Rating: 
Summary: A lovely tour of a special piece of America
Review: Michael Cunningham graces one of his favorite places on earth, Provincetown at the tip of Cape Cod's hook, with his wonderful, almost poetic prose. He takes us with him as he introduces us to the town's characters both past and present, to the beaches, the dunes, both ends of town, the nightspots, and everything in between.
A treat.
Rating: 
Summary: Beautifully written piece
Review: Michael Cunningham's love for Provincetown soars in the beautiful prose of Land's End (A Walk in Provincetown). This short volume is the equivalent of a prose poem in tribute to an unique town. It has only two streets but what an amazing amount of humanity is crammed in there during the summer to be followed by the desolate quiet of winter. This book is perfect to curl up with on this snowy, cold New York day while one dreams back to one's own times in Provincetown in those warmer summer days of past and future. This town is perfect for a volume this size and, much like a weekend spent in Provincetown, I was sad to see it end but knew that I had not missed a thing in a such a small, yet perfect, town. Some may bemoan both the inclusiveness of this book (and Provincetown itself) but then this is not the town for them. A well-written, charming, highly recommended book.
Rating:
Summary: Beautifully written piece
Review: Michael Cunningham's love for Provincetown soars in the beautiful prose of Land's End (A Walk in Provincetown). This short volume is the equivalent of a prose poem in tribute to an unique town. It has only two streets but what an amazing amount of humanity is crammed in there during the summer to be followed by the desolate quiet of winter. This book is perfect to curl up with on this snowy, cold New York day while one dreams back to one's own times in Provincetown in those warmer summer days of past and future. This town is perfect for a volume this size and, much like a weekend spent in Provincetown, I was sad to see it end but knew that I had not missed a thing in a such a small, yet perfect, town. Some may bemoan both the inclusiveness of this book (and Provincetown itself) but then this is not the town for them. A well-written, charming, highly recommended book.
Rating: 
Summary: Describes P-town perfectly..and P-town blows, apparently
Review: Now I know how West Coasters feel: Cunningham talks over and over about the routine things that us East Coasters, and Northerners, have lived with for years. These things include the deadness of a town in winter, the hordes of tourists in the summer, the eccentricity brought on by the remoteness. I kept thinking, yeah, that's just New England in general, nothing unique to P-town.I must say that all previous reviews are pretty much true: this book is impressionistic, too much so; has too much focus on the gay population of P-town; and it also describes New England coastal towns well, but in a way that will bore New Englanders. At one point he writes that if a drag queen jumps onto your fender as you drive and begins singing a song to you, don't be offended, "you are being blessed." I will admit I'm hetero male, but what is the fascination with drag queens all about, anyway? On the same page he mentions getting to talking with friends at the 1 a.m. bar closing hour, and then suddenly he looks up and it's 3 a.m.! Again, he is perfectly describing the things that undoubtedly go on, but c'mon...3 a.m.? That's not late. At another section he writes of a sleeping man that he could be "chiseled from a slab of pink marble." No need to comment on that one. So It's true that P-town is a place to be unconventional and eccentric, if by unconventional you mean you drink wine, never beer, and if by eccentric you mean bobo eccentric, not ethnically or artistically eccentric. Sadly, I guess P-town is only the latest in a line of resorts for the wealthy and the "I'm so outrageous!" crowd. It is not, apparently, some bohemian artist's community. So kudos to Cunningham for describing the place...now I will never go there!
Rating:
Summary: P-Town: An Impressionistic View
Review: On Cape Cod reading Michael Cunningham's LAND'S END: A Walk in Provincetown... The "walk" is not to be taken too literally. This is a book of colors and smells and seasons, mood, and memory as much as history and geography. To begin, Provincetown is that sandy arm of land on the east end of Massachusetts, as if the state was flexing its muscle like a bodybuilder. P-Town is the endpoint, a clenched fist - a place and an attitude. Cunningham gives us a quick sketch of Provincetown's early history where Pilgrims first landed in 1620 (sorry Plymouth), then as a whaling-port, the appearance of Portuguese fishermen, as an artist colony, and now a summer tourist destination. Its natural history of flora and fauna is not overlooked. But this is not Cunningham's main point. Provincetown is a "sanctuary" for eccentrics and visionaries. Art and artists abound. And public displays of affection by gays and lesbians on the narrow, quirky, little town streets are the signature experience for today's visitor. Moneyed tourists from the city, drag queens on roller-blades touting their revues, college girls with perfect midriffs, he and she lesbians arm-in-arm, wizened eccentrics all crowd down Commercial Street. Add-in an annual religious procession to bless the fishermen's fleet, and you've got material for a Fellini movie (for people who still think about Fellini). People-watching is not the only form of entertainment in Provincetown. What should be said is that high energy drag queens that sing and dance in cramped venues like The Post Office Cafe' or Steve's Alibi are very talented and great, sweaty fun. Cunningham has written the kind of book where you have favorite sentences. You can't say that about Fodor's. For brevity, some of mine are on page 54. The publisher's book jacket indicates this offering is to be followed by other 'journeys'. Let's hope the series tries to capture the mystery of special travel locations as does LAND'S END. There is a place in travel literature for slim, easily stow-able guides to the atmosphere of unique places. I recommend Crown Journeys find a similarly gifted writer to take on another disorienting "zero ground" location - Death Valley.
