Avant-Guide New York City (Avant-Guide Books) [Paperback]

Dan Levine (Editor), Michael Benabib (Photographer)

Book Description

Series: Avant-Guide Books | Publication Date: November 1998

Featuring comprehensive, authoritative on new, unique, and fashion-forward hotels, restaurants, shops, and nightlife in America’s cultural, culinary, and style capital, Avant-Guide New York City is packed with straightforward reviews from insiders who are not afraid to attack sacred cows or praise a hidden treasure. The guide contains essential background information on the history of the Big Apple and a savvy guide to its richly varied neighborhoods. Written to appeal to seasoned visitors looking for a new approach to their favorite destination, the guide profiles important personalities who drive the cultural scene and offers exciting ideas for visitors with or without children. Cleverly designed with lots of fully plotted, full-color maps, Avant-Guide New York City offers innovative detachable directories that provide indispensable information in a portable format.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Avant-Guide's New York City is a witty, sometimes gritty, and always entertaining and informative guide that chomps into the core of what the Big Apple is all about.

With a street-smart hipster's attitude, New York City covers attractions in each of New York City's five boroughs, as well as Manhattan's particular neighborhoods, focusing on the personalities that define them. Short essays introduce us to Cynthia Rowley, a clever fashion designer; David Hershkovits, co-editor and publisher of PAPER magazine--"New York's hippest monthly"; and controversial performance artist Karen Finley, among others. Readers see New York's stable roots and its free-flowing creative sides. The restaurant and entertainment sections are particularly notable for their "insider" recommendations. This guide wrestles with stereotypes as it goes, covering the practical information about New York City while conveying the city's attitudes vividly in its prose. This is a guidebook that at times reads like an extended counterculture essay. Trend-seekers, club-hoppers, epicures, and avid shoppers will all feel they've gotten something from this book, which so slyly follows a side current of the main stream. --Byron Ricks

From Library Journal

This is part of a new series of travel books designed for "cosmopolitan travelers," and the general format is more active than that of many travel books. Pages intersperse black-and-white photos cut into squares, circles, and triangles with text highlighted in black, yellow, and green. There is a lot of text, with topics subdivided into ten main areas: Engaging, Navigating, Sleeping, Sightseeing, Exploring, Exercising, Buying, Eating, Entertaining, and Planning. Descriptions are more biting than usual, e.g., the Guggenheim Museum is called a giant toilet bowl, and a "Tourist Traps" section is included. Entertaining includes Gay/Lesbian, Live Folk, and Sex, illustrating how inclusive this book tries to be. The cover is bright and appealing, but the text-intensive content may deter many. In addition, there are few maps. This book may be most useful for those already familiar with the city. Consider buying for large public libraries located near New York.?Alison Hopkins, Queens Borough P.L., Jamaica, NY
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 242 pages
• Publisher: Empire Press; 1st edition (November 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1891603019
• ISBN-13: 978-1891603013
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 4.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,278,970 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars In depth, informative, cool, February 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Avant-Guide New York City (Avant-Guide Books) (Paperback)

This is the best guidebook I have ever read. Really. I am a guidebook junkie and this series is the best I've seen! I hope there will be more soon.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Guide to New York City, May 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Avant-Guide New York City (Avant-Guide Books) (Paperback)

This is the guide for those who don't want to look like tourists. It's smart, funny, and insiderish without ever sacrificing usefulness or practicality. This is *the* guide to buy if you are going to visit the Big Apple. Looking forward to many more city books from Avant Guide. Check out their Prague book too!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Best of the Guidebooks I've Seen So Far, April 3, 2001

By 

Jonathan Reeve (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Avant-Guide New York City (Avant-Guide Books) (Paperback)

Honestly, I've been living in New York for the past two years, and I think I have a reasonably fair grasp on its nighlife, restaurants, whathaveyou. Not only did this book have a listing of some of my favorite spots, but it talked about some places I wish I'd known about earlier. Some good stuff here.