An impressive guide that will persuade readers to pack their bags.
This comprehensive work is both a trove of practical advice and a paean to the idea of travel.
To say that Axelrod is a world traveler (he is also a photographer) is a rank understatement. He has set foot on all seven continents, most much more than once. In fact, such is his passion that an alternate subtitle for the book could be “Live To Travel, Travel To Live.” Chapter headings include “No More Excuses,” wherein he knocks down all the standard reasons for not going on a trip and addresses Covid-19; “Flight School,” in which he guides readers through the Byzantine world of air travel (reservations, frequent flyer miles, bargain hunting, the impact of Covid-19, even seating); and “Food, Fun, and Freedom,” adventures at the destination itself. He is a font of pithy pronouncements: “Build your dream trip as if you were building your dream home”; “A well planned trip…integrates into, rather than interrupts, your life”; and—on souvenirs—“Please do not be that nincompoop who comes back from Puerto Vallarta with a giant sombrero.” And who else might seize on a Tourbillon watch as a metaphor for building an itinerary—or even know that there is such a thing. Naturally, there are anecdotes from some of his trips (Bosnia, Tahiti, Greece). And even though the sojourn in Tahiti was more disaster than delight, he manages to wring some pleasant recollections out of it. Positive thinking is an ineradicable part of Axelrod’s makeup, and readers will admit that it is infectious. In a “don’t take my word for it” gambit, he deftly backs his arguments with experts in the field of travel research, a real growth industry. The copious backmatter includes pages upon pages of reference notes—the man is a bear for research. Certain chapters, like the one on air travel, can be overwhelming if readers are not familiar with app culture, arcane websites, and the credit card shuffle. On the other hand, he often summarizes dense discussions with bulleted lists, a convenience for overloaded readers, and likes to set up and then torch straw men, a sprightly way of presenting arguments.
An impressive guide that will persuade readers to pack their bags. (Acknowledgements, references, index)Pub Date: Jan. 11, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5445-2549-5
Page Count: 286
Publisher: Lioncrest Publishing
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.
The veteran actor, comedian, and banjo player teams up with the acclaimed illustrator to create a unique book of cartoons that communicates their personalities.
Martin, also a prolific author, has always been intrigued by the cartoons strewn throughout the pages of the New Yorker. So when he was presented with the opportunity to work with Bliss, who has been a staff cartoonist at the magazine since 1997, he seized the moment. “The idea of a one-panel image with or without a caption mystified me,” he writes. “I felt like, yeah, sometimes I’m funny, but there are these other weird freaks who are actually funny.” Once the duo agreed to work together, they established their creative process, which consisted of working forward and backward: “Forwards was me conceiving of several cartoon images and captions, and Harry would select his favorites; backwards was Harry sending me sketched or fully drawn cartoons for dialogue or banners.” Sometimes, he writes, “the perfect joke occurs two seconds before deadline.” There are several cartoons depicting this method, including a humorous multipanel piece highlighting their first meeting called “They Meet,” in which Martin thinks to himself, “He’ll never be able to translate my delicate and finely honed droll notions.” In the next panel, Bliss thinks, “I’m sure he won’t understand that the comic art form is way more subtle than his blunt-force humor.” The team collaborated for a year and created 150 cartoons featuring an array of topics, “from dogs and cats to outer space and art museums.” A witty creation of a bovine family sitting down to a gourmet meal and one of Dumbo getting his comeuppance highlight the duo’s comedic talent. What also makes this project successful is the team’s keen understanding of human behavior as viewed through their unconventional comedic minds.
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-26289-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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