Above & Beyond: The Simple Life

by Gabriela Taylor

Book Overview

An innkeeper is like a dancer who must be trained in every movement form. Instead of ballet to hip-hop, however, it's flower arranging to floor polishing, hospitality to fruit harvesting. Life at a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1885129149
• ISBN13: 9781885129147
• Release Date: September 2006
• Publisher: Mac Press
• Length: 418 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A Kaua'i icon writes a page turner!

I have bought 7 copies of this book for friends who have loved reading it! This woman soon needs to write her own biography covering more years than this unusually lovely, funny, dramatic and ever fascinating book covers. I enjoy her travel stories which are frequently published in Hawaii. The author is a genuine distinguished heroine of mine and many others on our unique and wonderful island of Kaua'i and certainly around the world. Anything she writes I will read with enthusiasm and certainly great passion and curiosity.

Don't move to Hawaii before you read this book

Had Peter Mayle gone to Hawaii rather than to Provence, he might have written this book instead. Like "My Year in Provence," this book is filled with the frustrations and humor of building a new life in a romantic place. For those of us who have visited Hawaii and dreamed of starting over in paradise, Gabriela Taylor helps us see what it would be like before we give up our day jobs. These amusing stories of eccentric guests and staff will delight you and her spirit of adventure may even inspire you to go after your own dreams.

"talk story"

The book is an enjoyable read. I agree with one of the reviewers that the book is more autobiographical than a how-to on running a B & B. It's also be written in a style that reminds me of my childhood in Hawaii when we would "talk stories" on the porch. It's conversational. The situations in each chapter flowed easily from one to another and the sometimes intimate details provided insights into the personality of the author. These descriptions do provide examples of the good and bad stuff when running a B & B. I've had the pleasure of staying at Gabriela's B & B. Now I've got a greater appreciation of the behind-the-scene efforts to make the vistors comfortable.

inspiring determination

This book took me back 33 years to my early college days as a student of Gabriela's to visiting her after she built her first home on the land in 1977 when I was living on Maui and she was incubating her dream/vision of the B & B in Kaua'i. This book is autobiographical and introduces the reader to an incredible woman. To know her is to have been touched by an unforgetably alive and creative personality. In addition to the delightful humor and lovely word images there is a story of personal growth and evolution. If you want an inside story of the magic of Kaua'i look no further. It's been 21 years since our paths last crossed and Gabriela inspires and amazes me still!

Only on Kauai...

I read the book, cover to cover in just 2 days, could hardly put it down. Gabriala Taylor's subtle and dry humor make the book very pleasant to read, and many of the stories are only-on-Kauai kind of outragous. Although the book does not deal with beaches or most other tourist activities, it will bring back memories if you have ever visited Kauai. It also gives some insights into the pace, lifestyle, troubles and charisma of this beautiful island and her people.