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Cathedrals of the Flesh: My Search for the Perfect Bath | 
 enlarge | Author: Alexia Brue
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
Buy New: $4.50
You Save: $9.45 (68%)
New (16) from $4.50
Avg. Customer Rating:  15 reviews
Sales Rank: 835365
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 240
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5.1 x 0.6
ISBN: 1582343608
Dewey Decimal Number: 391.64
EAN: 9781582343600
ASIN: 1582343608
Publication Date: February 7, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
People journey to Greece for the ruins, Turkey for the Aya Sophia, and Russia for St. Basil's, but Alexia Brue travels with a different itinerary: to visit the baths. At once deeply personal and highly informative, Cathedrals of the Flesh is the candid and playful account of one woman's determination to follow her passion.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 10 more reviews...
 Good Style, Great Resources...BUT... August 15, 2004
As an avid travel reader and as the spouse of a Hungarian I was pleased to pick up this book. Ms. Brue has a wonderful writing style, both informative and with a wry wit that shines thru beautifully. Cathedrals of the Flesh is a great read. At the end, the author lists major baths from around the world and indeed this is what inspired me to pick it up *several baths in Budapest are listed*. I am assuming that the author did in fact visit the baths listed, but there is nothing in the book on public baths in Hungary. Considering the rather large chapter devoted to Russia, this is disappointing to say the least. Having said that and admitting that this is a personal criticism on my part, the book istelf is very good. I look forward to reading more from this author.
"Sex and the City" go searching the perfect bath July 27, 2004
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Did someone give the author an idea that in order to sell a non-fiction today, it has to have a Sex and the City flavor? Otherwise how can one explain this constant accidental meetings between good-looking exotic males and the writer, who is a single, thirty-ish, female New Yorker. From my view, this book could stand by itself without this boy meets girl side-story. At times it was very distracting to otherwise an excellent travelogue. I regret this because the central theme of the quest for the perfect bath is an honest effort with not too much cliche or stereotypes.
 A reader from Iowa. August 11, 2003
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
Having experienced first hand the joys of public bathing, I was excited to see a travel book about bathing cultures. I wasn't disappointed. Brue's book blends historical narrative, social commentary on our daily ritual of bathing and travel writing into a witty and engaging journal of self discovery. This fun, interesting read will inspire you not only to embark on new travels, but also to seek challenges and adventures in your own life.
A reader from Iowa. August 11, 2003
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Having experienced first hand the joys of public bathing, I was excited to see a travel book about bathing cultures. I wasn't disappointed. Brue's book blends historical narrative, social commentary on our daily ritual of bathing and travel writing into a witty and engaging journal of self discovery. This fun, interesting read will inspire you not only to embark on new travels, but also to seek challenges and adventures in your own life.
FABULOUS!!! August 8, 2003
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
I thought this was a fantastic book. I bought this book thinking that I'd get a relatively straightforward discussion of the history of bathing, but this is actually much more. The author, a young woman with a taste for adventure, writes about her own experiences as she tackles the problem of how to open a bathhouse, crossing the globe and visiting baths in many countries. But instead of taking a highly authoritative tone from the start, she begins with a naive, befuddled tone, describing how she practically stumbles into the bathing scene, seduced not only by the baths, but by the cultures and places she visits. As a reader, I can see the transformation of the author from a novice to an expert over the course of the book, which to me is reminiscent of some of the best travel writing (consider Bill Bryson's self-deprecatory writing, the feeling that on starting his journey, he is no more informed than you or me). I think this book is only partially about bathing, and equally about getting your imagination captured by something different and exciting. I found it really inspirational, it really gives a sense that there is nothing stopping the average reader from deciding to get on a plane and travel the world to learn about something completely different, even if you don't speak the language or don't have any technical experience. So much bad travel writing condescends to the reader, makes me feel that unless I've lived 25 years in Provence or have climbed Mt. Everest, I couldn't possibly appreciate the world. This book made me feel like, with a little bit of courage and a lot of excitement, even I could explore strange places and meet different people!
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