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Rating: 
Summary: Great... If you are not a religious zelot.
Review: I absolutely loved this book. And this series. But its definately not for everyone. Readers who are afraid of mild sexual content and off color remarks galore, should probably stick with Frommers. What I love about this guide is that it shows a side of N.O. that no other book has. Like out of the way, hole in the wall restaurants. Like hip bars outside the tourist center. Like shops that sell cool antique housewares that ive never seen in any other city. The photos are great, again, if you like to see the real grit of the city and not just tourist brochure snaps. And the design is tops. period.
Rating: 
Summary: move over, Rough Guide!
Review: I approached this book with a skeptical eye after reading a few samples of its prose, as I am usually very skeptical of overly trendy things.Well, after taking it with me to New Orleans was pleasantly surprised to find that most of it is simply dead-on, and the layout/organization of the book as well as the straight-to-the-point writing made it the best travel book I've ever used! My only complaint is that the low-end section of hotels and restaurants could be expanded a bit more, just for those of us who DON'T have oodles of dough to toss around. Otherwise I would've given it 5 stars, easy.
Rating:
Summary: Thank You!!!!!
Review: I took Avant Guide to New Orleans and I couldnt be happier. This book showed me a side of the city that no other guide did -- I had three. The book is especially good for restaurants, nightlife, and shopping. But it had terrific hotel recommendations too. Its not for old people, though. Bravo!
Rating: 
Summary: trying soooo hard
Review: This book really made me laugh, but I wasn't laughing "with" the writer. Here is a sample of the style, from the intro (under the heading "New Orleans Unplugged" - give me a break): "like priests at a Boy Scout convention, whitebread visitors from uptight American towns get unhinged with excitement from the very sight of the city's sidewalk bars selling 'Huge Ass Beer' in take-away cups." Whoa! Edgy! Shocking! Controversial! Also the "hip" cover model on the new edition (not shown on this page) has visible nipples! Sexy. Young. Ahem.... I found the tone comical and pandering, desperately trying to foster an in-crowd conspiratorial rapport, so that the aforementioned whitebread visitor would feel like he/she was getting a genuine hipster's insights which would distance him/herself from the common herd. Also, the information is scant and perfunctory, and you don't really hear about any "in-crowd" type places that aren't mentioned in every other guidebook. Under the guise of being selective, they really short-change you with the options given for bars, restaurants, hotels, etc. The amateurish layout gives huge spaces over to blocks of color and grainy, uninteresting black and white photos (the real grit of the city? maybe the real grit in the photographer's lens), interspersed with a small amount of large-print text. Designed for the ADD-afflicted, MTV-addicted reader? So if you have trouble concentrating when reading a normal guidebook's full pages of print, this may be for you. But if, like me, you've been to N.O. before and are interested in discovering what you may have missed, this will disappoint (unless you never left Bourbon Street on previous visits). Enough said - I bought my old faithful Lonely Planet guide instead (I never should have strayed), which is everything this one pretends to be and so much more. Also the L.P. is much better looking - you won't feel embarrassed if it peeks out of your bag.
Rating:
Summary: Simply Great
Review: This guide gave me a proper upperside knowledge about New Orleans, but also about the underside (about which I am not going to tell my wife). I had the greatest time in my life!
Rating:
Summary: Informative, entertaining
Review: When I was walking through the French quarter I was stopped by Anne Rice and she asked me for directions. I was happy to have my Avantguide with me. Just kidding. But the guide is great! Well structured with thoughtful layout and exact information. It gives you all you need.
Rating:
Summary: Fun, Fresh Attitude
Review: Yearning for a travel guide that doesn't make you drop off to sleep? If you're younger and hipper than most, but still appreciate the finer things that a little money can bring, this guide should be just for you. So many travel guides take on an academic, droning tone, that it was refreshing to find a book that made travelling sound like the adventure we yearn for. The writing has a conversational note to it, that sounds as though your friend (albeit highly literate) is writing to tell you of their trip. The reader may find themselves reading it cover to cover as opposed to just jumping to a desired chapter as you might do in other travel guides. The chapters on shopping, restaurants, hotels and museums give thoughtful reviews and suggestions while the other sections on history and culture help give spice and flavor to the city.
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