Customer Reviews

Madison: The Guide

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

 

 

As a recent transplant to Madison, I find this guide very helpful. All facets of the city are explored, with advice on where to eat, what to do, and how much it will cost. So far I have found all the information to be current.

The five-star reviews that have been posted so far are highly exaggerated--this book is simply not that great!
I am moving to Madison and will buy another book. It's not that this book is so bad, either--it provides some nice tidbits about restaurants and things to do. But there are some major shortcomings that must be pointed out.

First problem (and this is a big one): the map in this book is absolutely awful. There is only ONE map in the entire book and the print on it is so small that it is illegible. This makes many of the references to neighborhoods, parks, restaurants (places in general) kind of useless. There is no way to see where these places are, relative to each other! Call me crazy, but I thought that being able to find your way around was kind of the point of buying a guidebook.

Second (related) problem: for someone relocating to an area, which is another major reason to buy a guidebook, it would have been useful to read a summary of the different neighborhoods. No such introduction or chapter exists in this book. Instead, the chapters are organized as lists of things to do, with references to different neighborhoods throughout the text. From everything I've heard about Madison, it's neighborhoods are distinctive with their own charm--I would like to have been able to learn more about how they differ from each other.

This book is "a" guide, but certainly not "the" guide, as it claims. I wish I could get my money back and invest in some maps instead.

I received this book at my going away party. Talk about a great book! It really helped with knowing what there is to do in the city since I was moving here alone and didn't know anyone. It made the transition a lot easier. And I'm ordering more for my family so they know what there is to do when they visit.