New York: The Big City and its Little Neighborhoods By Naomi Fertitta Universe $25/160pp Orissa: Of Gods and Mortals Arunjeet Banerjee By Rupa Rs 395/137pp

The thing about the great ‘melting pot’ of New York is its infinite variety, its capacity to absorb wave after wave of migrants. It doesn’t melt all the way down, though. There are worlds within worlds and cocooned ethnic neighbourhoods. And this book knows it. More than 20 ethnic enclaves are listed in this guidebook that does double duty as coffee table adornment. Chinatown, Little Italy, Little Senegal, Little India, Little Odessa, Little Senegal, Little Poland and even Little Sri Lanka get their own space. Find dope on how to get there, what to expect, where to eat, where to shop, etc. The book offers photographs and maps as well as background — a veritable United Nations, all within the five boroughs.

There are much-vaunted tourist hotspots in India, and there are a few blank spots in the map of India we form in our minds but no state is quite so unsung as Orissa. Barring knowledge of the classical dance or the rath yatra, we know little about it; about the 60-odd tribes that live there, its coastline and secret beaches, its 38% forest cover, its food, its crafts, its literature, its culture. This wide-ranging guidebook attempts to fill that gap. The book size is large, perhaps to do justice to Banerjee’s photographs, and is a well-meaning effort. It is good at introducing us to various facets of the state — many of the subjects are aided by maps, tables and other evidence of earnestness — but the information is still sketchy and, so far as a serious traveller is concerned, of no practical use.