Budget Books

This book is absolutely excellent, it has alot of wonderful and helpful information,I am very glad I brought this book, I'm almost ready to fire my wedding coordinator.

I recently purchased 3 books to plan my wedding, and I was recieved 5 more. This particular book is extremely helpful. There is certainly a lot of info that a thrifty person may have already considered, however it helps you bring things all together with a wide variety of options. The book is easy to follow, and the way it is written makes it easy to skip around without losing interest. Out of all the wedding planning books I purchased and recieved this is by far the most helpful.

To be frank, this book was a total waste of money. In all the 1000 Bargain Tips, I don't think I found ONE that I haven't already thought of, read about in a magazine or seen online.

Among the wonderful tips:
--Serve a less expensive meal to guests
--Order fewer flowers
--Buy a non-designer dress
--Borrow your ring pillow from a friend
--Get a photographer to cover just a few hours of the reception instead of staying the entire time

Wow, thanks for the insight!
How about, Save yourself $12 that could be used to buy your unity candle by NOT BUYING THIS BOOK.

I stupidly bought it in conjunction with 1000 ways to make your wedding special. Can't wait to crack THAT one open.

As the mother of the bride, and recent mother of the groom, I found this book to provide many useful ideas for invitations, flowers, the menu, cakes, and even my wedding day wardrobe. I was able to suggest great items and shopping strategies, which made me feel like an important member of the planning team. Highly recommended for parents who are helping to plan and pay for the wedding.

Everyone loves a bargain, but does being frugal mean cheap? Absolutely not! This book gives wise advice how not to break the wedding budget.

Both "1,000 Best Secrets for Your Perfect Wedding" and "1,000 Best Wedding Bargains are books (four and a half by eight inches), thickly filled with imaginative planning and just good to know info.

I bought this expecting it to be full of simple, how-to information, but unfortunately such is not the case. Basically the book is a big, long list of "don't forget to..."s. She explains everything you will need to do to make a movie, but doesn't explain how to do any of it.

She explains what the duties of the producer are, what they need to keep in mind, what they need to make sure to do, what they need to be prepared for, but that's it. There really isn't any information on how-to *make* a movie (the actual process), but instead information on what needs to be arranged in the making of a movie. Mostly she says "you're going to have to do this.... to find out how to do that ask around or hire someone". I bought the book because I don't want to (and can't afford to) hire someone and there's really not that many people I can ask for help.

However, I'm not saying the book is worthless, it's just not a book for someone who wants to make their own movie. This is a book for prospective *producers*. A producer that arranges more than creates. If your interest is in writing, directing, or shooting your own film, then look somewhere else. This book is better for someone who isn't creating a movie at all but instead arranging for the creation of a movie (in other words, a producer).

This is a sorely underappreciated book. I've owned a copy for years, and it's provided wonderful ideas and sound advice for beginning movie-makers. It even goes into detail on such subjects as casting, choosing 16mm or 35mm film, finding props, and location shooting.

I highly recommend this one.

I agree with the others reviewers that most of the information is is a checklist of don't forgets and filled with information that is "common: sense, but I still think that it is a very valuable book.

I am a film student and I have worked on an indy feature film and a commercial and I believe that both of those projects could have gone much better had the producers/directors had this information.

This book is perfect for the person who has no knowledge of film, but needs an overview of the process in order to get teir feet wet. The book also contains all the necessary forms for each phase of making a film.

This book is not what I thought it would be. As I read, I came to the conclusion that most of what I was reading was common sense (which is never common) and anecdotal stories. Not what I was looking for....

Dan Bessie came to an SFSU Film Student Union, meeting in 1985, with his then fist ed. of this book. I still have my copy. I have been teaching production for the last 10 years (in LA) where everyone wants to direct. I tell them to read this book first. If you do your homework as outlined in this book (on your low or high budget film) you will be able to focus on getting the image on film. Production of a film or video project requiers skills that many people need to work on. This book helps to outline the steps that must first be taken. There is no better outline I have found.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this book. I will definitely keep it for reference material for years to come. I highly reccommend it for those trying to save money and have a beautiful wedding.

