Philip's Favorite Reactions

These scare me a bit...

• "I love your book. It has inspired me to life changing decisions."
• "... your book gives me a little more confidence that my choice, to stop my formal academic education at a BSc and start concentrating on doing what I want in life, was a sage one. At any rate your book has provided good contemplative material and nice pictures. :) A very nice effort." -- Philip R. Banks (banks_p@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz)

People who are better writers than I am...

• "Impressed. Author lives like 18 years old, has emotions like 30 years old, writes like 40 years old. Good combo." -- David Kilpatrick (DavidKilpatrick@photon.scotborders.co.uk)

People who are (or should be) Canadian...

• "You seem to have something against Canada." -- Johan Braennlund (m94jbr@student.tdb.uu.se)
• "Philip,both Shawn and I have found your stories entertaining as well as informative. Your use of Mosaic has been excellent. The point of contention we have with Samantha is how you slag and belittle our country CANADA. We do not know if your negative view of this great nation was intentional or not but at times your opinions possessed a good deal of venom. You saw that you felt releived to leave CANADA upon entering the state of ALASKA. It is a shame that you felt this way but we both can understand the emotion because we feel it every time we leave the U.S.A. Also your comment about the dispare of the Canadian far of northern Ontario (in chapter about the drive from Ottawa to upper Michigan) was uncalled for and totally incorrect.

  In the end the concept of your project is GREAT!!! and do not take this criticism personally.

  Cheers Dexter and Shawn

  P.S. The price of gas in our country is outrageous but so is the rate of violent crime in yours. All in all I would rather deal with the high price of gas." -- Dexter and Shawn (cdcraig@cousteau.uwaterloo.ca)

• "Apart from your off-base and unfair disparaging of my fine city (Ottawa), I enjoyed reading your travelogue. If you ever are back in Ottawa, I know some nice Jewish girls who you can date. Hell, some of them have even gone to Harvard." -- Kaminsky Matthew (mkaminsky@shl.com)

You are a dwarf among midgets

• "so far this is the best magazine I've seen on the web even though I've only been roaming it for a few months... it's nice to see something more than just someone's personal blackbook/crib sheet/overloaded/picture bloated/staple-laden bulletinboard" -- Robert "not Bob" Baker (rbaker@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu)
• "The style of writing ensures the reader shares the experience rather than merely knows about the events. This is the best written word on the Internet." -- Mike de Laine (mike@roads.sa.gov.au) [yes, I did tell him about Project Gutenberg]

Keep the day job

• "I have lived in Texas, Pittsburgh, New York, Boston, Connecticut, LA, and England, so I know a bit about these places and people. I found the book pretentious, ill-informed and nerdy. Sorry, but's been done before (many times) and better." -- Jean M (jm25@york.ac.uk)

Quit the day job

• "... More to the point, what I would say to you if I had 2 minutes before I was executed: There are lots and lots of lost technocrats in the US, developing their creations, original and stolen, for reasons that are seldom clear to themselves or anyone else. There is a mind-boggling amount of technical development that will happen, whether you do anything or not. However, there are damned few writers like you. Have good education, understanding of technology so it doesn't cow you when it comes up, the courage to see things as you see them, plenty of good old-fashioned wit, a piquant unique point of view. So why don't you enrich us with more writing?" -- Jay Burch (burchj@tcplink.nrel.gov)

You write like ....

• "I like this, a lot. I just finished William Least Heat Moon's Blue Hightways. I find your work oddly evocative of his." -- Rich Gibson (drahcirr@netcom.com)

Modesty almost prevented me from including these... (almost)

