Columbia Books

Being a Tourist is not like other works on tourism. It isn't about how tourists affect the places they visit or about how to market your products to tourists. It explores how travel affects the tourists themselves.

Why do people who have comfortable homes travel to places where the food is unfamiliar, the language is difficult, and the locals think they are odd? For many reasons, of course, including curiosity, status, and restlessness. Professor Harrison interviews several dozen Canadian travelers to find out why they go, where they go, what they do when they get there, what they bring back, and what they get out of the experience. She also discuses the difference between traveler and tourist, and sensibly decides there's no significant difference.

Being a Tourist is an academic work, but it is readable and interesting for a general reader, too, especially if you are a traveler. Or a tourist. Whatever.

All of Robert Bringhurst's translations of Haida myth are essential reading. None is more strange, beautiful, majestic, nasty, and comprehensive than this third volume, which contains brilliant translations of two vast epics by Skaay, the most impressive of the mythtellers whose Haida was transcribed as well as translated by an anthropologist at the turn of the last century. Skaay was a philosopher as well as a poet--the two jobs originate together, after all--and few other books give such insight into the worlds that people made on this continent before Europeans came and imposed their own. Read and reread, and don't interpret. These are words with power.

I like it when an author takes a broad, difficult subject and 1.) gives a good generalization, with some proof 2.)penetrates very deep into a very few specific examples. Adelkhah does that quite well.

First, he touches on the broad view of an emerging civil culture in Iran, without which Iran cannot become a "modern" republic and certainly not a democratic one. He tells of the amazing changes to the city of Teheran as mayor Kharabashi challenged everyone to bring their (formerly private and exclusive) gardens out to the front of the street. If you have toured the traditional Middle East, you will have doubtless noticed that houses are built much like fortresses in the city-- emblematic of a culture that displays a seemingly congenital xenophobia.

He also traces the origins of the sports craze in Iran, and the explosion of public parks and spaces. One cannot walk away from the book without a genuine sense that the Islamic Republic of Iran is actually undergoing tectonic changes from within that threaten to cast aside the clerical domination of the country in favor of something entirely new to the world: a Muslim democracy, whatever that turns out to be.

This guide book covers everything you need to know about travel in and to Alaska. Brief but informative information given in an easy-to-find format makes it a great value compared to larger, more expensive guides. The convenient smaller size fits easily into your carry-on, briefcase,tote or glove box. I found it accurate and fact-filled!

Wow! We're signed up for a trip to Bella Coola this August, and found this book on Amazon. We've since recommended it to all of our fellow travelers, who are all enjoying it as much as we have. We've read alot on the area, and this book is our favorite. It's very comprehensive, covering everything from landscape to flora and fauna to history to First People. And the photography is stunning. We loved this book!

This little gem of a book features color reproductions of several paintings created by Emily Carr. Each image is paired with a bit of her writing, so that one has a sense of what she was thinking during or shortly after painting a particular landscape. This book is an ideal introduction to the art and prose of Emily Carr--not too long and not too short. It makes me want to see and hear more from this admirable Canadian woman.

A series of excellent prize-winning articles, ranging from the deeply touching "The Other Side of Hate" by Andrew Corsello to Ian Parker's inspired and funny analysis of fellow writer Christopher Hitchens. Not a clinker in the lot!

SONGS INCLUDE!!! A Broken-Hearted Me; Could I Have This Dance; Danny's Song; Daydream Believer; I Just Fall In Love Again; A Love Song; Lucky Me; Put Your Hand In The Hand; Shadows In The Moonlight; Snowbird; Walk Right Back; (Hey)What About Me; You Needed Me; You Won't See Me

I've had the older edition of this book for years and brought it on every road trip we've ever taken. Certainly it doesn't have every wonderful place you've ever stayed at -- but it has so many that are good it would be foolish not to follow the recommendations it provides.

My only complaint is that some of the wonderful places (which, granted, we never would have found had it not been for this book) have become so difficult to get reservations at that we find this book sometimes does not help for those last minute weekend trips out of town.

That said, if you live in the Northwest, consider this your bible -- from Portland to Vancouver, the Islands, and everywhere in between -- you will always find a reliable recommendation for a good table and a warm bed in the pages of this book.

This exchange of letters between two friends is a real encouragemnt to slow down and look at what happens in our gardens, yards and all of nature, during the course of a year. The fact that one writer is disabled is a plus for this book. Her viewpoint is vital to the slowing down process. The memories these two women share about gardens are inspiring, expecially to those who are keeping garden journals or should be! It will help the reader to be more observant.