Spain Books

After digesting several other books on Portugal I received Karen Brown's book. Had I received her book first, I could have saved a lot of money and time because no other book comes anywhere close to providing the information and interest in visiting the places that she writes about. I cannot wait to read her other books. Wanted to have a vehicle there but was disuaded by the other publications. However, after reading her book I am anxious to rent a vehicle and visit all the wonderful adventures that she has written about. Sorry to say we only have 16 days this time, but rest assured we will return to finish the books descriptions of all the wonderful places. The web sites and phone numbers provided are extremely helpful; even moreso that the information provided by the state run tourism office. The encouragement to explore is there. Thanks once again for a wonderfully written guide book.

I used this book side-by-side with my Frommer's Portugal and found it to be a great complement. It excels at finding wonderful accommodations across the ENTIRE country. (My Frommer's book, I found, included only the most popular tourist spots, largely ignoring the Douro Valley, for example, which every traveler should see.) Each of the places we stayed was unique and spectacular, and many of them were not included in other travel guides. The regional itineraries were also very useful. While we didn't follow any of them to the letter but rather picked and choosed to suit our travel plans, the book pointed out lots of special points of interest, again not always mentioned in my Frommer's book. (Were it not for these itineraries, we undoubtedly would have missed seeing the medieval castle at Marvao, a highlight of our trip.)

For in-depth coverage of all of the regions of Portugal and lodging recommendations you can trust, this book is it.

This was my first time buying a Karen Brown guide, and it certainly won't be my last.

I have used many different guidebooks around Europe: Let's Go, Rick Steves, Lonely Planet, Rough Guides, Eyewitness Guides, and Frommer's and this Knopf CityMap Guide to Madrid was excellent for my trip. I went to Madrid for 8 days for a conference. So I had to be at the conference for 5 days all day except for dinner. This book made it very easy to hit the essentials and find places to eat within the short time I had to explore. The maps are THE BEST MAPS OF ANY GUIDEBOOK! Separated by area of Madrid, they are easy to read, are on stiff pages that don't blow around and get mangled like most do, and are easy to find quickly while walking down the street. The only thing I'd say bad about the maps is that they don't show all of the side streets, but if they did they'd get too busy. It has metro maps too. I found vegetarian food with this guidebook.

This guide made a 4-day visit to Madrid one of the most enjoyable sightseeing trips I've ever done. It is especially useful for people who like to do sightseeing on their own. Many of Madrid's sights, museums, and treasures are packed into an area that is walking distance from the City center and this innovative travel book made getting from one place to another on foot a breeze.

It divides the city into sections with a single fold-out page for each section. Each page has an easy-to-use map that can be read without a magnifying glass; brief highlights of the museums with hours and admission information; points of interest; architecture features; history notes as well as a few well-chosen bar, restaurant, and entertainment recommendations. The pages are printed on a heavy card stock so they stand up when you fold them out and the size is perfect for navigating your way as you walk. When closed, it's only a little bigger than a passport and fits in a pocket or small purse.

We easily walked from our hotel to the Prado, the royal palace, plaza mayor, crystal palace, Atocha train station, and dozens of other sights and museums in just 4 days. The restaurant recommendations were consistently outstanding. In each case, the restaurants were small, beautifully decorated, offered deliciously unique foods at reasonable prices. We would never have found these great restaurants if it were not for the book. They were close to major points of interest, but off the main roads, hidden in alleys and neighborhoods with little signage.

I've used maps for sightseeing in other cities - Rome, Paris, London, Amsterdam-- but this is the first time I was never lost, never had to ask directions, and enjoyed so many delightful dining experiences. I will definitely look for Knopf's city guide the next time I plan an urban sightseeing trip.

Ok.. I am a travel book freak. This is the best travel guide around. I have about seven of them Barcelona,Rome,Naples,New York, Venice etc... Everything about this guide is great. Visually great ...Small fits in
your pocket or small purse Great maps.. hard to get lost even in Venice. Great recommends ,hotels, food and.. I am a shopper.. Absolutely great & unusual shops ..None of the bad tourist gear only the styling gear.. .I had five guides to Rome over two trips to Rome this is the one we used every day...Do not go anywhere without this guide if there is one available for the destination Im will be traveling to....

I had checked out a book from the local library and liked it so much I came on amazon to buy that book, Fodor's Rome's 25 Best, 6th Edition (25 Best). Amazon then recommended this book to me and after looking it over decided to give it a try.