• "You've proved that the Web is capable of art - art of the highest quality. In years to come, people may come up with something that uses the capabilities of the Internet as well as this, but you'll still be among the first. And it's not just technowizardry - it's something intensely human. Inspirational... what more can I say?" -- Nick Sweeney (nsweeney@jesus.ox.ac.uk)
• "Wow. No work since Coupland's Shampoo Planet has given me such an overwhelming sense of wanderlust. Thank you a thousand times over." -- Matthew Pulliam (pulliam@engin.umich.edu)
• "This is absolutely excellent. I like your stories, and the photos are outstanding! It certainly deserves the BoWeb award, and then some." -- Tim Mackay (Tim.Mackay@mail.mei.com)
• "Enjoyed it very much. The balance of travelogue, human interaction, questioning of what's important, and beautiful photos was most satisfying. I think I'll remember Travels with Samantha for some time." -- Steve Biederman (steve_biederman@mentorg.com)
• "This was one of the better travel books I have read in a long time."
• "I am writing simply because you have went to so much trouble to share your story that it would be rude not to at least give you a response. I read your entire book from 'cover' to 'cover' and must say that it is probably the best thing I have ever read on the Internet. I also thought it drove home a basic positive point in a pleasant way (something unusual in modern literature)." -- Roger Rich (Roger.Rich@WichitaKS.NCR.COM)
• "A virtual vacation with heart, very enjoyable." -- Dave Glotfelty (dglot@delphi.com)
• "This book/photo-essay is superbly done. The words are woven together with singular grace presenting a tapestry of great beauty and poignancy. It is among the finest personal accounts I have ever read." -- Michael D Miles (mike.miles@c29cae.chinalake.navy.mil)
• "I think you have achieved something that few 'intellectuals' manage; An understanding of and respect for the lives of 'Ordinary' people." -- Rob Sadler (sadlerr@research.natpower.co.uk)
• "Hello,I just finished reading the story of your travels. I sat up late last night reading chapter after chapter, unable to stop. You have a knack for capturing the spirit of a place in the people who live there or choose to visit. I hope you can find a publisher for this story as it deserves to be placed on a bookshelf more than many others I have seen there. Good luck and I hope you carry the memories with you for a long time. Thanks for a wonderful story!" -- Douglas (dewelch@cc.wdi.disney.com)
• "I love your book for two reasons. First, it's great, the story is fresh and honest. The second is of course that it is the kind of thing that this technology has been building for - it some how makes all those millions of dollars spent on computers, on the net, on decades of development seem like there might have been a reason for it all.

  The net has provided a medium where anyone with the time and a basic computer can reach out and communicate in ways hitherto reserved to the lucky, the wealthy, the famous, and those who appeal to the common taste (nothing wrong with that in some ways mind you).

  Thanks for the warm glow." -- anonymous New Zealander

• "An excellent read! A definite inspiration to get out and learn more about life and people." -- John Breslin (breslin@kepler.physics.uq.oz.au)

Intercultural understanding

• "Here in Europe people (myself included) tend to have quite a strong prejudice against all things American, partly due no doubt to all the American culture forced down our throats, and American travellers tend (unjustly in most cases) to have a reputation for ignorance and gullibility. Reading your piece has helped to encourage me to go out and see those 'long lost cousins' in Montana and Colorado and to be slightly more tolerant next time I hear someone trying in vain on the underground (sorry, subway) to pronounce 'Leicestershire' or 'Worcester'" -- anonymous from England
• "Anybody who thinks America is boring and shallow must read your book. It explodes a lot of myths about Americans and Canadians as well as confirming some of them." -- Joe Grim (joeg@patriot.fc.hp.com)

Tough to Classify

• "A really well written piece. I started the read thinking you were just another rich Jewish pseudo-intellectual smart ass from MIT who had nothing better to do with his spare time and abundance of cash. As I read on, and watched you learn and grow, I felt pretty stupid for jumping to that conclusion. It made me think back to the summer of 1975 when I spent it hitchhiking across the US (you could do that back then). It made me wonder what people thought about me as I made my way around the country. You seemed to have learned a lot about goals, values, and what's really important in life. I think you've found them. Now go out and get them." -- Christofer deHahn (dehahn@shr.dec.com)
• "This is so great! I never thought that MIT would encourage people to write like you... At least I was not encouraged at all :-)." -- Johanes Sugiono (jsugiono@mit.edu)
• "I find the book and the pictures very nice. But I have a little question:Can you tell me who the girl on the emma-photo is. Do she have a boyfried,when not,please send me her address. Perhaps we can get the first "lovers" on internet. Sorry for my bad english" -- not anonymous but probably should be in Germany
• "I liked chapter XI. I learned of this work from a pointer from a page listing references to nonmonogamous sexual relationships." -- anonymous American

TWS as an impediment to productivity

• "I'm really enjoying TWS. It's proving quite valuable for avoiding thesis writing." -- anonymous at UIUC
• "This is excellent! I've managed to spend precisely no time working this morning.." -- Andrew Gentles (ajg@hep.phys.soton.ac.uk)