I can't say I got many ideas from this book, but it did inspire me a bit. So many people tell you "wedddings are SO expensive" but this book tells you "yes, you can do it cheaper." I didn't actually use any of the ideas, most were pretty unoriginal. But it did a good job of keeping my spirits up, at those moments when I was feeling poor and pathetic while planning my wedding.

I downloaded this book and read it in about 90 minutes. Its not poorly written, but I found it to be very low on substance. I would say I only found about 5 cost saving tips that weren't immediately obvious and I've seen those same tips on wedding websites. The 3 case studies of low budget weddings weren't relevant to what most couples (in the North East) would be experiencing. In my opinion, the author is using oddball cases to support the idea that her advice will save you money, when in fact the weddings referenced would have been frugal anyway.

Overall, I'm very disappointed in this book. I rate it better than a single star in that its not a bad reference book if you know nothing about weddings. However, all of this information could be found on the web with little or no effort.

I recently purchased this book and it has been a GREAT source of useful information. Madeline not only tells you ways to save money when planning, she gives her readers an idea of what you should really spend your money on and where you can afford to cut costs. There are also specific examples of how couples have planned their weddings on a budget of only $3000!! In addition to all of this information, Madeline stresses the importance of setting your "goals" for your wedding to determine what is most important to you and your fiancee' so that you can decide how you would like to spend the money in your budget. I would recommend this book to ANYONE who is planning a wedding.

I've never been married and I've never planned a wedding reception...let alone a reception for 150+ people! Faced with the task of planning my parent's 50th Wedding Anniversary, this book has been a great source of comfort for me with it's practical suggestions and "real-life" accounts of couples and their budgets. The book may have been published in March 2000, but its principles and examples still apply! What seemed like a daunting task at first is now an exciting and creative process! A great book for a great price!

The revised edition of The Coming Economic Earthquake has some interesting information. For a somewhat different view you should check out "The Christian Financial Crisis" by James L. Paris.

This book clearly outlines why the recession is here and it was written in 1991 predicting it. Although the writer is Christian, he does not explain the recession as an end of times brought on by God. Previous reviews written by Christian haters should be ignored. Larry Burkett explains clearly what the government has been doing wrong with regards to our economy and why it is doomed. I highly recommend this book.

In the old testament when a prophet made a prediction that didn't come true they were exposed as a false prophet, taken out and stoned to death. I'm certainly not recommending it- just putting some perspective on our extreme tolerance for people that are consistently WRONG in their predictions. Only God knows what's going to happen, and it's GOD not government, or even we ourselves that provides for us. Burkett and a whole host of "Christian financial advisors" put WAAAAYYYYY too much stock in "planning and preparation". I don't discount it, but they do it and recommend it to the point of pride and idolitary. Do what YOU are supposed to do, and let God do the rest. Quit WORRYING (as worry is a sin) and trying to predict the future and get on with your life!!!

Written in 1991, and just analyzing the US economy based on its accumulation of debt, Burkett makes some startling predictions, including a fictional chapter of what might happen that reads like the headlines of October 2008. With government spending out of control, even more promised spending on the way, and a people that now expects entitlements - the collapse has to be near. There simply isn't enough money in the WORLD to keep propping up the US debt.

The parallels with 1930s Germany and 1970s Argentina should wake up folks to the disastrous effects of runaway debt, both personal and national.

As a Christian, though, Burkett makes sure to point out that all these difficulties are really just symptoms of the greater root problem: the nation has turned from God.

Those some of his predictions (such as 2000) about an economic earthquake hasn't happened yet nor are we that close even with the largest deficit in history. Although it's hard to predict such things...But Larry Burkett makes valid warnings about huge goverment and public deficits and it's impact on the economic that normally leads to hyper-inflation. My impression from the data contained in the book and history thereafter, the government deficit will not have a negative impact such as hyper-inflation till most of the baby boomers are retired. I wish Larry would have updated this topic! The book is still worth buying as it has valuable information, it's super cheap...

As a bride with a very limited budget I read this book from cover to cover and marked almost every page as having information I'd need along the way. Although some of it did not apply to me at all, the tips and suggestions given certainly inspired me to "get creative" with how things should be done. Thanks to this book I feel like my wedding will be the one I've always wanted, without breaking the bank! Thank you, Ms. McCoy, for showing that elegant does not have to mean $$$$.

