Puerto Rico good and bad..mostly very bad
347930
Warning:  EXTREME VULGAR LANGUAGE AND NO HOLDS BARRED SEXUAL CONTENT

Police Procedural done extremely well, very detailed on getting proper evidence and what it takes to get the bad guys in at least a semi-legal manner.  Characters were well defined and generally interesting. I had wondered why a book written this long ago had NO opinions or rating on it but now I know.  The main character, a postal department inspector,(equivalent of cop) has to be the the lowest, most self centered, selfish, dope smoking, drunk that likely even AA could not help.  Threw away wife and family, encouraged other co-workers to cheat on wives, spent most of his free time drunk and living with hooker.  HIS JOB WAS HIS LIFE!!!  The storyline was so interesting but with a protagonist so loathy the best I could do was 2 stars.  Jack Philbrick, the main character was so UNLIKEABLE that it amazed me that anyone who worked with him could possibly trust or remain loyal to him but all seemed to in this story.  Perhaps it is because most of the other characters were almost as bad as he.  If I knew this guy was involved with any family member or friend of mine "they would never find his body".  The sad part of this book, written by a professional private investigator, is that if this is what type of person is held in high esteem in the various police departments of our great country for "getting the job done" then perhaps it is time to seriously consider moving to Australia.
3990819
The writing style is ok, nothing special.  The story itself has an interesting look at Puerto Rico from the time frame in which the story takes place; otherwise, it's fairly bleak and depressing.  No character is particularly likeable and most are pretty self-destructive. Basically, my take is that it's a peek into some rather pathetic lives and not much more.
4950488
Esperaba algo ms detallado y rico en ancdotas pues el tema lo merece. Lamentablemente el resultado es pobre. Lstima.

It was espected some work plenty of details and references. Regrettably, we get only a poor pamphlet. It's a pity.
2564282
Costa Rica shines with life and mostly nice people. The way they are taxing expatriate is sad and driving many to Panama. We love Costa Rica and want to stay here. Please find a way Costa Rica to retain all the. Rain and Solar power. Let more companies enter. Reduce protectionism..customs are outrageous. Americans are not wallets. Please see us as Ticos too. Many of us are retired and only have pensions. The 2 levels of costs (higher for Gringos hurts) We love it here .
377859
Disgusting to know what is going on in that country because they are so financially strapped!
1500239
Author misses the point.  Puerto Ricans already decided the type of relationship they want with he United States.  People like the author don't want to admit.
2749831
The book certainly lived up to its title! This wasn't executed too well in my opinion. Typical cartel king who cheats & his woman stays by his side. It was rushed & extremely busy. Everything in the Puerto Rico half of the book was a big jumbled mess. The author should've cut back on the drama. It was too much at once
484187
Un relato fascinante de los habitantes as como de los visitantes de un pueblo, con el teln de fondo de uno los momentos trascendentales de la historia de Puerto Rico, constituye el canvas donde el autor nos presenta las luces y sombras de cada uno de sus personajes.

Las instancias entre el pasado y presente son hbilmente hilvanadas,por lo que el recorrido es uno agil. El estilo detallista,  convierte  su lectura en un mundo que te resulta familiar y conocido.

El desenlace,constituye sin lugar a dudas uno de los grandes aciertos para concluir un relato memorable.

Altamente recomendada
650415
As a Puerto Rican, I bought it to observe other points of view about the space and time in which I am living in Puerto Rico. Klein states that the problem of the island is the extreme dependence on imported fuel and food, the unpayable and probably illegal debt that has been used to impose austerity that aggravate the weakening of the island's defenses, and the 130-year colonial relationship with an American government that has always ignored the lives of Puerto Ricans. Later, she proposes as a dialectic the libertarian project that some call "Puertopia" that is conjuring itself in the ballrooms of luxurious hotels in San Juan and in the city of New York. Really? When I continued reading this false dichotomy I discovered more about her doctrine of shock. Her thesis did not convince me at all. Higgs book, Crisis, Bigger Government, and Ideological Change explain crises better than Klein.
255258
Not particularly noteworthy, but it does picture what the experience of Latin America has been with its dictators. There was some hope lately that democracy was taking finally a toehold there, but the number of strong men now in power in several countries does not augur a favorable political future for the region. The new kind of powerholders do seem a little more sophisticated: they hold elections and do not get rid of opponents so easily!
4033894
As someone who works with incarcerated felons as a volunteer, this rings very true to me.  Even the worst are still human and the senseless bureaucracy is as rampant as it appears here, though it is usually grounded in some fear or need to control the environment and the inmates.  Much of the culture at all levels of incarceration is driven by fear.  Sad but true.
4141066
Right now, I am outside Puerto Rico but I left the island on Dec 21 and to this date I can not confirm the receipt of this item.  The seller tells me it was delivered on Dec 14 and so does the USPS, but I don't have it.  Maybe it was delivered to the wrong address.

