Rough but Ready in Iberia

ANDALUCIA; THE ROUGH GUIDE by Geoff Garvey and Mark Ellingham (Rough Guides/Penguin, $14.95 paper); BARCELONA AND CATALUNYA; THE ROUGH GUIDE by Jules Brown (Rough Guides / Penguin, $13.95 paper) and THE PYRENEES; THE ROUGH GUIDE, revised edition, by Marc Dubin (Rough Guides/Penguin, $15.95 paper).

The British-produced Rough Guides are something of a mix: They have an appropriately rough-and-ready budget-traveler side, reminiscent of the “Let’s Go” and Berkeley guidebooks; they frequently betray a savvy, slightly jaundiced, from-the-inside tone that suggests the Lonely Planet series; they cover night life, the gay scene and offbeat attractions of various kinds as assiduously as the Time Out guides (also British in origin and also distributed by Penguin)--and they seem to strive for a well-rounded, well-balanced picture of their target areas, as classic as anything from Fodor’s. The results, especially if you get the books hot off the presses when their detailed information is still up-to-date, are impressive--as these three new titles dealing with Spain (or, in one case, Spain and France) illustrate. It’s a comprehensive and well-written introduction to this quintessentially Spanish region--home of flamenco, bullfights, sherry and tapas.

Though Barcelona and Catalonia (Catalunya in the Catalan language) were the subject of many volumes around the time of the 1992 Olympic Games, the Rough Guide to the region manages to approach its subject with freshness and energy--and is particularly strong on art and architecture, which is fitting for this art-and-architecture-rich part of Spain. Catalonia, in both its Spanish and French versions, is covered further in “The Pyrenees”--as are Aragon and the Basque country. This is a first-rate job of describing one of the most beautiful and historically colorful parts of Europe.

A SENIOR’S GUIDE TO HEALTHY TRAVEL by Donald L. Sullivan, R.Ph., M.S. (Career Press, $14.95 paper).

There is, writes Donald L. Sullivan, “a new generation of seniors--healthier and more adventurous than ever before--(and) likely to be traveling farther and for more extended periods than the average traveler.” But even healthy seniors, he continues, are susceptible to all manner of ills and inconveniences while on the road. Seniors are more prone to exhaustion and heatstroke; their skin is literally thinner and thus they chap and sunburn more easily--and so on.

This is a straightforward, plain-talk guide to potential problems and reasonable solutions for the traveling senior. There’s some padding here (a list of hotel, airline and tourist bureau 800 numbers; 21 blank pages for notes), but also lots of useful information--everything from advice on beating jet lag and avoiding motion sickness to guidance on how to travel with a heart condition or diabetes.

ALL OVER THE MAP; AN EXTRAORDINARY ATLAS OF THE UNITED STATES by David Jouris (Ten Speed Press, $9.95 paper).

This is simply a series of maps of the United States (with bits of Canada and Mexico included), 33 in all, each one marked with genuine town names grouped by theme. One is musical (showing such places as Verdi, Nev.; Swan Lake, Mont., and Mingus, Tex.); another is anatomical (Hand, Miss.; Marrowbone, Ky.; lots of places called Temple, or with Palm in their names); still another has a Christmas motif (Santa, Idaho; Rudolph, Mich.; 13 different Bethlehems). An amusing confection.

Quick trips:

AUSTRALIAN PHRASEBOOK by Denise Angelo, et al. (Lonely Planet, $5.95 paper). A tiny, serious, but inevitably entertaining guide to Australian slang and usage. There are regionalisms (a “butcher” is a small glass of beer in South Australia), colorful expressions (“miserable as a shag on a rock”), examples galore of baby-talk-sounding “ie” slang (“lippie” for lipstick, “sunnies” for sunglasses)--and also a long, fascinating section on aboriginal languages.

BACKROAD WINERIES OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA; A SCENIC TOUR OF CALIFORNIA’S COUNTRY WINERIES, written and photographed by Bill Gleeson (Chronicle Books, $16.95 paper). Maps, winery profiles, practical information and evocative photos of wineries, most of them rustic in appearance and / or situation, across the northern reaches of the state, from around Gilroy and up--with selected entries from Napa and Sonoma included.

PAINTBRUSH IN PARIS; THE ARTISTIC ADVENTURES OF AN AMERICAN CAT IN PARIS by Jill Butler (Workman Publishing, $9.95 hardcover). For lovers of cute cat books. The text is on a children’s-book level, but the watercolor sketches of Parisian life (supposedly painted by the cat) are quite charming.

THE NEW KEY TO CANCUN AND THE YUCATAN by Richard Harris (Ulysses Press, $13.95 paper). A sensitive, well-written guide to a particularly beautiful and varied (if resort-heavy) part of Mexico. There are lucid historical notes and considerable attention is paid to environmental concerns, but the nuts-and-bolts guidebook stuff is all there too.

OFF THE BEATEN TRACK; NORTHERN FRANCE by Tony Astle, et al. (Moorland Publishing / Globe Pequot, $14.95 paper). Based on some errors and omissions in a spot-checked volume in the first bunch of these titles released last year, I gave the “Off the Beaten Track” books poor marks. This one, though, which came out slightly later, looks fine. The brief Paris section is probably superfluous given the number of smart Paris guides available, but the itineraries in Brittany, Normandy, Alsace, the Champagne country, etc. are intelligently chosen and well presented.

Books to Go appears the second and fourth week of every month. For information on more travel books, see L24.