The Xenophobe's Guide to the Swiss (Xenophobe's Guides - Oval Books) (Paperback)

~ Paul Bilton (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The opening paragraphs of a Xenophobe's Guide to the Swiss set the tone for the rest of an irreverent, amusing and highly informative portrait of the Swiss people.The Xenophobe's Guides to different nations deserves a real cheer."
--The European
-- Review

Review

"The opening paragraphs of a Xenophobe's Guide to the Swiss set the tone for the rest of an irreverent, amusing and highly informative portrait of the Swiss people."
--Arts & Culture section at www.swissinfo.org

"An enlightened new series, good natured, witty and useful. The Xenophobe's Guides to different nations deserves a real cheer."
--The European

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Product Details

• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: Oval Books; 1st edition (March 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1902825454
• ISBN-13: 978-1902825458
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #849,993 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Funny and very insightful guide to the Swiss, June 28, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Xenophobe's Guide to the Swiss (Paperback)

I work in the U.S. for the Swiss. This little book (you can read it in an hour or two) is very funny and fun to read. At the same time, it is amazingly insightful with regards to Swiss culture, customs and people. I sometimes give it to others doing business with the Swiss. On the whole, it paints the Swiss in a positive light, but also offers up good fodder for ribbing my Swiss colleagues. For a more serious and scholarly treatment of the Swiss, check out Steinberg's "Why Switzerland".

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ironic but true, February 21, 2000

By	Nikolai Stavros (Zurich, Switzerland) - See all my reviews

As a Swiss I read this book with great pleasure since it is very funny but true indeed. As a foreign reader you will find lots of hints and information to help you understand Swiss mentality and differnces between cultures in one small country. (What is a Luftschutzkeller?) As a Swiss you will realize how others see us... and that much of it is quite true!

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A funny tongue "firmly" in cheek little gem..., May 16, 2005

By	K. Vuille - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is laugh out loud funny and has many truths, though the Swiss may not want to admit it. All countries have their quirks and Switzerland is not immune either. A a Swiss dual national married to a Swiss, I heard about all these little quirks that all cultures and countries have and always teased my spouse that he was exaggerating regarding Switzerland. Then I spent time in the country and just recently I experienced the "self sustaining bureacracy" at work when the Swiss Govt. charged me $50 for a very fancy piece of paper to tell me what my address is, the state in the US I was born, the date when I got married and who my parents are-that's it, no really that's all it says-nothing more. I am convinced that the $50 was to pay for the fancy paper-that's how fancy it really is. So as the author himself notes on this very subject of family papers...I guess it's in case I forget these facts about myself. Needless to say I howled over this.

Read this book with humor and take into account that it isn't a traditional travel book nor an ultra accurate account on Swiss manufacturing and tourism or the countries stats. But there are some real truths here relayed with great wit. The author himself is Brit married to a Swiss and has made some genuinely funny observations on Swiss culture. I finished reading this book thinking the author genuinely loves and respects his adopted country, but gosh they do some funny things sometimes. A little joshing and humor never hurt anyone-even the staunch Swiss. We should always be able to laugh at ourselves and that's what this book sets out to do, and to my thinking, it succeeded.