The author gives great advice on cutting the bills and keeping the frills. For example, our wedding looks like it cost the average $20,000+, but it is only costing 7,000 or less. The book is extremely detailed and gives step by step instructions and ideas on the wedding from start to finish. I really got a lot of use out of the wedding checklists, the recipes, and the suggested vendor list. I've read it cover to cover a few times and have found this resource to be *Extremely Helpful*. I've only bought one wedding planner book - THIS ONE! :)

This book is a must read for brides like myself who want to have a truly elegant wedding but do not have a large budget. When I began to plan my wedding, I was discouraged by the high prices from vendors. I needed to know how to save money without compromising quality. Deb McCoy taught me how to do this! My wedding was beautiful and it did not cost a fortune... Thank you Deb!

In my opinion, this book was very unuseful.I found it to be a waste of $20. In the first few pages the author states..."A wedding is not a time to have it your way." She also feels that having portraits of the bride and groom or running videos of their love story in the reception "..is vulgar. A wedding is not supposed to convey a message to the guests that says, "I'm Queen For A Day," or "Look At Me!" Personally, I found this to be insulting. Of course the wedding day is supposed to be the bride and grooms' day to shine and to hare that day with the ones you love. In my opinion, you can find friendly and realistic advise in "Bridal Bargains" by Denise and Alan Fields or "How to Have a Big Wedding on a Small Budget" by Diane Warner. These books realize how important this day is to the couple and also present useful information on how to make it your day without the wasted money.

Deborah McCoy plays the role of the M-I-L from hell, whose advice you might appreciate, but whose snarky tone just sets your teeth on edge. You can practically hear her telling a bride, "Oh, dear, you DID plan on loosing some of that weight, didn't you?" Some of her tips on cutting costs without sacrificing quality were very helpful, but she just can't rein in the judgmental attitude that says, "Any bride who doesn't do it MY WAY is a horrible horrible person whose friends will all hate her." McCoy toots her own horn as a wedding planner over and over again, giving us at least one story per chapter about how she single-handedly saved some poor clueless bride's wedding day. Her tips would have been much more helpful if she were less rigid in her (often contradictory, often old-fashioned) etiquette and "elegance" rules. Her views on what is mandatory and what is unnecessary are completely out of touch with what most brides want, but she sets them down as absolutes that should not under any circumstances be deviated from. (For instance: Videographer, mandatory; limo, unnecessary. Hello???)
That said, she does offer some good tips, for instance recipes and instructions on making your own wedding cake and a great chapter on selecting engagement rings. If you can get this book from your library, you might glean some good ideas from it, but I would never recommend that you rely exclusively on this book when planning your wedding.

I purchased this book as a gift. I skimmed through it brifly and was satisfied with the information it contained, and then passed it on.

I am considering purchaseing a copy for myself.

I have read two books, looked at others and have been through several web sites and this book was the best source on Fly Rod Building. It gave the information a beginner needs to understand the different methods and options you have when building a Fly Rod. From the picking a blank, finding the spine, the reel seat, handle and of course wrapping the guides. Lots of information. Lot of pictures. Step by Step. Great book! Now all I have to do is build my own fly rod this winter.

This is a slick packaged book for sure, but author Art Scheck is plainly not a long time rod builder. This book seems to have been written by someone with little to no actual rod building experience. He expounds for page after page on things that have no bearing on actual rod building. His use of old fashioned and outdated guide spacing charts shows that he knows little of modern rod building methods. He used several hundred pages for information that could have been well covered in just 50. I've been building rods for 30 years and have kept up to date. I really think Art's book shows that he was not yet at the level of knowledge he needed to be at to write such a book.

Save your money, keep looking, There are many rod building books out there much, much, much better than this one.

If you read this book you will make an excellent rod. Easy to understand and gives you lots of options with clear explanations on what each delivers. Loved this book.

I've built 2 graphite fly rods. I have several other books on rod building. I've even taken a course on rod building. Art Scheck's book is the best on the subject. Very well illustrated! I picked up more than a few new tips for my next rod building project. I highly recommend this title for anyone considering building their own rod.

