Customer Reviews

Compass American Guides : Maine

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Charles Calhoun's MAINE is a departure from most travel guides. Rather than just pages and pages of lists of motels, restaurants, and things to see, Calhoun focuses on the state's people (past and present), natural history, and state-of-mind. Instead of simply an address and phone number for the famous L. L. Bean's (outdoor outfitters, for example, Calhoun gives us several pages, including the story of the founder of the company.

The book opens with a chapter entitled "Learning Maine" and is organized geographically into nine main sections which cover the entire state. The final chapter, "Practical Information" gives all the usual, plus "A Dozen Fun Places to Eat" and antiquarian booksellers. Scattered throughout the book are literary excerpts and topical essays by authors such as May Sarton, John McPhee, and Longfellow. There are maps, reproductions of period art, and plenty of gorgeous color photos. Whether the reader is planning a trip to Maine or merely wishes an intriguing armchair journey, this guide is a must.

Kimberly Borrowdale, Under the Covers Book Reviews

An excellent book to take along with you during your travels to Maine. The photos in this book are simply beautiful! The photographer, Thomas Mark Szelog actually lives in the lighthouse on the cover!! I was lucky enough to meet him and he was kind enough to show me some of his photgraphs. Absolutely beautiful work. This is a great book and I highly recommend it when you travel down east!

All of the Compass American Guides are excellent and differ greatly from those travel guides that list hundreds of motels and restaurants. Like other Compass American Guides, the focus is on history, geography, natural sites, museums, and the life of the people. Throughout the book are short excerpts from noted authors about Maine. The photography is excellent. The book is organized around nine chapters which cover the entire geography of Maine. Because our trip was to the Penobscot Bay and River region and Mount Desert Island, this is the portions of the book we found most useful and on which I can compare the book to the actual sites mentioned or not mentioned.
Penobscot Bay is sweeping with its many islands and small towns along the coastline. In Rockland is the Farnsworth Museum. The guide book does not really prepare you for the fact that this museum is actually concentrated on the Wyeth family of artists. Paintings by the Wyeth family fill most of the galleries. There is section devoted to Maine native Louise Nevelson. It contains several large pieces of her sculpture, around 12 of her paintings, and a display of her small sculptural models for larger pieces. The paintings convince the viewer that she was a much better sculptor than a painter. The small models were excellent, tiny black jewels of tight intense composition. The museum houses the collection of the Wyeth family, including wonderful works by George Bellows and Eastman Johnson. It is the museum book store that is most revealing that this museum is focused primarily on the Wyeth family. The vast majority of books on sale were about the Wyeth family's art careers. Camden is a beautiful town with outstanding views from the hills overlooking the harbor. We took a schooner out for two hours into the bay which was outstanding. The Penobscot Marine museum at Searsport was a very good museum and many displays were especially oriented to children. Mount Desert Island is wonderful. There is no other way to describe the hiking trails that cross the entire massive collection of islands and lakes. The town of Bar Harbor was extremely crowded with tourists, which makes sense considering that the town is situated in such close proximity to the park and its many attractions. The Saint George Peninsula is outstanding with the Owl's Head Transportation Museum and the wonderful town of Port Clyde where famous astronomer Russell Porter once lived.
There are a few shortcomings of the book. Whereas there are maps, they do not contain sufficient detail to serve as both a guide book and map book. A good map of Maine from a gas station should supplement this book when going beyond main roads. Covering the entire state of Maine is a major task but I still found the subject matter rather limited in scope. Overall the book gets 4 out of 5 stars and I would recommend it for Maine visitors.

It is nicely packaged (heavy paper, color photographs), but the index is incomplete, the organizing odd, and the subject matter is rather limited. Never once does the author say what he would do if he had a day - or week - in Maine. He says nice things about it all, and retells funny anecdotes written by other authors, but gives little direction about the places one really should see. I found the British Rough Guide to New England much more helpful and accurate in describing the nature of towns, and whether they were worth visiting. I really liked the Compass Guide to Arizona, but found this one disappointing. The organization was confusing, as the body would occasionally mention names of places to eat or stay, but you had to look in an appendix for the phone number, etc. Also, the author would not actually vouch for any of the establishments he listed - it seemed as if he just compiled his information from a Chamber of Commerce brochure. The thing the author did well was to convince you that Maine was lovely, but we were already convinced. I like that he recommended other reading about Maine and by Mainers, but his book was little help once we were there.