My wife and I went on a 12 day cruise of the Med and ended that we 3 days in Rome right before Thanksgiving 2006 (Nov. 2006). This book more than paid for itself with all of the helpful reviews in it and suggestions. But the topper for me was the quality and size of the maps. We looked enough like tourists in the city, but this little book and it's fold out maps helped us look a little less so. They were more than details enough, and having suggestions on them we found a wonderful place to eat one night, it was great.

If you want something that is small and compact, yet still provides great details in terms of maps of a city this is the book for you. And there is no huge map to fold and unfold as you walk around a city. This book breaks the city in to sections and based on where you are you have only a small map to easily unfold and use.

I highly recommend this book.

es un libro intenso, en el que se siente la fuerza narrativa de vargas llosa. en realidad a veces crees estar en esa selva donde pasan semanas y llueve a cantaros. muy recomendado, es vargas llosa en uno de sus mejores momentos.

Luis Mendez

Este es uno de los mejores trabajos de Vargas Llosa, hay sentimiento, intriga, historias que se entrecruzan y sobre todo una captura perfecta de ciertas características latinoiamericanas que nos hacen tan universales.

I always wondered what the real legend was...Heard the story throughout my childhood...

This book is a great version for younger children who you don't want to scare too much with this story.

I found this book last year in Spanish and was very impressed. It is one of the finest stories that I have ever read. Recently I translated the story into English to show it to my friends and family.You could say that I have been " up close and personal" with it for the past 6 weeks.

I would advise anyone who likes great literature to read El Camino also by Delibes.

This has been my favourite short story since I was a teenager.I have read it many times and it always awake my deep feelings, the description of the situation of a boy who finds his father died and the way he manage himself to overcome the situation is just of great maestry.Only a great author like Delibes can awake your sensibility in the way he does with this story.Read it and you will realise he is one of the greatest novelist of the XX century.

Si a Monterroso no le dan el nobel por lo menos publiquenle su trabajo en un libro de primaria de su pais.

Monterroso es un mago de la satira. Sus cuentos tienen veneno y de pronto hasta alguna que otra moraleja. La Oveja Negra es una de las historias mas repetidas en la historia Latinoamericana y Monterroso la redacta con un cuento "inofensivo"

Es tan dificil describir este monstruo de la literatura que solo recomendare comprar el libro...

Monterroso uses simple fables, that superficially are very funny, but once you associate each one to human society, you'll find that the author is able to slap us in the face, in his own unique way. I would describe his writing as one of the most elegant. Read this book, if you want to think about humanity path, while having a good laugh too.

Jeff koehler's recipes comprising LA PAELLA: DELICIOUSLY AUTHENTIC RICE DISHES FROM SPAIN'S MEDITERRANEAN COAST requires access to fresh seafood for success. That said, this is a culinary recipe collection that packs in paella rice/seafood dishes on nearly every page - and adds a few non-seafood dishes from rabbit to pork to boot - making for an excellent survey of the varied tastes of paella. Color photos of Spanish dishes and finished paellas liberally pepper a survey which lends to beginner use: dedicated gourmet club members and community libraries strong in ethnic cookbooks will find it a very appealing addition to their collections.

I like rice. A lot. I value it almost as highly as my eyes, and possibly a bit higher than my hands.

I got this a few hours ago, so I haven't cooked from it, but I have sat around reading it. I like it. One recipe caught my eye for its oddness. It calls for thyme stems, with the leaves and flowers discarded. I can't say I've ever seen a recipe do that. I've seen lots that want the flowers in the pot and the stems discarded, and plenty that want both leaves and stems.

The recipes are diverse. My first flip through it looked to me like it was heavy on rabbit, and snail. A subsequent investigation tells me that it is much more diverse. I skimmed over at least one vegetarian recipe (I think there are actually three of them), as well as diverse dishes calling for all manner of fish and crustacean, plus rabbit, pork, snail, mushroom, squid ink, and vegetable. It is a bit heavy on snails. But I'm sure you can leave them out of some of the dishes.

Overall I'm far more happy about this purchase than I thought I would be.

Es increible este libro: a mi juicio el mejor de la serie de las fundaciones. Este libro esta dividido en dos partes: la primera, corresponde a la busqueda de la secreta segunda fundacion por El Mulo, mutante con poderes para controlar las emociones de masas humanas. La segunda parte es la busqueda de la segunda fundacion por parte de la primera.
En resumen, un libro muy pero muy bueno, sobre todo el combate entre el Primer Orador de la Segunda Fundacion y el Mulo.

Podría decirse que Isaac no es muy imaginativo al retomar los elementos centrales de cualquier teoría sobre la evolución histórica de Europa. Pero sin embargo, basado en esa plataforma, construye con la creatividad que le caracteriza, toda una serie de detalles de fantasía del futuro, que yo solo había leido en Julio Verne. Es fantástico. Yo he regalado 4 veces su colección "trilogía", y hoy me he quedado sin un ejemplar en español de estos bellos tomos.