Who better to write a guide to Hollywood than Ed Wood Jr., the worst filmmaker in history? Wood's films include the absurd anti-classics, "Plan 9 From Outer Space," "Glen or Glenda?," and "Bride of the Monster" among others. In "Hollywood Rat Race" Wood gives advice on such matters as what to pack for your trip to Hollywood (angora sweater of course), how to get an agent, whether you should have sex to get a part, and how to sleep in the park for free, before finally recommending that you just stay home instead. The book seems to be less about advice, however, than about bolstering Wood's own self-image as an acclaimed writer-director-producer. He name-drops at every available opportunity, exaggerates wildly, and frequently gets sidetracked, rambling on about angora sweaters and people's strange fetishes. It often becomes unclear in his tirades whether he is attacking others or himself. He is outraged by:

drama teachers ("Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach... Let each of them challenge me. I accept! I have made many films, yet I do not teach. I wonder why the schools and colleges hire these never-has-beens.")

actors who criticize Hollywood ("Who are these people who hate Hollywood? Perhaps a bunch of communists?")

sleazy producers ("More than a few of them will be undressed and into your dress or sweater and skirt, almost before you've got them off.")

cross-dressers ("Many of your favorite movie actors go in for this fantastic fetish. Horror of a lawsuit keeps me from naming names.")

bad filmmakers ("The only science (or fiction) about [this science fiction film] was the fact it came into being at all. And this so-called producer is still around Hollywood today taking backers' money for the same crap")

cheap novelists ("It doesn't take an overwhelming talent to write these books")

I would not recommend "Hollywood Rat Race" to anyone who plans to move to Hollywood, or anyone who doesn't plan to move to Hollywood, unless, like me, you're morbidly fascinated by Ed Wood. Wood was anything but modest about his lackluster accomplishments, but he was right about one thing: "Perhaps none of our films, so far, have been up for awards, but they are entertaining pictures." Just not entertaining in the way he meant them to be.

My introduction to film maker Edward D. Wood,Jr., came one Saturday afternoon in 1996 while visiting our local movie rental store with my daughter Lara. By happen-chance,I purchased 'Ed Wood' starring Johnny Depp, a bio epic of Wood's best remembered films made between 1952 and 1962. While watching this movie I was captivated by the passion and persistence Wood exuded as an autuer, facing many hard times in trying to 'make-it' in Hollywood. His book 'Hollywood Rat Race' captures the essence of this experience and what it takes to become an "indie film-maker' before the word became vogue. A nicely written narrative for an aspiring autuer who wishes to get a glimpse of what it takes to make a movie. Wood is an anti-heroe [Orsen Wells a heroe] who gains the sympathy of the reader because of his tireless effort in documenting his vision in such film classics as, 'Glen or Glenda,1953', 'Jail Bait,1954', 'Bride of the Monster,1955', 'The Violent Years, 1956', "Plan 9 From Outer Space, 1957,'The Night of the Gouls,1958','Sinister Urge,1960 and 'Orgy of the Dead,1962'. A remarkable body work for a writer, director and producer on a micro-film-budget who is endearingly remembered as the "Worst film-maker of all time." As a fan, I toast this book and to the life and times of Mr. Wood, "It's beyond reason".

Frank Austan, LRCP

"Hollywood Rat Race," a guide to surviving in Hollywood by none other than Edward D. Wood Jr., should be considered a must for any of his fans. Unpublished until the late-nineties, this guide covers Ed's thoughts about acting, screenwriting, producing, and a lot more. In addition, this is probably the closest we're ever going to come to Ed's memoirs. He tells stories about his early Hollywood career, his films, his friends (Kenne Duncan, Lyle Talbot, Tom Keene, some long stories about Bela Lugosi), and, best of all, his own account of the notorios baptism performed to get financing for "Plan 9 From Outer Space."
Some highlights: his scattered references to angora; his referring to the "Plan 9" cast as "The best cast I ever had" (listing off the names of David De Mering and Ben Frommer as if they were legendary); his list of some top character actors (all of them obscure); and his guide to living in Hollywood without any money (sleep in the park!). It's all written in a decidedly humorous style.
In conclusion, if you're a self-respecting Ed Wood fan, you simply can't be without this book.

