I know this is massive necromancy, but I just got this game recently and wanted to make a couple of points:
* At first it was hard to know which way to go, but eventually I realised (as a couple of other commenters have) that during a race each turn you have to make is signalled at the top of the screen, so as long as you pay attention to the top part of the screen you'll be fine. You don't need to use the map at all during the race (I don't).
* I think the difficulty in paying attention to everything coming at you is more realistic (in a good way) than many racing games - people go on about GT3 which is supposedly realistic, but it was much less interesting/entertaining than this game.
* I honestly didn't mind DJ Atomica - it breaks up the monotony and the complete lack of people in the game. Also, you can turn him off in the settings AFAIK.
* I had previously bought Burnout 3 Takedown for the PS2 and I miss some of the more advanced takedowns of that, and I thought at first that it didn't have the crash mode where you build points - Burnout Paradise does, you just have to hit a hotkey first.
* The only negative to the game in my mind, is the occasional monotony of the races - though it's really up to me to explore and find new races, and there's now DLC for the game which should spice things up a bit.
THAT IS ALL