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Rating: 
Summary: Ironic but true
Review: 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!
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Summary: Light hearted fun!
Review: asdf395 appears to think that this title is serious; but this series as serious as any other humour title. He should check out the other titles in the series, which poke fun at (one by one) the English, Scots, Irish, Welsh and Americans (among others).
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Summary: A well travelled, part-timer.
Review: I am just finishing up my third year of living in Switzerland part-time (6 mos./yr). This little book is a nice easy read and is not only enjoyable but seems to be pretty accurate in terms of encompassing the 'Swiss Mentality'. Possibly some statistics and technicalities are not 'dead-on' but most of them match what I have already heard. The humour in the book is great and is probably most appreciated by those who are non-Swiss and who live amongst them or know them well. (I'm sure most Swiss would struggle to find any humour in it.) Being able to read about things writen by someone else, that you see and experience in daily life yourself adds to the humour. I'd say a good read for someone who is going to be in Switzerland for any length of time.
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Summary: Spot on!
Review: 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.
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Summary: Funny and very insightful guide to the Swiss
Review: 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".
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Summary: A silly little book
Review: This cynical, poorly-researched pamphlet reveals little about the Swiss, but much about what certain armchair travelers imagine to be typical American stereotypes about the Swiss. The book is replete with factual errors and sweeping generalizations. To give one example, it states that Switzerland has "no heavy industry" and is "basically a farming country." When was the author last in Switzerland? In the Middle Ages? Anyone who has even ridden a train through the country can see the ludicrousness of this statement. A recent article in the Swiss press reveals that Swiss farmers receive 80% of their income from government subsidies. As elsewhere in Europe, farming is kept alive because of its social (and touristic) benefits, but it is hardly a mainstay of the economy. Manufacturing and tourism are Switzerland's largest industries. Most of the material, true and untrue, is presented in a negative, sneering way. The underlying assumption seems to be that anything that differs from the way the author imagines things to be in the US is worthy of ridicule. The author twists some facts and invents others (e.g. his mention of "suicidal cults") to support his spiteful and condescending thesis. I know there are many who find this sort of negativity very funny, but it seems to me that such "xenophobes" would rather stay home, where they needn't let facts get in the way of their stereotypes. I can't imagine why anyone who enjoys traveling would find this book amusing.
Rating:
Summary: More than just yodelling
Review: This is really not a guide book in the traditional sense. That is, you can't find out where to get a decent hotel, day excursion, or meal in Switzerland by reading this book. Rather Bilton, an Englishman, comments on the culture he learned after marrying a Swiss woman and living in her country for the last 10 years or so. His insights into the Swiss people, particularly their attitudes, behaviors, and societal structure are insightful and often hilarious. Switzerland is surprisingly diverse and too often overlooked by those studying European history and culture. It's easy to not look beyond the image of banks, watches, and chocolates to get to know the people behind the stereotypes. This witty book cuts to the chase and is at times quite irreverant, though certainly not offensive. It's one thing to eat rösti. It's another to understand the röstigraben. This book explains both. Like the author, I too am married to a Swiss woman and read this book prior to a two-month trip to Zurich to study German and learn more about my wife's parent culture. I found this little book a surprising and entertaining resource. Time and time again, I found my experiences meeting and getting to know the Swiss strangely reminiscent of the pages of this book. I even loaned it to Swiss friends who concurred that its observations was right on the money. So I read the book again at the conclusion of the trip--and laughed aloud even more the second time. It's a quick read, for more detailed insights from Bilton, see his diary "the Perpetual Tourist", which covers similar ground.
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