My introduction to film maker Edward D. Wood,Jr., came one Saturday afternoon in 1996 while visiting our local movie rental store with my daughter. By happen-chance,I purchased 'Ed Wood' starring Johnny Depp, a bio epic of Wood's best remembered films made between 1952 and 1962. While watching this movie I was captivated by the passion and persistence Wood exuded as an autuer, facing many hard times in trying to 'make-it' in Hollywood. His book 'Hollywood Rat Race' captures the essence of this experience and what it takes to become an "indie film-maker' before the word became vogue. A nicely written narrative for an aspiring autuer who wishes to get a glimpse of what it takes to make a movie. Wood is an anti-heroe [Orsen Wells a heroe] who gains the sympathy of the reader because of his tireless effort in documenting his vision in such film classics as, 'Glen or Glenda,1953', 'Jail Bait,1954', 'Bride of the Monster,1955', 'The Violent Years, 1956', "Plan 9 From Outer Space, 1957,'The Night of the Gouls,1958','Sinister Urge,1960 and 'Orgy of the Dead,1962'. A remarkable body work for a writer, director and producer on a micro-film-budget who is endearingly remembered as the "Worst film-maker of all time." As a fan, I toast this book and to the life and times of Mr. Wood, "It's beyond reason".

Frank Austan, LRCP

Ed Wood is famous as "the world's worst director." That title was never true, because his movies were always interesting even on a shoestring budget. In this book, the Great Man offers his [intentionally] hilarious advice for those aspiring to Hollywood. "Stay home," he insists. "You can be a devoted actor or actress there as well as any place."

All of his favorite fetishes are here in this book as he explores the [1960s version of] seedy Hollywood. He manages to mention "angora sweaters" nearly a dozen times throughout the book. Mr. Wood warns starlets that there isn't any film in that screen test camera. He explains how to seem like a bigshot while living a dive apartment-- have all your meetings downstairs at the complex's POOL. He brags that all of his movies got RELEASED [wow]-- unlike some other cheapie
directors. He even explains how to live for FREE in Hollywood [sleep in the park-- but don't forget blankets].

Chapter Ten: How to Make a Cheap Picture and Fail. "This is the easiest chapter of all to write,"-- Ed's implied admission that maybe he isn't the Hollywood BigWig he pretends to be.

Ed wrote his books as a stream of consciousness-- and it shows. But "Hollywood Rat Race" is like having a great three hour conversion with someone who's seen it all... and can still laugh about it!

The IFP/WEST Filmmakers Manual walks you through the line producing responsibilities of the movie SWINGERS. Written with detailed information including example budgets, call sheets and production notes. The book also provides useful situational anecedotes from the production.

This is the best resource for production management in independent filmmaking I have found to date.

The idea of an interview with Kevin Smith being a "bonus" is not appealing. Gimme REAL directors like Sydney Lumet or Jane Campion.

For the aspiring producer of independent films, the "IFP/West Independent Filmmaker's Manual" is a great book to read. It gives the reader a solid overview of virtially every stage of the production process.

With the production of "Swingers" still fresh in their minds, writers Nicole Shay LaLoggia and Eden H. Wurmfield give the reader an insider's view of making that all important first film. Although "Swingers" was made on a tiny budget and without the benefit of the Screen Actors Guild's new low budget agreements, the film proved successful within a fiercely competitive independent film market.

These producers had what it takes to get a small film made without the benefit of a big budget or big name stars. Since most of the readers of this book are probably starting off in a similar situation, their insights are especially helpful. Veteran producers (while the writers may be considered veterans now) often lose touch with what it's like to be a new producer.

It's also important to note that these producers simply did not roll over and die after making, "Swingers." At this writing, Eden H. Wurmfeld is a finalist for the Motorola Producer's Award, part of the IFP's Independent Spirit Awards for "Kissing Jessica Stein" and "Fanci's Persuasion." In short, these producers are out there in the trenches and speak from not just knowledge, but experience.

A very helpful feature of the book are a series of checklists, to remind the producer of his or her daily responsibilities. Producing is a high pressure job that is very detail orientated. I wish this resource had been available when I started producing a few years before this book was published.

