website attached to a recent novel: "Sorry I can't update that often, very busy doing a book tour, etc., etc." Instead I found multiple posts as long as chapters in the book describing recent events that have happened since the novel finished. Not only are the posts well written like the novel, but he comments back in full to each comment left on his posts! Or in my particular situation I left him my e-mail and he sent a personal e-mail to me providing contact information since I was curious about going to Japan in the near future.

I can not believe the support behind this novel and I may pick up an extra copy to have in pristine condition (I have a tendency to rough up my novels when I read them the first time.) This is a novel for a new age where people are always connected to the internet, Jake's Twitter also provides access to any book tours that he may be on or whether he is going to have a reading here in America or back in Tokyo.

Rating :

Exellent Read! Fascinating window on the darker side of aspects Japanese culture and the human condition.

When I started reading this book I had a very different expectation as to its content based on my perception of Japanese culture. This book opened a fascinating window on darker aspects of that culture I was only peripherally aware of. It is also an interesting tale of slow self corruption where the fall is not from on high. Rather a fall from a place of moral ambiguity at best to a place that is way dark and twisted. One wonders if there is any true recovery from such a place but hopes that there is.

I highly recommend this book as a fantastic (if dark) read and a real page turner.

Rating :

Great book, it was a page turner!

I heard about Tokyo Vice from the Daily Show and another friend who read the book. I finally started reading it and couldn't put it down. Jake Adelstein is great story teller and his experiences in Japan were incredible. I didn't know anything about the yakuza before reading the book, I'm interested in finding out more now. I highly recommend this book!

Rating :

More reviews...