The Xenophobe's Guide to the Swiss - European Travel Books

Paperback - 01 March, 1999 - Oval Books
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By: Paul Bilton
ISBN: 1902825454

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Reviews by readers

Spot on!

I have lived in Switzerland for the past 9 years and this little tongue-in-cheek booklet is spot on - note that it was first published in 1995 and preciously little has changed since then.

I am Swiss and I think this is a great book for a good laugh, XENO

This is a short simple to read book about the Swiss. I am Swiss, born there, but did not grow up in this very clean state. My wife who is a U.S. citizen bought me the book for my birthday. Because of my rowing career we traveled to Switzerland a fair bit and I observed the Swiss way through the eyes of my wife. I think this book is great for Swiss who live abroad because it reminds them why they miss Switzerland and why they don't. This book is great for Swiss who live in Switzerland and need motivation to go see other corners of the world. Since we have friends of different nationalities, Swede, Dutch, and German, we offered them their respective Xenophobe's Guide. They all loved their new booklet.
Happy reading, XENO www gorow com

A funny tongue "firmly" in cheek little gem...

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.

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