Are We There Yet?: Perfect Family Vacations and Other Fantasies

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Summary: BOSTON GLOBE MENTION OF BOOK
Review: After reading about the book in a column by Bella English in The Boston Globe, I bought the book. It is extremely funny. As a teacher and parent, I recommend it highly for families.

Rating:
Summary: Sleepless in Seattle
Review: As a resident of Podunksville (aka Seattle), I'm always looking for books that can teach me how to be a better person. So I bought this book. I must say I found the big words in it really hard to understand. I also just didn't understand a lot about the places he went to on his trips with his family. Haas implies that people he met while traveling speak languages other than English. He also doesn't write enough about travel for ordinary people. Where is an uneducated person like me with a dead end job supposed to go? I liked his chapter on Disneyworld, but the irony of it baffled me completely. I felt like an uneducated moron trying to read this book, but somehow somehow that rings true in an over-educated, moronic sort of way...

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Summary: BOSTON GLOBE BESTSELLER
Review: I came across this book by way of seeing it at #7 on The Boston Globe's bestselling book list: The book is one of the top sellers in New England. There's a reason: It is hugely funny. We all need a laugh these days. Buy this book and I guarantee you won't stop laughing.

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Summary: Traveling with one's Family
Review: I found Scott Haas's book to be an original account of one's adventures nd mishaps with a family. Too often books about traveling with a family take us to amusement parks, fast food spots, and arcades. In Are We There Yet? we learn of the exciting possibilties of staying on a farm in Switzerland, walking the streets of Venice early in the morning, and exploring the Greek Islands. True, thre are mishaps and arguments along the way, but there are also tender moments between loved ones. The dialoque is crisp and bittersweet. I found myself laughing aloud as I read this thinking it would be fun to see this family live on stage.

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Summary: Everywhere Is Better Than Here...
Review: I found this book MOST obnoxious. Haas is your typical 60's Liberal - spending $700 for a meal, then moaning and groaning about capitalism while complaining about substandard food or accomodations in other countries, apologizing to "America Bashers" for our standards of living and ethics, and generally being ashamed of our country while abroad. Gad! Live somewhere else, then! And the way he's raised his kids - yikes! When small, he got them to badger his wife to remove her bathing suit on a French beach - "Look! Mommy's naked!". He doesn't hesitate to take them to vile Broadway productions but makes it a point to belittle and sneer at religious beliefs of others. His children continually sass him and show little or know respect for others - talk about Ugly Americans! "This place sucks!" charming little Nick tells the British owner of a house they're renting. Definitely a book written by a man with messed up values and priorities - and Haas? You're an old geezer - we aren't interested in where or how often you and your wife are intimate.

Rating:
Summary: Everywhere Is Better Than Here...
Review: I found this book MOST obnoxious. Haas is your typical 60's Liberal - spending $700 for a meal, then moaning and groaning about capitalism while complaining about substandard food or accomodations in other countries, apologizing to "America Bashers" for our standards of living and ethics, and generally being ashamed of our country while abroad. Gad! Live somewhere else, then! And the way he's raised his kids - yikes! When small, he got them to badger his wife to remove her bathing suit on a French beach - "Look! Mommy's naked!". He doesn't hesitate to take them to vile Broadway productions but makes it a point to belittle and sneer at religious beliefs of others. His children continually sass him and show little or know respect for others - talk about Ugly Americans! "This place sucks!" charming little Nick tells the British owner of a house they're renting. Definitely a book written by a man with messed up values and priorities - and Haas? You're an old geezer - we aren't interested in where or how often you and your wife are intimate.

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Summary: Traveling with Scott Haas isn't much fun.
Review: I just finished this book and came away with only two things. First; Why did I buy this book in the first place and Second; Traveling with Scott Haas must be about as much fun as contracting the black plague. He has all of the warmth of a block of ice. He looks at the people of the world as if they were a nusance. His writing style is about as entertaining as reading the telephone book. I love travel books, but this isn't one that is even close in that genre. It is a book about a sorry excuse for a human being who can not seem to find what life is all about. If your looking for a great book on travel, put down this book and buy something that's really good.

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Summary: The Funniest Book I Read This Year
Review: I live on the Emerald Coast of Florida where books are used primarily for propping up sagging tables, but when my friend Zirondelle recommended this book to me I couldn't resist. Zirondelle is a failed writer and the angriest man I know (since his wife left him it's been worse), but, boy, does he know a good book when he sees one! ARE WE THERE YET? is an extremely satirical, ironic book written in the style of Evelyn Waugh. It compels readers to wonder about U.S. imperialism, the importance of family, how we accept sexuality with wives and husbands while children are in the house, and the nature of travel. It embraces contradictions and its honesty is refreshing. As soon as Zirondelle gets out of rehab., I bet he rereads it!



Rating:
Summary: FUNNIER THAN THE BLACK PLAGUE
Review: I've had the black plague and let me assure you: it was not as much fun as reading this book. Also: most people in the world are very annoying, as the reader from southern NJ illustrates, albeit ironically. Haas simply documents observations of these annoying people. And to suggest Haas is a block of ice is inaccurate. A block of ice is frozen water. Haas is flesh and blood. The book does not read like a phone book at all. A phone book is not nearly as entertaining. Had Evelyn Waugh had a family and traveled with them and then written about that, the book would have been much like this one. It is not a travel book. It is a satire.

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Summary: KING DETHRONED
Review: IF YOU LOVED STEPHEN KING, YOU'LL LOVE THIS BOOK.