On the two CD-ROMs included (one formatted for PCs, the other for Macs), you get a series of very worthwhile extras. This includes an ample supply of production forms and interviews with prominent people in the independent film world. The interviews include Geoffrey Gilmore (Sundance Film Festival), Kasi Lemmons (writer/director of "Eve's Bayou," the #1 independent film of 1997), Kevin Smith (writer/director of "Clerks), Jon Favreau ("Swingers") and Billy Bob Thornton ("Slingblade"). Also included are interviews with veteran producers Ted Hope and Christine Vachon. These are all great for the independent filmmaker, particularly if you're trying to make deeply personal films to play at film festivals and on the "art house" circuit. If you're just interested in making B-grade genre films, these will be less helpful.

My one complaint about the included production forms is that they include a navigational box at the upper left hand corner that says, "Return to Contents," that can't be removed unless you have the full version of Adobe Acrobat.

LaLoggia and Wurmfeld's book demystifies the role of the "creative producer" on independent feature films. However, if you're interested in a nuts and bolts book on the role of a "line producer" (which is essentially a production manager and not one who develops a project from scratch), this book may still be beneficial, but perhaps less so. This is also true for people interested solely in producing mass market films for the major studios. If you don't yet know the difference or are trying to figure out which way to go, this book is a great jumping off point.

Dive in, the water's fine.

This book was a big disappointment. It seems half the pages are just print outs of forms, budgets, etc. The information tucked between the pages of forms is the same stuff found in many more comprehensive and readable books. It seemed to be written by a computer, not a person. The index is weak as is the glossary. These folks made one movie and thought they could tell the rest of the world how it's done. The hubris is only exceeded by the vapidity. Sent mine back for a refund.

I was slightly disappointed by this book. But I had heard so much hype about it that anything short of a divine masterpiece was going to be a let-down. I will however strongly recommend this book to someone who is knowledgable about film, has a worthwhile project, and wants to know how to get it off the ground because what the authors do is detail how they went about making their indie film Swingers. Many will find this useful as it will tell you how to go about organizing, scheduling, budgeting, and then shooting your project. Anything you could possibly need to know is discussed. The one thing that I found the most enjoyable though was the cd it comes with that contains interviews with Kevin Smith (director of Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, and Dogma) and others.

Not knowing anything about Australia, I was hesitant about taking off on my own but after reading the Let's go book, it seemed like I knew the country. When I got there I felt I had an edge, not only did I know places to stay and where to eat, I learned about a number of unspoiled spots to explore. I've seen other books and this one is definately the best!

I used the 1999-Aus book as a guide for my trip to Australia. From the very beginning where it guided me to the cheapest ticket to Sydney, I knew it was a great book. The maps in the book were good and the activities suggested were fantastic. If you are in college or recently out (like me) and you enjoy the outdoors this book is for you. Among my complaints were some of the food establishments suggested: one even made me sick. My other large complaint is that there are plenty of cheap hotels in Aus that aren't reviewed or suggested. Let's go seems to favor hostels above all else. The Final Word: If you need to plan your trip and want suggestions of what to see (anywhere, ANYWHERE in the country) then I whole heartedly suggest this book.

It's an OK guidebook to Australia and I suppose it will improve in later editions. As a local who has travelled around Australia using it and the Lonely Planet, I'd have to say LP is better, Lets Go has a few fairly obvious errors such as names of towns on maps, and it lacks information about some ofthe more remote areas.

I find Let's Go guides are always great. But after travelling around a country as big as Australia, something more than accurate information is needed. I used the Frommer's Guide from $50 a day as well as this one. I found Frommer's is easier for organizing a trip where you have to be aware of the very long distances. Information is better classified and very professional. It offers a cut above backpacker's information too and excellent advice on diving and other adventures. (And a detail that at least really simplifies my economy is that prices always have the AUD value beside them.) Of course, Let's Go, printed later, has better information on the Sydney 2000 Olympics and a wider variety of hostels.

If you're backpacking through AU you'll probably love this book. But you'll love Lonely Planet even more. Its a decent guide to AU and brushes on the best parts of AU while doing a great job on the "touristy" parts. Lonely Planet is much better.

If you are looking for "decent" eats and stays look elsewhere.

If you want SCUBA reccomendations, don't go here. But for a cheap stay in Cairnes, try the "Great Northern" hotel.

