An important book for readers interested in understanding New York through its architecture.
Twenty tours through New York City reveal a rich tapestry of architecture, urban living, and civic resilience.
New York Times architecture critic Kimmelman originally published 17 of these 20 essays in the Times between March and December 2020. “The walks would become my own way of coping with those first months of the pandemic,” he writes at the beginning of this lively book, which includes excellent photos. His tours around the city were led by architects, historians, and preservationists. Many were conducted virtually, but all can be strolled in person, book in hand. We get street-level views of the culturally diverse neighborhoods of Jackson Heights and Forest Hills; "America's first commuter suburb," Brooklyn Heights; and "the fountainhead of American bohemia," Greenwich Village. Kimmelman also devotes tours to specific streets (42nd Street) and buildings (Rockefeller Center, “New York’s Depression-era version of the pyramids…the largest private construction project in America between the World Wars”). Throughout, the author and his guides never lose sight of the people who live and work in these communities. Fascinating historical facts abound. In each one of New York's Chinatowns, for example, there is a park where the elderly can go for “fresh air and ‘san san bu,’ leisurely walks.” The East Village still shows signs of the Yiddish Theatre District of the early 20th century. The National Registry listing for the Stonewall Inn, site of a famous gay uprising, was achieved using criteria drawn for Civil War battlefields. In Harlem, architect David Adjaye demonstrates how to read the district's layers of history, architecturally: "If we walk north, through Marcus Garvey Park, along 127th Street, you'll see what I mean—houses from the 1850s to the early 1920s, which go from Romantic Classicism to Art Deco, brownstone to stucco." Adjaye's words about Harlem apply to this entire book: "Architecture is about more than shelter, after all. It’s about doing something that gives people dignity, hope, a belief in the future.”
An important book for readers interested in understanding New York through its architecture.Pub Date: Nov. 29, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-29841-1
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Penguin Press
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.
Greed, depravity, and serial murder in 1920s Oklahoma.
During that time, enrolled members of the Osage Indian nation were among the wealthiest people per capita in the world. The rich oil fields beneath their reservation brought millions of dollars into the tribe annually, distributed to tribal members holding "headrights" that could not be bought or sold but only inherited. This vast wealth attracted the attention of unscrupulous whites who found ways to divert it to themselves by marrying Osage women or by having Osage declared legally incompetent so the whites could fleece them through the administration of their estates. For some, however, these deceptive tactics were not enough, and a plague of violent death—by shooting, poison, orchestrated automobile accident, and bombing—began to decimate the Osage in what they came to call the "Reign of Terror." Corrupt and incompetent law enforcement and judicial systems ensured that the perpetrators were never found or punished until the young J. Edgar Hoover saw cracking these cases as a means of burnishing the reputation of the newly professionalized FBI. Bestselling New Yorker staff writer Grann (The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession, 2010, etc.) follows Special Agent Tom White and his assistants as they track the killers of one extended Osage family through a closed local culture of greed, bigotry, and lies in pursuit of protection for the survivors and justice for the dead. But he doesn't stop there; relying almost entirely on primary and unpublished sources, the author goes on to expose a web of conspiracy and corruption that extended far wider than even the FBI ever suspected. This page-turner surges forward with the pacing of a true-crime thriller, elevated by Grann's crisp and evocative prose and enhanced by dozens of period photographs.
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.Pub Date: April 18, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-385-53424-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.
The veteran actor, comedian, and banjo player teams up with the acclaimed illustrator to create a unique book of cartoons that communicates their personalities.
Martin, also a prolific author, has always been intrigued by the cartoons strewn throughout the pages of the New Yorker. So when he was presented with the opportunity to work with Bliss, who has been a staff cartoonist at the magazine since 1997, he seized the moment. “The idea of a one-panel image with or without a caption mystified me,” he writes. “I felt like, yeah, sometimes I’m funny, but there are these other weird freaks who are actually funny.” Once the duo agreed to work together, they established their creative process, which consisted of working forward and backward: “Forwards was me conceiving of several cartoon images and captions, and Harry would select his favorites; backwards was Harry sending me sketched or fully drawn cartoons for dialogue or banners.” Sometimes, he writes, “the perfect joke occurs two seconds before deadline.” There are several cartoons depicting this method, including a humorous multipanel piece highlighting their first meeting called “They Meet,” in which Martin thinks to himself, “He’ll never be able to translate my delicate and finely honed droll notions.” In the next panel, Bliss thinks, “I’m sure he won’t understand that the comic art form is way more subtle than his blunt-force humor.” The team collaborated for a year and created 150 cartoons featuring an array of topics, “from dogs and cats to outer space and art museums.” A witty creation of a bovine family sitting down to a gourmet meal and one of Dumbo getting his comeuppance highlight the duo’s comedic talent. What also makes this project successful is the team’s keen understanding of human behavior as viewed through their unconventional comedic minds.
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-26289-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
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