Rating: 
Summary: Brits are funnier when they are making fun of other Brits
Review: (...). This is just another book that is quick to offer scathing and exagerated reprobation veiled in cheap British humor by highlighting individuals' quirks. It is also outdated -- a better choice, watch "Keeping up Appearances" on PBS. Brits are much more tolerable when they are making fun of themselves.
Rating:
Summary: Brits are funnier when they are making fun of other Brits
Review: (...). This is just another book that is quick to offer scathing and exagerated reprobation veiled in cheap British humor by highlighting individuals' quirks. It is also outdated -- a better choice, watch "Keeping up Appearances" on PBS. Brits are much more tolerable when they are making fun of themselves.
Rating: 
Summary: Misguided History
Review: Although this book is humorous and informative at times, I had to stop reading it midway through because I found it to be offensive. I have been living in Istanbul for four months, and although I have not seen as much of Turkey as Jeremy Seal, I have been studying the Turkish language and culture. I am regularly a student at Stanford University, but this year I am studying at Boðaziçi Universitesi in Istanbul. There is one particular instance from this book that I would like to draw attention to. While travelling in Turkey, the author visits Cappadocia, where he meets a caretaker for one of the Byzantine churches. He then goes into an anectode about how Islam-which forbids pictoral depictions in art-was responsible for destroying some of that regions spectacular Byzantine church art. Although I am not a scholar on Byzantine history, I know that during the 8th Century, a movement called iconoclasm was supported and endorsed by a few of the Byzantine emporers. This movement called for the abolition of pictoral depiction in chuch art, and led to the destruction of many fine works in Cappadocia. Seal puts the blame for the destruction of Byzantine Christian art squarely on Turkish Muslims, and uses it as a vehicle again to criticize Turkish people and their religion. Although I too am critical of Turkey and the Islamic religion, I see Seal as manupulating historical facts in order to create an impression of Turks and Muslims as intolerant and destructive. As I read A Fez of the Heart, I quickly became tired because of its one-sided hackneyed message about fundamentalist Islam and its inherently negative attitude towards Turkish culture and society. Be careful when reading this book and do not take the historical facts that Seal presents as the truth. It does not give justice to the complex issues in modern Turkey and both the richness and the problems of the Turkish nation.
Rating:
Summary: Misguided History
Review: Although this book is humorous and informative at times, I had to stop reading it midway through because I found it to be offensive. I have been living in Istanbul for four months, and although I have not seen as much of Turkey as Jeremy Seal, I have been studying the Turkish language and culture. I am regularly a student at Stanford University, but this year I am studying at Boðaziçi Universitesi in Istanbul. There is one particular instance from this book that I would like to draw attention to. While travelling in Turkey, the author visits Cappadocia, where he meets a caretaker for one of the Byzantine churches. He then goes into an anectode about how Islam-which forbids pictoral depictions in art-was responsible for destroying some of that regions spectacular Byzantine church art. Although I am not a scholar on Byzantine history, I know that during the 8th Century, a movement called iconoclasm was supported and endorsed by a few of the Byzantine emporers. This movement called for the abolition of pictoral depiction in chuch art, and led to the destruction of many fine works in Cappadocia. Seal puts the blame for the destruction of Byzantine Christian art squarely on Turkish Muslims, and uses it as a vehicle again to criticize Turkish people and their religion. Although I too am critical of Turkey and the Islamic religion, I see Seal as manupulating historical facts in order to create an impression of Turks and Muslims as intolerant and destructive. As I read A Fez of the Heart, I quickly became tired because of its one-sided hackneyed message about fundamentalist Islam and its inherently negative attitude towards Turkish culture and society. Be careful when reading this book and do not take the historical facts that Seal presents as the truth. It does not give justice to the complex issues in modern Turkey and both the richness and the problems of the Turkish nation.
Rating:
Summary: Fez Review
Review: As an avid reader of travel lit, I looked forward to passing a plane flight "by traveling to Turkey w/ Mr. Seal." Whatta an impossible read! Maybe it is the translation, if there was a translation? Sentences are so run-on, sometimes longer than six lines -- and they often weave between past and present. It's hard for the reader to hold the original thread of what Sales is trying to say. I stopped mid-way through, disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Same old orientalist
Review: Being a native of Turkey, I found Seal's book not only carrying strong Orientalist motives, but also uninformed or misinformed in many occasions. The book being built on the 'Fez' theme sounds interesting first, but it is not meant to be simply a travel book and attempts to analyze complicated cultural and historical issues of the Turkish society. Unfortunately, the writer lacks the academic (or seems to lack any strong background for that matter) to be able to draw educated conclusions. I often felt that the writer had a views in mind and was trying confirm them with his observations in that direction. His characters were extremely uncommon and seemed deliberately selected, if not fabricated.
Rating: 
Summary: Insanely good
Review: Brilliant concept into trying to understand Turkey's bizarre obsession with headgear. And a great pretext into delving into the culture itself. Easily one of the best travel books ever written. Thoroughly enjoyable!
Rating:
Summary: Home is where the hat is...
Review: Fez of the Heart accompanied me to Turkey and proved to be a most entertaining companion! I enjoyed reading all about JS's adventures throughout this amazingly diverse country. While I did not follow an exact replica of JS's course, I was struck by the similarity of characteristics of the Turkish people between cities/towns that he visited and cities/towns that I did (which were mostly in the south). And when it was all over, the book and the trip, I had ONE picture of a man wearing a fez...
Rating:
Summary: This book has nothing to do with reality.
Review: Go to Turkey see the difference between what is written in this book and in the real Turkish world.
Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyable
Review: I find that some of the reviews posted by fellow readers are too harsh. JS did not set out to write the great historical or sociological masterpiece on Turkey. Rather, he uses the fez as an instrument through which he analyzes the complexity of Turkish society, in a light-hearted yet educative manner. My only disappointment with the book is JS' subtle suggestion that deep down inside, Turkey is more "eastern" than "western". In reality, I find Turkey to be unique among nations in this part of the world. While eastern attitudes may still be the norm in places like Konya, Kayseri and Erzurum, and western attitudes prevail in cities such as Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir and Antalya, the bottom line is that Turks are Turks which is what makes them, the country and certainly, JS' book so interesting.
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