City Smart: St. Louis [Paperback]

Jody S. Feldman (Author)

Book Description

Series: City-Smart Guidebook St. Louis | Publication Date: April 12, 2000

This second edition of City-Smart: St. Louis is updated throughout and includes easy-to-follow maps. The author describes the best of St. Louis - from sights and restaurants to sports and shopping - even featuring "The Ten Best Places for Dessert in St. Louis," written by Miss America 1990.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Avalon Travel Publishing; Second Edition edition (April 12, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1562615157
• ISBN-13: 978-1562615154
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,448,320 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #99 in Books > Travel > United States > States > Missouri

More About the Author

I am entirely certain I never dreamed I'd become a writer. Sure, I've always had a strong imagination. Sure, my teachers mostly gave me A's on my papers. But writing books? Who knew?

What did I dream I'd become? At different points, a treasure hunter, a codebreaker, a movie director, an artist, a medical researcher, an inventor, and the list goes on. I have discovered, however, I can explore any occupation or adventure with the characters in my books. And I'm great with that.

For more about me, go to ...
www.jodyfeldman.com
www.gollywhoppergames.com
Or find me on Facebook and Twitter.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not bad, September 10, 2002

By 

funniegrrl "funniegrrl" (Nashville, TN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: City Smart: St. Louis (Paperback)

In general I like travel guides written by natives of the area, but often they don't tell the whole story to the visitor. Such is the case with this book. There are lots of off-beat sidebars and native perspective. While it contained lots of good information and "inside scoop" it also falls short in some respects. For example, many restaurants and other attractions are described as being on "the hill" and there is even a sidebar that explains the culture of "the hill" yet no where in the book was the geographical location of "the hill" given. Hotels, restaurants, etc. are also categorized by neighborhood which is an idea I LOVE, and there are descriptions of what type of environment comprises each area, yet there are no maps or other descriptions to tell you the boundaries of these neighborhoods.

Another area in which this book fails miserably is in the maps. They would be OK if they were ACCURATE. They are not -- in fact the location of several restaurants on the restaurant map are flat-out wrong, and the map of Forest Park was misleading at best. It also seems that a book of this publication date would have noted the extensive renovation, redesign, and road construction in Forest Park that was years in the planning and which is in the first year of a multi-year project. The Jewel Box is closed for all of 2002. Given the lack of signage in the park itself as well as the many construction-blocked routes, an accurate, detailed map would have been invaluable. As it was I got LOST and spent an hour wandering around on foot before reaching my destination.

Finally, this is a 100% positive book. I'm sure that made the tourism board in St. Louis happy, but I appreciate a guidebook that has the guts to say, "XYZ is not worth a visit because ...." I also got the feeling the author ran out of steam with a lot of descriptions and couldn't think of anything to say beyond a generic thumbnail.

So, since I never buy only one guide book to an area I was happy with what I got out of this book, but was also glad I had another guidebook and an excellent map with me as well.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everything you need to know about St. Louis, May 3, 2000

By 

DavidNewYork (New York City) - See all my reviews

This review is from: City Smart: St. Louis (Paperback)

Jody Feldman's guide to St. Louis is well-written, comprehensive and interesting. Feldman, a St. Louis native, includes everything from hotels & restaurants to sporting events & night life. Interesting factoids are interspersed throughout and a brief history of the city is also included.

A very helpful feature is added to this second edition: website addresses for almost every listing. This book was published in the spring of 2000 and at the time, it was very clearly up-to-date - it even mentions the Rams' Super Bowl victory in the winter of 2000.

If you're a tourist looking to visit St. Louis, this is definitely the book you want to take with you.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Written by a "Real" St. Louisan, April 12, 2002

By 

Jasmine T. Baer - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: City Smart: St. Louis (Paperback)

Ms. Feldman does a fine job in capturing some of St. Louis' more sublime features. She writes this book as only someone who loves the area and has lived there for a long time can.

My family and I use this to find out about some of the lesser-known (at least to those not from St. Louis) attractions in the St. Louis metro area. For example, we were able to track down a real pumpkin patch so that my son could pick out his own pumpkins for Halloween. Also, we learned about the Butterfly House, an amazing climate-controlled "greenhouse" that houses several colorful species of butterflies.

Ms. Feldman also gives tips on getting around St. Louis, discusses the variety of restaurants available, and spends significant time discussing evening activities such as plays, opera, and nightclubs.

This book was instrumental in helping us dive in and enjoy what St. Louis has to offer. I appreciated the author's insight into St. Louis. She added opinions and insight that readers will not find in other city guides.