I have just came back from China using this book for my travel. One BIG mistake this book did not tell you is DON'T TRAVEL IN CHINA during 5/1-5/5 and 10/1-10/5. Apparently, the WHOLE COUNTRY is on a 5 day holiday. This has been going on for the past 2-3 years. When you look in the book, it only tells you that 5/1 and 10/1 are holidays. No, no, no. Majority of the country is on the move. Transportation, lodging and food service are difficult to find. A lot of government services are either closed or on minimum service schedule.

Some of the prices and ticket prices are already out of date. I guess they have not made the effort to update this.

A train schedule with explaination would've been extremely helpful. I was lucky to be able to speak Chinese. Even I was unable to make head or tail of the schedule that I brought. You can only buy one way train ticket. If you want round trip, you have to buy it at the other end or through a travel agent.

I just returned from a Spring Break trip to China and found Let's Go China 2000 to be immensely helpful. This book helped me overcome one of my biggest fears about going to China--the language barrier. Let's Go China has a remarkable bilingual tranlation system. For each place of interest, restaurant, hotel etc. the book lists not only the English name and the phonetic tranlsation, but also the Chinese characters. Since very few locals speak English and very few of them could understand my half-hearted attempt at pronouncing "Qianmen Xi Dajie" (Front Gate Boulevard West), I could simply show them the printed character name of the place that I wanted to go, and they'll point the way. (This worked even better with taxi drivers, most of whom do not speak English).

In addition, all of Let's Go China's street maps had English and Chinese. So when I was totally lost in the Muslim Quarter in Xian, I just walked up to an old muslim guy sit'in on the corner and showed him my map. He was able to locate himself on the map using the Chinese and then pointed the directions on the map. I understood his instructions by following the English. This is a truly useful innovation that really helps independent travelers. Foreign travelers with other guides without bilingual maps were too afraid to venture into the hard-to-navigate places like the hutongs (catacomb of alleyways in Old Beijing) so they hired expensive trickshaw tours. I was able to apply my savings to better uses.

Let's Go is really good at mixing budget advices and highlighting pricy, but unforgettable places to visit. For example the Fangshan Restaurant in Beihai Imperial Park (formerly the banquet hall of emperor) was one of the fanciest places that I've ever eaten at. Sure, it was pricy, but I got around it by ordering a few pieces of dessert and a coke. The imperial ambiance was incredible! Another great place: The Louwailou restaurant on the West Lake in Hanghzou, a favorite of Chiang Kai-shek and Zhou Enlai. The West lake sweet and sour carp (heavenly!) puts all of these Chinese carry outs in America to shame. Another myth: budget travelers can't go to casinos. Being from New Jersey, I know that Atlantic City is the cheapest place to eat, stay, and get entertained. So going to Macau was more of a cultural experience (Oriental plus Portuguese) for me.

China's changing so fast that I was surprised at how up-to-date LG China. While fellow foreigners I met spoke of frustration over the inaccuracies of their 1997 or 1998 guides (One poor Brit in Hangzhou wasted half a day in Hangzhou searching for a hotel that had been bulldozed), I had no problems with prices changes, transportation schedules etc. Let's Go even included the new Beijing Subway Line, which just opened last October.

The biggest savings I made was before I even left the US. Following Let's Go's advice, I booked my plane ticket from travel agents in New York's Chinatown. They've got the cheapest deals. My round trip from JFK to Beijing was only $680 compared to more than $1100 quoted on a lot of websites.

Now's a great time to visit China. Prices are very low after months of deflation. A lot of the country's historical relics are disappearing. With a book like Let's Go China to breakdown the information barriers, there's no reason not to go.

My unforgettable China odyssey took me through Beijing, Xian, Hong Kong, Macau, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Shanghai, Suzhou and Nanjing in two weeks.

I find it interesting that for a group of people that supposedly have limited financial resources, there are now no fewer than five publishers catering specifically to low-budget travelers. One of the earliest entrants to this market was Let's Go, which until recently focused mostly on European and North American destinations using their staff of Harvard student writers.

The first edition of Let's Go China arrived in stores just in time for the year 2000. In line with political realignments, the 779-page book includes Hong Kong and Macau, along with some nicely detailed maps for major cities.

In the beginning of the book, a short introduction describes the writing process: writers are selected in the spring, trained for several months, then give seven weeks to travel in their assigned area. This leads me to believe that the writers are on the road during what would be their summer vacation from college. However, based on the writing in Let's Go China, one

of three things happened: 1) Let's Go writers traveled much earlier or later than this description indicates; 2) Let's Go writers are not terribly observant; or 3) Let's Go writers didn't actually visit some of the places they claim and relied instead on word-of-mouth or tourist information.

