The Ultimate Guide to Asheville & Hendersonville Including the Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Your Complete Guide to the Western North Carolina [Paperback]

Lee James Pantas (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 440 pages
• Publisher: Alexander Books; Expanded edition (August 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570901058
• ISBN-13: 978-1570901058
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,461,322 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hendersonville, N C Times-News Review, ( Barbara Diamond), January 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Ultimate Guide to Asheville & Hendersonville: Including the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina (Paperback)

The Hendersonville, NC Times-News, in its August 2nd, 1998 issue, had the following comments about The Ultimate Guide to Asheville and Hendersonville. "Well priced (at $14.95) for a book of its size and scope, The Ultimate Guide is thoroughly researched, organized for easy use, and illustrated with many of Pantas' own gorgeous pen and ink drawings. Because it is written by someone who actually lives here, The Ultimate Guide has a sense of caring, commitment and completeness that is often lacking in regional guides written by visiting authors. Pantas has divided The Ultimate Guide into five sections: "Getting Acquainted "(with the Asheville-Hendersonville area): "The Best of Asheville, Hendersonville and Flat Rock" (accomodations, dining, attractions, galleries, etc): "Asheville" (city facts, history,...): "Hendersonville and Flat Rock" (city facts, history,...): "Western North Carolina" (exploring the areas around Asheville and Hendesonvillee -natural and cultural attractions). Guidebooks, in general, are geared to the short-term visitor and newer residents. Since Asheville and Hendersonville are replete with both catergories, The Ultimate Guide should attract and keep a large and enthusiastic readership. Author Lee Pantas certainly deserves a nice, big shiny star for his fine coverage of our area and all that it has to offer.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Overkill, March 5, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Ultimate Guide to Asheville & Hendersonville Including the Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Your Complete Guide to the Western North Carolina (Paperback)

Much too much information to be really useful, because most of it is pretty superficial. How can it be otherwise, when the author has crammed every possible thing he can think of into a book that can't accommodate so much information? The book is also poorly organized/structured, and with such a large amount of material, good organization is critical. The multitude of cross-references is extremely annoying -- the reader shouldn't have to keep flipping around the book to find information on one subject. The author's drawings are very nice, but on the whole the book looks like it was not professionally produced (just looking at the cover gives me a headache.) If you want a book on Asheville, you're much better off with something less comprehensive that has more depth. (E.g., a lengthy list of attractions or restaurants or other things that provides little or no description doesn't do me any good . . . ) Try "The Underground Asheville Guide" as an alternative -- it's a little too cute, but ultimately more helpful . . .

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Most useful WNC guide I've found, August 23, 2000

By 

V. Harbin (Western North Carolina, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Ultimate Guide to Asheville & Hendersonville Including the Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Your Complete Guide to the Western North Carolina (Paperback)

Pantas lists activities, events, galleries, antique shops, kid stuff, historic info, architectural tour info, and so much more....There is something for everyone in this tome. And, though it focuses on Asheville and Hendersonville, this book touches on the major attractions in surrounding areas as well--perfect for day trips or even longer side excursions.

My only complaint is that, if readers do choose to tour outside the book's focus, they'll have to look elsewhere for dining and lodging options as this text only includes that information in for Asheville and Hendersonville.