As you have probably guessed, this blog and its sister websites have been labors of love and not commercial ventures–at least to date. I don’t know how well my book will ultimately sell, but whether or not it becomes a commercial success, it is gratifying to me that it has become a personal success and received so many kindly comments.
I also finally received one of the promised reviews of Uruguay: The Owners Manual is, which follows unedited.
A Review of International Living’s: Uruguay: the Owner’s Manual
First of all, I was surprised. I had expected a great deal of hype, whereas in reality there was very little. True, there was enthusiasm for Uruguay but it was a fairly dry enthusiasm, no gushing here. Rarely if ever, was a negative point of view expressed, it was all generally positive, but this at the least is what I would expect from a manual that was clearly designed to encourage the reader to consider or even move to Uruguay. What was surprising was the restraint of the enthusiasm.
Having said that I am a little suspicious of all the positive reviews, and if David’s reviews in Uruguay Living had not also been generally positive, I would have been even more suspicious. The difference in this regard between David’s UruguayLiving blog reports, his book (The Southron’s Guide to Uruguay Living), and International Living’s “Uruguay: Owner’s Manual”. is that while David is generally positive he does criticize and find fault where he feels it is warranted, whereas International Living never seems to find any fault at all. For this reason David’s book certainly strikes me as considerably more trustworthy.
But, it is good to have more than one point of view. Generally I was happy with the International Living “Uruguay: Owner’s Manual”. There was no way for me, who has never been to Uruguay to verify or judge the accuracy of the statements made within Uruguay the Owner’s Manual but as they were not excessive, and mainly seemed to corroborate with David’s, they seem believable.
The proof is in the pudding of course, and the only way to know for sure would be to visit Uruguay and decide for yourself. But if you were going to visit this book would definitely help. It would give you a heads up as to which areas of the country to visit, which areas to consider for real estate, and or purchasing a home, or renting. It will give you some tips as to real estate. There is information for banking, establishing a business, Free Trade Zones, Mercosaur, times of year to visit, temperatures, weather. There are lists of restaurants, hotels, realtors, lawyers, airlines, car rentals, shops, pretty well everything I can think of. Whether these lists are good or bad is impossible for me to determine, but they are a good starting point. If they prove to be good, then you will know you have good reason to trust the Uruguay Owner’s Manual” as a source. If these lists prove to be inaccurate then that would introduce an element of caution.
When it comes to moving to a new country I wouldn’t want to rely on only one source, even if that source seemed fairly complete. For this reason if I were considering moving to Uruguay, and I am, I would want all the info I could find. As information on moving to Uruguay seems limited “Uruguay: Owner’s Manual” seems a valuable supplement to David’s book “The Southron’s Guide to Uruguay Living.” Why trust only one source, when you can have two?
From what I have read of David’s book and his blog, his writing style is much more enjoyable and personable. You can feel his personality and sense of humor. All in all David’s writing is a much more enjoyable read. And although I have not read all of his book, I have read enough to know it also has a wealth of detail, and personally recommended services, businesses and people. I much prefer David’s style, and am much more trusting of his recommendations.
Nevertheless for such a big move I will repeat myself, it does not hurt to have at least two points of view to compare. For this reason I recommend David’s book “The Southron’s Guide to Uruguay Living” first, and International Livings “Uruguay Owner’s Manual” second, as a useful companion volume. –by Strong Castle
I also received a few other comments about The Southron’s Guide…
• I ‘m moving my family to Montevideo in 3 weeks and I bought your book today. I can’t tell you how much it helped my wife. Thanks for the work you put into it.
• Uruguay Living- THE Book! How about pricing it one dollar less than IL’s book? Actually the book is worth far more than anyone will likely be willing to pay for it. Aside from the factual content and links it also conveys an atitude and a sense of humor which is at least as important. Were you intending it to be so autobiographical? I think it is good reading even if one has only a casual interest in Uy. Does the Radisson have a gift shop? That and the other hotel shops would be a good place to market it. How about the airport shops? The pharmacy at the bus station or a book shop there might be a good idea as well. I will be doing lots of word of mouth advertising. The next time anyone says ‘Paraguay’ instead of Uy I will redirect them to the book!! Good luck! Sell a million copies!
• Read your book last night all 168 pages. It had everything in it except the kitchen sink. Was excellent, and probably much better than that one from you know who. I would say it has tons of info-as much as anyone would need to get started. Was a pleasure to read.
• Thanks for the book, David. It’s amazing how much information you have managed to gather in a relatively short time. All of it accurate, as far as I can tell. I found interesting your comment that Uruguay is not class conscious, which I find quite true. I’m building a house and the plumber, the electrician, and the building crew treat me with great courtesy but as an equal - very refreshing. In my native Argentina workmen generally resent their employers and it is not unusual to find some drain clogged with plaster after the work is done. This happened to me during two remodellings, and has also happened to people i know - it cannot be accidental. The most extreme case of worker hatred I heard of took place in the posh Pilar suburb: the house owner treated the building crew with such arrogance that the day his house was finished it mysteriously caught fire and burned to the ground.
• From a Uruguayan Attorney: Thank you for the book. It’s very accurate, thorough and fun to read. Congratulations.
If anyone has any constructive criticisms, I will be happy to post those as well.
The only book of this type which is actually a fun read on its own merits! If you are not considering a move to Uruguay purchase the book for boasting rights. You will no longer confuse Uruguay with Paraguay and will impress everyone with your vast geographical knowledge. Kudos David!
Left by clara on November 28th, 2006
I haven’t read David’s book yet. I have read most of his posts (and that’s a bunch.) The observations are honest, realistic and he blasts the BS he finds.
Based on that, I feel it’s not fair to compare any of David’s work to International Living. IL are hype misters to the max and David is a straight shooter. I just got back from a two month stay in UY while buying a house. I found very little/nothing of value in IL’s owners manual; in fact there’s a lot of misinformation about real estate investment.
IL’ Owners manual is not a valid second resource to David’s book based on first hand experience.
So this leaves David’s book in a field of one.
Steve Bowman
www.coastaluruguay.com
Left by Steve Bowman on April 3rd, 2007