The Berlin Book of Lists An Insider Guide to Europe Coolest City eBook Max Hofstetter
Download As PDF : The Berlin Book of Lists An Insider Guide to Europe Coolest City eBook Max Hofstetter 
"Berlin was the city at the heart of the 20th century. Now reborn, it is helping to define the 21st. This funny, thoughtful, useful book is a great primer for visitors to a special place."
-- Andrei Cherny, author of The Candy Bombers The Untold Story of the Berlin Airlift and America's Finest Hour
The Berlin Book of Lists is not a conventional guide book, but an impressionistic collection of tips and perspective based on knowing Berlin well over many years, put together in this first edition as forty lists about the city. The lists are meant to be enjoyed as small essays, each a world unto itself, whether the subject is TOP FIVE PLACES TO EVOKE WORLD WAR II, TOP FIVE DAYS OF THE YEAR TO BE IN BERLIN - OR NOT, or TOP FIVE THINGS IN BERLIN TO AVOID. They are best read while you're visiting Berlin or preparing to visit Berlin and are best read along with other sources for the basics on Berlin, which you can find in any conventional guide. Take this book along with you in Berlin for what promise to be many memorable adventures. For sample chapters or to submit your own suggestions for future essays, visit the book website at www.berlinlists.com
The Berlin Book of Lists An Insider Guide to Europe Coolest City eBook Max Hofstetter
Everyone has different preferences when it comes to reading material and travel - some people like to read about a lot of things they'll never do; others want to skip the b.s. and get to the stuff that's worth checking out. This Max Hofstetter guy, author of the weirdly named "Berlin Book of Lists," is more of a skip the b.s. type. His little essays sound to me like the kind of thing you write to a friend - like what you mean to be a short email and then it just keeps getting longer and longer. If you're planning a trip to Berlin, give this one a look - for the sheer fun of the Max writing style and the great ideas. For example, I know on my next visit to Berlin I plan to go here:ALAIN SNACK (Schönhauser Allee 116A, S/U Schönhauser Allee)
Take the S-Bahn one stop from the Prenzlauer Allee stop to the Schönhauser Allee stop and right across the street you will find a funny little Wurst stand that has been there for many years. You can spot it by the playfully psychedelic paint job, each letter of the sign getting its own bright color: red (A), orange (L), yellow (A), green (I) and blue (N). The place has been serving up so-called Ketwurst for decades. This was the German Democratic Republic version of a hot dog, served in a long, hollowed roll with a hole on one end for the sausage to slip into and smothered in ketchup with seasoning. (In)famous as a symbol of the former East, the Ketwurst has engendered controversy from the very beginning, starting with its origins and the name itself. Like most things involving the German language, there is always a second (and third, and fourth and fifth, ad infinitum) opinion when it comes to spelling, pronunciation and history. Though most spell the tasty Ketwurst with two t’s and say the sausage received its name due to being delivered to snack stands in chains (Kette) of linked sausages, purists claim this socialist snack takes its name from a combination of the words “ketchup” and “wurst” and was created by a nifty little outfit called the Rationalisierungs- und Forschungszentrums Gaststätten (or Restaurant Rationalization and Research Center) in the late 1970s. Whether you spell it with one “t” or two, the Alain Snack stand features some newspaper clips and pictures from the old days and is well aware of its Ostalgie appeal. Nowadays they are much more proud at this little stand of their organic currywurst, or as the Germans say, bio. Definitely worth a stop.
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The Berlin Book of Lists An Insider Guide to Europe Coolest City eBook Max Hofstetter Reviews
I hate talking to people on planes- especially on trips overseas- so I generally avoid it, but I've often thought about how wonderful it would be to sit next to someone smart, experienced, and funny who could give me a to-the-point description of the very best places to go and all the witty, secret, and essential things to know about my final destination. I don't know how to find such a person, make them share years of experience and knowledge with me until I have everything I could possibly want and more, and then shut them up so I can turn back to my screen to secretly watch Bridesmaids, again. When I came across Max Hofstetter's Berlin Book of Lists, I discovered that I didn't need to become a friendlier flier in order to have that personal and enlightening conversation about my destination (which, you guessed it, was Berlin), it was all there in the book! Hofstetter's lists of essays depicting the top five best places/ foods/ quotes/ etc. is unlike any guidebook I have ever read before and as an avid reader and traveler I have read quite a few. Like other guides it provides clear, researched, and objective information, but it seems to know that nowadays anyone has pocket access to any amount of info on whatever neighborhood they are standing in or building they are looking at. And so it goes a few giant steps further and customizes the city and the information for you. Each essay tells you not only what you are looking at, but why you are looking at it, what is enchanting about it, or funny, or heartbreaking, and then it tells you what else you are bound to love, and takes you there. Reading Max's genial and informative essays is like having someone take you by the hand when you arrive in Berlin, and say "Come with me and I will show you what will become your favorite Berlin."
