4 comments about Life on the Lower East Side: Photographs by Rebecca Lepkoff, 1937-1950.

1. The publishing of Lepkoff's beautiful photgraphs was long overdue and Peter Dans' parallel touching story gave them added life and unique history. As a student of Lower East Side History and as someone who grew up in Knickerbocker Village, I would have loved to find out their exact location, in the manner of Abbott's great work. The photos are only identified by grouping them in broad areas at the beginning of loosely organized chapters. I can take educated guesses on several of them, but that's all. Perhaps Lepkoff's notes were missing? I'm sure a gathering of some old-timers could have pin-pointed them. Nevertheless, I'm contacting my childhood friends to make sure they get a copy.



2. This is a beautiful book. The photographs are honest and compelling, and the writing is wonderful. My 13-year-old daughter and I especially loved reading about Peter Dans' childhood in a cold-water flat. I grew up loving the "All-of-a-Kind" books by Sydney Taylor, and in some ways, this reminded me of those beloved stories. Peter Dans is a sensitive writer who, like Sydney Taylor, is able to make you feel as if you're there, and care about the people -- in this case, himself as a young boy and his remarkable family, particularly his grandmother. I feel the loss of this neighborhood even though I've never been there. In these pages, with both authors' wonderful writing and the rich photography, the Lower East Side lives again, in all its vitality. The only thing I would change is to make the text type darker, so it would be easier on the eyes.



3. This is a book of photographs one feels truthfully captures the atmosphere, the way of life, experienced by the people living on the Lower East Side during this period of time. The text is a bit difficult to read as it is not a very dark print but all in all the book is worthwhile for just the photographs alone.



4. This book is perfect for history/nostalgia/photography buffs.
   The photographs are wonderful and sensitive of places, people and things in a neighborhood that is swiftly changing.

5 comments about New York, Empire City: 1920-1945.

1. A wonderful pictoral history of early 20th century New York. One will be astounded at the space between the buildings of the city and the level of architecture throughout. In our daily hustle, this book reminds us of the beauty of the many buildings that make up the skyline of New York. Enjoy.



2. When David Stravitz bought around five hundred glass negatives from a New Jersey photo shop in the late seventies I bet he didn't realise what a nice little earner he was onto. This treasure trove of images has so far produced two books, the amazing day-by-day building of the Chrysler Building (ISBN 1568983549) and now 'New York, Empire State'.
   
   Both books follow the same format, page after page of very detailed architectural photographs of the city in the first fifty years of the last century. This book has a hundred images (thankfully in 175dpi) taken by commercial photographers Peyser and Patzig probably for architects and builders as a record of their endeavours.
   
   It is the detail in the photos that makes the book so fascinating. Taken on eight by ten glass negs after carefully selecting the right position reveals street scenes and buildings where you can read the road signs and study the detail work on skyscrapers that would be impossible to see from street level. Nearly all the photos are of commercial property though near the end there shots of tenements, shops, sport arenas and Coney Island. Needless to say many of the buildings shown came down years ago.
   
   Each picture has the name of the building or city area and Christopher Gray adds more detail on six pages at the back of the book and this is where I felt the reader has been badly let down by the publishers. There are 130 photo pages yet only sixteen have page numbers, which makes nonsense of Gray's page numbered captions and the three page comprehensive index. Strangely page 105, with a whole page photo does have a number and this, I assume, was to be the case with every page but someone screwed up! Very frustrating (and do I get a refund?).
   
   I recently reviewed a similar architectural photo book about New York City with 170 stunning photos taken by Samuel Gottscho between 1925 and 1940. Included are some marvellous Manhattan night photos as well as shop and house interiors. Gottscho's work helped to define the popular skyline silhouette image of the big American city. Have a look at 'The Mythic City' (ISBN 1568985622) by Donald Albrecht.
   
