Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I'm a big guide book guy, so when I saw all the five star reviews for Maui Revealed, I thought I'd struck gold. After two weeks on vacation there, I have to say...Really? Let's start with the good. Andrew Doughty clearly knows - and better yet, loves - Maui, and there's no shortage of information. Whether it's a waterfall, a beach, or a trail, chances are Doughty's covered it, and if he hasn't, it's probably not worth visiting. So why such a low review? Doughty injects a MASSIVE amount of his own personality in the book and especially the reviews, whether telling (fairly lame) jokes, relating anecdotes, or giving his opinions, and to me, a major portion of it read like it was written by a single TripAdvisor user - and this is not a good thing. In other words, think about the reviews from TripAdvisor. They're usually hyper-specific ("Boy was the waiter rude that one night!"), are written in a sing-song, casual, anecdotal way, and ultimately have no value in a single instance. Seriously, when was the last time you went to TripAdvisor and trusted just one review? The value in TripAdvisor is that you can read many, many different reviews over a wide range of users (newlyweds, college kids, seniors, etc) and draw out a picture of what applies to you. This is why I like good guide books - you get one well-written authoritative, all-encompassing opinion (even when a guide book is written by several authors). With Maui Revealed, I swear it's like getting one lone TripAdvisor user's reviews. For example, Doughty is a big advocate of powered hang gliders, because he does it as a hobby and really, really loves it. Awesome activity, everyone should try it. But he's down on biking Haleakala (Maui's largest mountain), in part because his 15 year old niece was once stung by a bee and fell off their bike on the way down. OK, sorry about that, but really, REALLY not helpful by way of reviews (unless, say, on TripAdvisor, you get 50+ people getting stung by bees, in which case, YES, this is a problem). Another example: we did the Old Lahaina Luau, which was AMAZING, and I fully appreciated that authenticity was preserved, and we weren't being treated to the Disney version of a luau. Doughty writes "[no] fire-knife dances and the Maoris wandering through the audience threatening you. Or the part where they haul people from your table up onstage to embarrass them (which can be a hoot when done well)...We really miss the fire dancers and Maoris, but that's the price you pay for authenticity." The way it reads, Doughty is basically saying, "yeah, sure, it's authentic, but it'd be way more fun if these things were included." Really? You can't give a show trying to be authentic JUST A LITTLE credit??? Can't I find that fire spectacle ANYWHERE else on the island? I had Maui Brewing Co. beer several times on the trip. I'm a big beer drinker, and really liked the Bikini Blond. I randomly read the review for the brewery restaurant, and got this: "In a previous edition we said the beer can leave an unsavory aftertaste because...it left an unsavory aftertaste. A number of readers (not to mention the restaurant owner) took issue...Further research...some say the beer still leaves an unsavory aftertaste; some say it rocks. Here, hoppy people are happy people. Lager lovers are unimpressed." Are you serious? That's a review?? That's the worst guide book writing I've ever read. Don't embarrass the brewery owner by mentioning he contacted you; and don't turn the review into a democracy - I can get that on Trip Advisor. Either you like or don't like the beer, but by servicing everyone, you accomplish nothing. And the backstory is only there to excuse yourself. These are just a few examples, but they're littered throughout Maui Revealed. Also particularly weird is when Doughty dismisses, say, a fruit stand as "terrible, skip it." We did, throughout the entire trip following his advice - but in hindsight, I really regret it. We stopped at one place along Hana described as having "So-so" burgers - and they were totally 100% fine. Looking at the shack they were coming from, to expect anything high-end would be ridiculous, but it absolutely hit the spot, was tasty, and that gives it an A+ within that particular spectrum of judgement, which "so-so" really doesn't do justice. In fact, there's something very strange about including restaurants just to crap on them - he even covers Carl Jr's (a "must miss" - OBVIOUSLY). Dude - don't use your guide book to shape the island into what Andrew Doughty likes. If you don't like it, don't include it. That alone should be enough for an establishment owner to work harder. (Another weird one that comes to mind: Gerard's, the fancy, non-view-having French restaurant, shouldn't be allowed to charge $12 for the small creme brulee, but totally OK for the non-view-having Lahaina Grille to charge exorbitant prices for equally small desserts). One of the saddest reviews in the book is for the Hana Ranch Restaurant, where he writes: "this used to be the worst restaurant on Maui, and our criticism (OK, perhaps we were a bit over the top when we wrote don't eat lunch here, don't each lunch here, don't eat lunch here) became notorious....We're pleased to report that they have improved a lot since then. The menu is mostly burgers...The burgers aren't great, but hey...they're just burgers. And their salads are downright decent..." WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU INCLUDE ALL THAT?!?! If the restaurant has improved, you DON'T have to put in that they were once the worst restaurant on Maui - I mean seriously, who is going to risk eating here based on that review?? I frankly feel bad for the restaurant owner, who apparently tried to improve, but it wasn't enough to escape Doughty's ire. The bottom line: enough people seem to like this book that you can probably trust it and have a fine time in Maui. But a part of me wonders if the strong response is because Doughty takes such a babyish, lead you by the hand approach, telling you not only what to love, but what to hate. And to this you might say, "well, OK, but he uncovered a whole bunch of hidden gems and trails and beaches and stuff that no one knew about before." I can only assume that it is immensely superior to the rivals, and thus, 2 stars. But I read a lot of guide books, and this is the first one that actually made me consider the ethics of guide-book writing. I eventually gave up on it for reviews and just trusted Yelp and TripAdvisor, which gave me the same quality of writing over a much larger spectrum - and that's about the worst thing you can say for a guide book.