Case in point: the Shanghai entertainment section refers to one of the city's arts and leisure magazine as iSH. That publication, now known as That's, hasn't been called iSH since early last year. If the writer actually picked up a copy of the magazine, they would have known that, and given the publication's wide distribution, it's hard to miss.

Let's Go's Macau section makes only a passing reference to that city's "notoriously racy nightlife." How is it that a budget travel guide can recommend casinos? Are backpackers trying to save on accommodation so they have money for baccarat? Also, on said racy nightlife, the book points readers to the Jai-Alai Palace and Casino near the Macau Ferry Pier as a place to gamble. Gamble is the correct phrase: a wrong turn inside any one of the Jai-Alai's three main doors could put the unsuspecting visitor inside a full-fledged, Thai-style brothel. Wouldn't it have been a good idea to mention that Macau is the sex tourism destination of choice for Hong Kongers?

It's also clear that the Harvard folks didn't do their homework in places. In describing modern Chinese music, the author coins the phrase "Sino-pop" and then tries to pass it off as regional nomenclature. Sorry, Charlie: the correct phrase is Mandopop (hence the name of the popular column) or Cantopop according to the Chinese dialect in which it is sung. Also, don't intermingle phrases like popular music and rock n' roll; this isn't Ethnomusicology 101. Don't say "Cui Jian, Dou Wei and Faye Wong (Wang Fei) are widely considered to be among the performers on the cutting edge of Chinese popular music." Cui and Dou are rock musicians, whose work does not qualify as "popular music." Faye Wong is a mega-star; Faye was cutting-edge when she was covering The Cranberries in Cantonese five years ago.

In terms of printing and layout, Let's Go China looks remarkably like The Rough Guide to China. The China guide is not as focused as other books in the same series. For example, Let's Go London never acknowledges that there are hotels or restaurants that cost more than several pounds per night or per meal. However, while the China book stays true to this maxim by listing only budget hotels, it frequently refers to restaurants, such as Beijing's Fangshan Imperial Restaurant, that would be way of its target audience's budget at a minimum of 160 RMB per person. Why bother? Are there people crashing in backpacker dorms so they can eat like emperors? Lonely Planet's most recent China book (1998) lists hotels and restaurants in all price ranges even though their contempt for anything above mid-range (and consequently anyone who would stay or eat there) is clear.

The book is good about connectivity, and makes recommendations on where to find Internet access wherever possible, even though it erroneously lists Sparkice's Internet cafes in Beijing as "Dragon Pulse Internet Cafes." Along the same lines, though, it fails to provide any guidance on helpful Web sites that could give the potential visitor some desktop advice before departing.

The above points are likely to be details that the resident would notice but not the traveler. However, that's the whole point of a budget guide, is to arm the visitor with enough information so that they don't wind up lost, cheated, or otherwise at the mercy of those who would prey on them.

Overall, Let's Go China is disappointing. Despite its unbearably sarcastic style and anti-Chinese tone, Lonely Planet's guide remains the book of choice for China travelers on minimal budgets.

On the previous review, one question: how could this book be reviewed by a reader in August 1999 when it wasn't published until December 1999? And from Cambridge, MA, Let's Go's home turf? That sounds a bit strange.

I found this guide helpful, especially in Beijing. The writing is good and I especially liked how place names were printed in Chinese characters (which made it easy to show taxi drivers). I do find it regretful that the writers only spend seven weeks in the country though. Many people travel during the other 45 weeks of the year and it would be nice to have authoritative information from the non-peak tourist season.

I have been to China 5 times and on my most recent trip used this book. I've used both Fodor's and Frommer's guide before. I found this book to be the most complete and accurate of the three. This book also covered a lot of the smaller destinations such as interesting cities that the other guides ignore or lend short thrift to (for instance, Kaifeng).

However, I'm unclear why China needs a budget travel guide as China must be one of the cheapest places to travel to in the world. So, I was a little disappointed that it didn't list some of the more "expensive" restaurants ($8-$15/person for Beijing duck at a real fancy place for example).