Frommer's Irreverent Guide to Paris

• Paperback - 09 April, 2004 - Frommers
• Usually ships in 24 hours
• By: Alec Lobrano and David Applefield
• ISBN: 0764543008

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Reviews by readers

Great book, but Amazon is not shipping the latest edition.

The picture on their website is missleading. It is correct for the latest edition, but they sent me the older, out-of-date volume. It was difficult to get a refund, 'cause they insisted that the edition they sent me was as promised. And, only reluctantly, refunded my return postage. Buy.com has the correct volume.

Irreverent Indeed

Frommer's Irreverent Guide series sometimes reads like a hyperactive child's breakfast with its FAQ style, but there's some good stuff in there. The book is honest about attractions or restaurants that are just plain dives or tourist traps despite their reputations. Likewise, the good is also recognized for example with one restaurant receiving praise for its service as "a cross between a classical ballet and a Prussian artillery troop drill." I've found the Irreverent Guides to be particularly well suited to perusing before a trip to get excited about where you're going with some great out-of-the-way places receiving praise. This particular guide is great for its breadth across Paris' vast geography as well. Paris is a city composed of villages each with its own character and "scene". Their honest portrayals and diverse categories makes the task of deciding where to stay, dine, and explore easier.

Is it irreverent if they have to explain that it's irreverent?

This book isn't nourishing, but it provides a certain short-lived fun. I wouldn't go as far as "guilty pleasure" fun, as it isn't that naughty or silly, and it certainly doesn't have the quality of a song from your teen years, in that it is possible, quite possible, to get it out of your head; it's more on the order of that annoying kid in your freshman dorm who couldn't stop wisecracking. You snicker, but it's just not particularly useful. My sense is that this book gives you the illusion of being an insider without actually giving you anything particularly clever, to say nothing of anything that you wouldn't get from another more conventional guide-book. It's not a bad book, and the information is correct as far as it goes, but you will get more real scope for your outsider attitude from a close reading of the mainstream Frommer's, and even more from the Eyewitness guides.

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