Published by the vaunted Red Crane Books of Santa Fe, New Mexico, this three volume set on religious art and wooden artifacts of New Mexico is a rare, rich visual and intellectual repast. It would be a treasured gift, one to which collectors and aficionados will return time and again.

Larry Frank is remembered for "The New Kingdom of the Saints" (1997), while Skip Miller is curator and director, Taos Historic Museums.

With 842 stunning color photographs and 848 pages A Land so Remote surely holds the most comprehensive and accessible information on this subject. Many of the photos included are of rare objects gleaned from nine museums and a number of private collections. Carefully selected for the part each plays in this artistic corpus, photos are accompanied by concise essays that enhance knowledge while still piquing an interest to know more.

Volumes I and II beautifully present the growth of religious art during a period of over 125 years. It was a time when in order to undergird their faith Spanish settlers turned to santos, visual representations of saints. Thus was born an art form unique to America which once was of great import in churches, communities and homes.. Santos were, if you will, incarnations of the hopes and dreams of these immigrants.

"Rightly understood," author Frank remarks, "santos are a kind of `liberation theology' written in the language of wood, plaster, and paint, an understanding of Christianity that empowers the poor to free themselves from unjust socioeconomic and cultural structures in the larger world and within themselves.

Volume III centers on wooden objects, such as tools, furniture, toys, and domestic utensils. These objects testify to the influence of the Spanish on the traditions of the indigenous inhabitants of this region.

Photographer Michael O'Shaughnessy described his task as a "...wonderful, often awesome, experience of having such close contact with material that radiates the love and importance that their makers brought to their creation."

Such is the case with readers as they leaf through the pages of these landmark volumes.

- Gail Cooke

A LAND SO REMOTE

Prior to the holidays, I received a great gift, a copy of the beautifully produced three-volume study A Land So Remote, authored by Larry Frank and Skip Miller, and published by Marianne and Michael O'Shaughnessy of Red Crane Books, Publishers, Santa Fe.
Creation of a successful publication of this magnitude can only be accomplished by many who work in concert, in this case scholar, editor, publisher and, of course, those who are willing to share their treasures with anyone wishing to turn the pages in this landmark study. Frank and Miller have devoted a large percentage of their lives carefully studying and painstakingly handling objects-some of religious importance, powerful images that were the subject of daily devotion, while other objects that served a useful function in the lives of hundreds of thousands attempting to make their lives easier. To the Hispanic, Native American, and the Anglo, these objects were an integral part of daily life-whether as an expression of their spirituality, their intense religious devotion-- or to enable them to perform certain physical tasks-- cutting wood or baking bread.
The authors, in concert with photographer Michael O'Shaughnessy, have treated each object sympathetically, whether it be a santo or bulto, or packsaddle or carreta wheels, with the same level of care, even reverence. The real joy is in seeing so many diverse objects fashioned out of wood and other materials in significant numbers. How often have we had the opportunity of examining page after page of images beautifully organized and described. The authors, of course, treat us to a display of work by lesser known santeros, as well as the most celebrated, notably José Rafael Aragon. Volume two devotes pages 288 to 377 to some of the most powerful religious images by Aragon and his followers that the reader will ever experience.
Since 1974, I have been a frequent visitor to New Mexico and have written a few books on the Anglo painters. After reading Miller's and Frank's essays, I said to myself, "I wish I had written these words. Both scholars write with conviction and authority. They also write in a style I have labeled "an easy read." They have organized their material so that it makes sense. You understand why the objects were created, who created them and importantly, how they were created. Happily, these objects, some still in the churches in Ranchos de Taos, Chimayo, Taos, and chapels throughout the Southwest, others in museums and private collections, have been "gathered" and presented to the reader and viewer in a beautiful and effective manner (I was tempted to use the phrase elegant but refrained).
All reviews of the publication praise A Land So Remote for its visual appeal, handsome photographs," fascinating account of the history and culture of Hispanic New Mexico," scholarship, a major contribution to Hispanic studies. One critic even suggested that, before being placed in a glass case [with other rare books], it might serve as a coffee table book. Never! If anything, it will be a banquet table book, and will be the scene of great feasts-visual and literary. But their words, like mine, fail to express the impact this handsome three-volume study will have on you-the participant. This study will, like the objects that it treats, transcends time. Secure your copy. I can assure you that it will never gather dust (although it will go out-of-print).

Dean A. Porter, Ph. D.
Director Emeritus, The Snite Museum of Art
Professor of Art History
University of Notre Dame