Washington schlepped here : walking in the nation's capital (edition 2003)

This walking guide is part of the Crown Journeys series, books written by well-known authors about the cities in which they live. It reads like a Bill Bryson travel book, high praise if you know my feelings on Bryson.

It’s full of fun anecdotes about the people who designed and built D.C., which I knew very little about before reading this. It’s a slim volume, so there’s not a lot of room for depth, but it’s a quick glimpse at how the city developed in the way it did.

The second half of the book takes on a slightly more serious feel as Buckley wanders through Arlington Cemetery and some of the city’s somber monuments. The sections on the Holocaust Museum and the struggle to get the Vietnam War Memorial built were particularly good. The story of the competition for the Vietnam War memorial design is so similar to The Submission it gave me chills. I had no idea it was so controversial.

BOTTOM LINE: It’s more entertaining than a regular travel guide, but it still has helpful info. I love seeing a city I’m visiting through the eyes of someone who lives there, so I enjoyed it. Read it if you’re planning a trip to D.C. ( )

Fun read, though I’m not sure how to classify it. It’s not really a travel book, not entirely humor, not exactly history. It will entertain the kind of person who enjoys quirky historical facts. ( )