When I get back to the island, I can tell you more.
1510676
This is a very good introduction to the history of the Spanish language, especially for English speakers. It is engaging, interesting, with lots of historical information and very accessible to a general audience. The authors, however, should have used a good editor or editors. They have several mistakes in both English and Spanish and that caused a lot of distractions for me. There were times when I had to really pay attention to understand what they were trying to say (in either language.) At the same time, there were other times when they shared information that was not necessarily accurate. For instance, on page 362 (of the print edition), the say that Puerto Ricans call the US dollar "washington". I am *from* Puerto Rico and have never heard the dollar being called that on the Island or among Puerto Ricans living in the USA. (There were several mistakes like this, in which the authors make the generalizations about words used by certain nationalities that are completely inaccurate.) Finally, the authors fail to mention the most important changes in Spanish language in contemporary times, namely, music. They failed to mentioned how words that were regionalisms have spread throughout Latin America and other parts of the Spanish-speaking world thanks to music. An example would be the use of very specific lingo by Puerto Rican reggaeton groups that has disseminated throughout the Spanish-speaking world. But there are other examples, especially with Cuban, Mexican and Colombian musicians and musical groups. But in general, a good introduction to the history of the language. Certainly not an academic work and not one that should be used in academic settings.
3106312
We just came back from a 10 day trip to Puerto Rico (04/21 - 05/01, 2006) and we have to COMPLETELY disagree with the previous review. In fact, we were thinking about burning this LP copy. Don't get us wrong, we own several copies of LP for China, Eucador, South America, Guatamala, and etc. But we have serious reservation about recommending this one to anyone else. Here are some of the reasons:

1. Several budget restarurants in Old San Juan no longer exist. They include St. Germain, Brenda's Cafe, and Los Amigos. It became very frustrating after going to several places and finding out 3/4 of them were closed.

2. The same happened in Ponce, but for hotels. Two out of three hotels listed on pg. 166 (center of Ponce, by the Plaza las Delicias) were not there - they simply don't exist.

3. Now, telephone numbers. we can't say that all of them in the guidebook are wrong, but the ones we called are either disconnected or a wrong number. This goes for the UA Cinema 150 in San Juan (pg. 105), which we found out at a Holiday Inn in Isla Verde that it was torn down a year ago. Or the Museo de Art Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico, which doesn't open on Monday, as the guidebook indicated - in fact, no museum in San Juan opens on Monday!

4. We can list more annoyances, like the lack of good maps for most of the cities described, or bad driving directions...

We are not saying that this book has no value, but when you finds enough inconsistencies and errors, you has to wonder what else is wrong, and more importantly, whether or not you can actually trust and rely on the guidebook. And in that respect, our answer is NO.

The take home message: carefully compare this book with another. If you do decide to buy this LP, always call the places ahead to see 1) if it still exist, and 2) if the number is correct.

On a side note, at one point during the trip, we thought that we would probably have had more luck with a coqui as our guide than using this guidebook!  =)
3461166
If you know Puerto Rico this book is going to bring you back there. If you've been to Culebra, your going to love this book. It is very well written and very entertaining. Get the maps out because you are going to want to follow them across Puerto Rico all the way to Culebra. This is a true story, its serious and it is accurate. I have read this book several times and I know these places. Today, Culebra has several of the best beaches in the Caribbean and some of the best coral reefs for snorkeling and diving. It's fantastic! We should be very grateful to have this thanks to these guys and gals because we almost lost it to the Navy.
2836198
I have purchase two of these.  The first was shipped to Puerto Rico following the hurricane.  The second is in our family's go bag - i.e. a bag with essentials in it that we can use to weather extended power outages etc.  As we are seeing in Puerto Rico, access to water, and access to potable water, are two different things.  Having a purifier on hand bridges the difference - and, under certain terrible circumstances, could save lives.
2599952
Good social/economic histories are rare and we are fortunate to have this study for Puerto Rico.  It is too easy to forget how life was prior to the demographic explosion of the early 20th century.  Many areas had just a few thousand inhabitants.  The book also demonstratedse the importance of the Munoz Marin strategy of economic development.  If there is any weakness, I think a more detailed analysis of the dependence of PR on the US is warranted.  If we compare Puerto Rico to the Dominican Republic, we see a society in which welfare/food stamps programs raised food costs etc. and displaced local agriculture and production.  In the Dominican Republic local production remains and costs remain low because of the much lower per capita income.  Sea-Land is not referenced in the book.  I would point out that his statistics do document the unbalanced nature of trade and the issue of trading with other Caribbean nations given US trade policies.  The challenge of continued development requires greater production of domestic goods in Puerto Rico and the ability to trade freely with surrounding economies. In sum, this work is an excellent start for improved understanding of the Commonwealth and its status in the US and the region.