The true beauty of Hofstetter's lists is that they strike a note of intimacy and conviviality that we associate with best friends, cool uncles, and great loves. The book tells you about the kinds of places that you will end up bringing people to again and again, but it refrains from telling you what kind of person and visitor you have to be. You can be a street artist dodging cops with the "Top Five Places to Sample Berlin's Vibrant Graffiti Scene," a romantic looking for great stories with "Top Five Places to Feel You've Stepped into a Berlin Movie," a witty socialite who lovingly, if at times annoyingly, dominates conversations in trendy bars and restaurants with "Top Five Quotes From Berlin's Governing Mayor Klaus Wowereit." This last list is juicier than it sounds and offers such quotable tidbits as "Berlin is poor, but sexy," which the mayor actually said in 2003 and which fits in perfectly when you are looking for a brilliant way to turn conversation about the city into conversation about plans for later in the evening. Speaking of such plans, the book also gives invaluable advice in its "Top Five Ways to Learn German," and puts "Hook up" as its number one. Of course if you do meet someone in Berlin you will have to pretend not to know the city as well as you do. As you let your German-speaking hook-up show you around you will have to hold onto the fact that you know that the Fernseheturm (TV Tower) is also called "The Pope's Revenge" because when the sun shines on the tiled stainless steel globe at the top it looks like a cross, and when it was built in 1962 in East Berlin, religion was, of course, proscribed. You can still impress them by casually suggesting a few turns and ending up in one of your top five favorite burger joints.
The first time I read this book I read it cover to cover, like a novel or a great collection of short stories. It is smooth and well rounded and tells the story of the city like a series of great adventures and unusual characters. It will melt your heart and make you laugh out loud with stories about the trials and tribulations of poor Polar Bear Knut and the sad fate of Paul, the World Cup predicting octopus, in the last list, "In Memoriam Top Five Dead German Animals Celebrities." Max Hofstetter knows Berlin and somehow he is willing to share it with us. Friends who have been living in the city for years still found Max's lists to be useful because, like me, they quickly realized it was about much more than the city.
Alll this guy talks about is different places to drink beer. There is no culture, no history, no good tips for real travelers.
Very few, if any, of the "lists" are worthwhile reading and exploring. The tone of the author sounds much like a disgruntled tourist guide. What had me drop this book in the wastebasket in Berlin was an ongoing rant about whether some tourist knew how to operate their DSLR camera (this while I was looking up information on the Topography of Terror). I tried to like it, but the often juvenile and annoying tone of the author make this book an unpleasant read. It's not a tour book. It's not a list book. It's not worthy of your time or money. Auf wiedersehen! SKIP IT!!!
To call it an insider's guide is a little over the top. I'm a regular visitor of Berlin (I go there about 5 to 6 times a year) and I really know my way around the city (even my Berlin friends consult me from time to time). The lists this book offers are mostly pretty basic and touristy. Yes, they are the things you could/should do in Berlin, but nothing made me think "wow, wat a great idea, I really must do that." I rather felt that things were missing.
For Berlin beginners it might be a very handy book, but then some more info on the different topics is required.
I am planning a trip back to Berlin this year and this picked up. The descriptions feel like a friend is telling you where the good spots are and what you could skip. It is well-written and funny. Can't wait to check out some of the suggestions!
Everyone has different preferences when it comes to reading material and travel - some people like to read about a lot of things they'll never do; others want to skip the b.s. and get to the stuff that's worth checking out. This Max Hofstetter guy, author of the weirdly named "Berlin Book of Lists," is more of a skip the b.s. type. His little essays sound to me like the kind of thing you write to a friend - like what you mean to be a short email and then it just keeps getting longer and longer. If you're planning a trip to Berlin, give this one a look - for the sheer fun of the Max writing style and the great ideas. For example, I know on my next visit to Berlin I plan to go here
ALAIN SNACK (Schönhauser Allee 116A, S/U Schönhauser Allee)
Take the S-Bahn one stop from the Prenzlauer Allee stop to the Schönhauser Allee stop and right across the street you will find a funny little Wurst stand that has been there for many years. You can spot it by the playfully psychedelic paint job, each letter of the sign getting its own bright color red (A), orange (L), yellow (A), green (I) and blue (N). The place has been serving up so-called Ketwurst for decades. This was the German Democratic Republic version of a hot dog, served in a long, hollowed roll with a hole on one end for the sausage to slip into and smothered in ketchup with seasoning. (In)famous as a symbol of the former East, the Ketwurst has engendered controversy from the very beginning, starting with its origins and the name itself. Like most things involving the German language, there is always a second (and third, and fourth and fifth, ad infinitum) opinion when it comes to spelling, pronunciation and history. Though most spell the tasty Ketwurst with two t’s and say the sausage received its name due to being delivered to snack stands in chains (Kette) of linked sausages, purists claim this socialist snack takes its name from a combination of the words “ketchup” and “wurst” and was created by a nifty little outfit called the Rationalisierungs- und Forschungszentrums Gaststätten (or Restaurant Rationalization and Research Center) in the late 1970s. Whether you spell it with one “t” or two, the Alain Snack stand features some newspaper clips and pictures from the old days and is well aware of its Ostalgie appeal. Nowadays they are much more proud at this little stand of their organic currywurst, or as the Germans say, bio. Definitely worth a stop.
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