Access Los Angeles 9e (9th ed) [Paperback]

Richard Saul Wurman (Author)

Book Description

Series: 9th ed | Publication Date: December 30, 1998

From stargazing in the Beverly Hills Hotel to basking in the sunny shores of Malibu and browsing at the trendy shops on Rodeo Drive, this guide takes visitors on a tour of the glitz and glamour of the City of Angels. Each city block is described in this guide with colour-coded entries showing the restaurants, hotels, shops and parks, cultural and historic sites of interest to visitors. Along with maps keyed to these entries, each guide in the series features prices and quality ratings, notes on the city's history and architecture and "Bests" sections in which well-known residents share their personal recommendations.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

With the publication of his first book in 1962 at the age of 26, Richard Saul Wurman began the singular passion of his life: that of making information understandable. A holder of both M. Arch. & B. Arch. degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, he has been awarded several grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, a Guggenheim Fellowship, two Graham Fellowships & two Chandler Fellowships. In 1991, Richard Saul Wurman received the Kevin Lynch Award from MIT for his creation of the ACCESS travel guides. In 1994, he was named a Fellow of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland & awarded a Doctorate of Fine Arts by the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA. In 1995, he received an Honorary Doctor of Letters from Art Center College of Design & was Chairman of Graphic Design & Product/Industrial Design of the1995 Presidential Design Awards. Richard Saul Wurman continues to be a regular consultant to major corporations in matters relating to the design & understanding of information. He is married to novelist Gloria Nagy, has 4 children & lives in Newport, Rhode Island.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Collins Reference; 9th edition (December 30, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0062772597
• ISBN-13: 978-0062772596
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,344,022 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Some information in this book is 10 years out of date., February 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Access Los Angeles 9e (9th ed) (Paperback)

I have lived in the Los Angeles area most of my life and know the city well. I purchased this book in hopes of aquainting myself with new and unusual places in my city. I also had guests coming from out of town, whom I had planned to loan this book, to help them get around.

After glanceing through the West Hollywood / Hollywood section, for not more than 10 minutes, I found over 5 glareing errors. Most were listing for businesses long gone. On average these businesses had been closed for 5 years. The worst example was for the Esprit clothing store on La Cienega and Santa Monica Boulevard. Esprit closed at this site 10 years ago and the building had been vacant until 6 months ago. It is now a drug store.

This is the current and 9th edition of this book. None of the out dated information I saw was recent - there had been years to fact check this information.

The point of a travel book is to provide the reader with current, useful information on their destination. This book failed misserable.

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars I used it. It ruined my vacation., April 25, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Access Los Angeles 9e (9th ed) (Paperback)

The format of the Access books is terrific. Unfortunately, this bookis outdated to the point of being DANGEROUS to use. I visited L.A. insummer '99 with my husband and baby son. Beforehand, I carefully wentthrough this guide, using a hiliter marker and making hotel reservations from the recommendations of the author. Let me tell you about that hotel. When we arrived.... it was filthy.... To this day, my skin crawls to think of it. (We left).... For the rest of the trip, my hilighted sites turned out to be long-closed businesses, stores and restaurants. I can't tell you how much money I spent parking to go to places that turned out to have been closed for years. I understand that it's to be expected that 5-9% of the info in a travel guide is out of date by the time it goes to press.... I learned three lessons about travelling: one, call all the phone numbers first to be sure your chosen attractions are still open; two, never go to a "recommended" hotel that AAA ignored; and three, never buy a travel guide by this "expert" again.... Consider yourself warned.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Still making errors!, April 28, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Access Los Angeles 9e (9th ed) (Paperback)

I've been waiting for the 9th edition to come out because of the errors I found in the 8th edition. I've been a user of the Access guides for more than ten years and I have always found them very useful. However when I bought the 8th edition I had to call the publisher because there were many mistakes in the guide map numbering. They thanked me and said they would notifiy me when the next edition came out (naturally they didn't). I was very distressed from the first review on Amazon of the 9th edition. It appears that they don't really have anyone that checks for accuracy. I guess I'll wait for the 10th edition.