Rating: 
Summary: Part travelogue, part political promotion of gay life
Review: The book is well-written, somewhat interesting; but, if one is not a member of the art/single/pro-gay community, then one might find it a bit of a bore... having to, yet again, read about the superior qualities of the freer/more-truly-human, gay/art/single lifestyle. For example, in this book, traditional adults (married with children) have to struggle with the maintenance of their unruly kids... Homosexual parents have well-behaved and interesting children. One does wonder why it is that these clearly superior people allow sexual drives to predominate their everyday thoughts and behavior.
Rating:
Summary: A weak stroll through Provincetown
Review: This book was a bit of a disappointment. I have visited provincetown a few times over the years, and aside from a few historical references, I didn't learn much by reading this book. i expected more from a long-term resident of Provincetown with round-the-clock access to the town, the community, and the residents. The author's self-conscious attempts to meld personal memoir with provincetown trivia did not improve the quality of the narrative. His life is just not interesting enough to capture the reader's attention. I was also put off by the author's writing style, which i found to be affected, wordy, and smug--not "beautiful," as some of the other reviewers describe. I also wonder how much research the writer conducted for this book. For example, one would never know from reading this book that Provincetown is teeming with guest houses of various architectural styles and personalities. Yet, he makes mention of only ONE guest house, the one owned and run by a close friend. Finally, I expected to find some facts and figures about the town. There are a very few concrete facts to orient the reader and quite a few vague and unsupported generalizations. This book does not live up to its advertising.
Rating:
Summary: Subtle yet delightful
Review: This is a must-read for anyone who loves to visit Provincetown, as well as anyone who has not yet visited. It is a wonderful souvenir of the town, that has a charm unique to anywhere else. There is so much history in this town, and the author has a wonderful way of intertwining history lessons with descriptions of the town today. Put on your favourite soft music, and disappear into the town while reading this. You will long for your next trip, or your first.
Rating: 
Summary: What a Disappointment !
Review: This is clearly the pressure of a reknowned author being pressured to come out with another book quickly. It's like reading excerpts from his personal journal that have been thrown together. It starts out adjectively (and continues that way) with one getting to know the feeling of Provincetown. I have never been there and would like to go one day, but if I wanted a GUIDEBOOK of P-Town it would be more suitable. Then, as you read on you get glimpses of how the author met his boyfriend in P-Town and his other flings (beforehand). Sure...you get a little history salt n' peppered in as well--but who gives a crock about the fish that you can find in the Cape Cod shores. There's a rush to sentimentality with a close friend & former lover who died of AIDS. You get a mini-bio of Eugene O'neill and his P-Town exposure along with other writers and artists. There was a line or two about how the author & his boyfriend saw a lithe, gorgeous gay Uncle on the beach that they BOTH wanted &/or wanted 'to be' that was supposed to shock me--but it didn't. I think this is a great book for a "single" gay guy or lesbian who's planning to visit Provincetown. I just think this is SUCH A DISAPPOINTMENT for a follow-up to one of my A+ FIVE STAR ratings of his Pulitzer Prize winning, THE HOURS. This should win the "SPRITZER LET DOWN" PRIZE.
Rating:
Summary: Just what I'm looking for in a travel guide.
Review: When traveling, the Fodor's and Frommer's and Roughs and AAA guides are all invaluable in different ways, but it so nice to have a personal look from a nearly-native. Even better yet, to have it delivered in the elegant prose of a superb writer. While this, and its sister-in-series, AFTER THE DANCE by Edwidge Danticat, are quick mind candy for the armchair traveler, I can't imagine a trip to P'town (or Danticat's smalltown Haiti during Carnival) without these compact volumes. Cunningham lovingly, but unflinchingly reveals a Provincetown that is not merely a hedonistic gay play-place, but the home of tolerance and compassion that's supposed to be the USA. What better place to be so than the Mayflower pilgrims' first landfall in their brave new world. Very much looking forward to the rest of this series from Crown.
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