An often entertaining look at the author’s adventures in the touring trade.
The author shares her experiences after trading the hectic corporate career for the laid-back lifestyle of a travel guide.
Siefkas’ (With New Eyes, 2015, etc.) book is ostensibly about how she broke away from office life to become happily ensconced among the many pleasures of Cuba, including its great weather, wonderful people, and excellent drinks (she even includes her favorite mojito recipe). However, its true appeal lies in the author’s wonderful tidbits about her tour-guide work. Cuba was only one of her stops; it was, in fact, the site of her first tour. But her travels in the tourist trade took her much farther afield, from Greece to Italy to New Zealand to Machu Picchu in Peru. One of her more intriguing observations is how easily a bunch of supposedly respectable adults can revert to high school behaviors while on a tour (including gossip and popularity contests). She often had to be the responsible adult among them, which meant dealing with their troubles, including urinary tract infections and seasickness. Siefkas is a lively writer; for example, she refers to cruise ships as “floating petri dishes” and explains that toilet seats are not always a given. She also shows an admirable can-do approach to her job: when faced with mismatched roommates—a night owl paired with an early bird—she simply offered her own room to one of them as a trade. However, her personal life experiences, while somewhat interesting, don’t have the same insider-y, fly-on-the-wall hook as her job accounts. Siefkas ably recognizes the perceived glamour of her occupation; her guests always want to know why she chose an untraditional career path with no health insurance or 401(k), and they always ask the inevitable end-of-tour question, “Are we your favorite group?,” to which she always responds, “I love this group. You’re real good eggs.” As it happens, Siefkas is a really good writer. Perhaps she’ll reshape more of her rich travel-guide memories to create another book, minus the more personal stories.
An often entertaining look at the author’s adventures in the touring trade.Pub Date: Dec. 24, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-9971963-2-0
Page Count: 268
Publisher: Heidi Siefkas Hide N Seek Media
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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