Paula M. Strain, Rockville, MD
International Travel News
January 1999 p.131

Turkish Odyssey

"Turkish Odyssey: A Traveller's Guide to Turkey and Turkish Culture" by Serif Yenen (1998. Order from Serif Yenen, PK 14 Acibadem, 81020 Istanbul, Turkey; fax +90 (216) 3266456, or e-mail yenen@turkishodyssey.com - $29.50, 560 pgs.). The desirability of Turkey as a travel destination for English-speaking travelers has resulted in almost a dozen guidebooks to Turkey in print. All tell the would-be traveler how to get there, where to eat and to stay and what to see, plus additional and usually condensed background information. All of them have two drawbacks: not one of them is written by a Turk; all are by Americans, Australians, Brits, etc. Not one tells the traveler what makes Turkey and the Turks so interesting: Turkish culture. Serif Yenen's "Turkish Odyssey" fills that gap. Yenen is a professional, licensed tourist guide who has drawn on his own knowledge and that of his guide friends for answers to the questions the visitor to Turkey wants to know.

Yenen makes no attempt to tell the readers where to eat, but he explains the six different types of restaurants. He does not recommend hotels or tell how to get from here to there; he talks about where the Turks themselves live and explains the differences between sea ferries and sea buses.

He also describes some of the traditional habits of small businessmen and explains enough about the making of carpets that the reader has some guidelines for choice.
What is expected of the families of an about-to-be-engaged couple? Are civic holidays celebrated differently from religious holidays? Do farmers pray for rain in times of drought? Who is the best-known folk hero of Turkey? The answers are here.

None of this varied information is presented in boresome depth because, in planning the book, the author and publisher chose to use a type size more common to novels than to guidebooks and to leave a decent amount of space between the lines of type. He uses tables, as well, to summarize. Further, color photographs and maps, more than 300 of them, accompany and make colorful the text.

"Turkish Odyssey" resembles the usual guides in its last 200 pages, in which Yenen discusses the six areas most commonly visited by tourists. Where the usual guidebook describes every place of possible interest, in this one Yenen limits his descriptions to those sites that tour groups normally visit.

The independent traveler who wants to see everything will therefore want to carry a normal guide in addition to "Turkish Odyssey." Those who expect to be with a tour need bring only Yenen's book, because its 560 pages contain information they may not get in such detail from their guide.

The American book distribution system is often ineffective in procuring books published overseas, especially those by small publishers. If ordering a copy through your local bookstore, give them all of the address info.