   ***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.



3. No regrets but I wish there were more photos of the city and street scenes.



4. I love the fantastic black and white images in this book, you forget how spectacularly beautiful the New York skyline was before the 50's, 60's and 70's international style of Mies and SOM ruined the skyline blocking many of these breathtaking buildings from view and altering an iconic american image forever. At any rate, this is a really good book, with well researched, interesting text and aforementioned great photo's. As you look at all the beautiful buildings and lament the loss of so many over the years, you can't help but want to throttle Robert Moses and David Rockefeller.



5. A rare glimpse into a glamorous New York as it once was. An amazing time machine. The photographs are of absolutely stunning quality.

No comments about Central Park Map (Streetwise).

4 comments about The World in a City: Traveling the Globe Through the Neighborhoods of the New New York.

1. Joe Berger's magnificent new book deserves to become another filament in the tapestry of the city he so eloquently and lovingly describes. He has a sixth sense about people, place and time that bring to life the essence of New York . He weaves history, sociology, politics and personal anecdotes into a seamless whole that illuminate the nooks and crannies of our great metropolis. In conclusion, this reader, for one, cannot wait for the opportunity to embark on the world tour lying outside his doorstep with "The World in a City" as my Baedeker!



2. Joseph Berger, who has delighted us for years with his articles in the NY Times and prevous books, delights us once again with a vivid and fascinating portrayal of life in the City (there is no other). The pictures of prayer services around the City is enthralling.Great book.



3. Manhattan, with its gleaming skyscrapers, shopping and entertainment, financial district, street-life, etc. etc. IS WONDERFUL. But there is still more to New York City, and that "more" is found in the ethnic neighborhoods of its other boroughs. And Joseph Berger, himself a first-generation American, brings many of these immigrant neighborhoods to life with chapters on each. There's Astoria, long known as a Greek-American stronghold which is changing as other groups move in, and East Harlem, now as much Mexican as Puerto Rican, and areas of The Bronx where emigres from Ghana now predominate. The city constantly changes, which makes it an always fascinating place, but one with which it is sometimes hard to keep up. Berger's book makes the task easier, providing a look at areas of the city that aren't, but should be, in the tourist guides. And, best of all, each chapter concludes with a list of things to see AND places to eat! Overall, an excellent book.



4. I happened upon this book and thought it would be a perfect one while I prepare for our trip to NYC this summer. I thought it would tell me many interesting neighborhoods to check out, as well as tell me some stories about the places - given his background as a journalist, I would not have assumed otherwise. Well, he's good at telling about neighborhoods, but their stories are all the same - old immigrants are replaced by new ones. Too many census statistics, too few interesting tales. Oh, and the map is very unsubstantial. I got a few ideas, but in general it was not as good as I thought it would be.

3 comments about Only in New York: 400 Remarkable Answers to Intriguing, Provocative Questions About New York City.

1. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in New York City trivia and facts. The book covers all types of trivia from history to pop culture. The Q&A format of the book makes it an easy read, and easy to read if you only can read it a couple of minutes at a time (terrific bathroom reading material). It is a must have for any fans of the Sunday New York Times City Section, this book is a must have. It is a great book for anybody interested in a broad range of not-your-typical New York City trivia.



2. This is a wonderful font of fascinating, little-known information about New York. The little stories are just the right length for bathroom reading. Some are funny, others are outrageous, and still others are quite disturbing. Everything you ever wanted to know about New York, but never thought to ask.



3. I bought this book for a friend of mine who loves NYC trivia and is changing careers to become a NYC tour guide. She loves this book and has already used some of the information on some tours that she is in training for. Easy to read and very interesting informtaion.

5 comments about The New York Mapguide: Fifth Edition.

1. I went with some friends to Manhattan, and bought lots of different map books to easily get around. Upon getting to NYC, the New York Mapguide wasa the ONLY book we used. The information in it was everything we wanted, and more. It was so complete. I recommend 100% to all those going to Manhattan, that this will be the only book you'll use too.



2. Every year I go to NYC for a couple days vacation and this book comes with me everytime. It is small enough so it can fit anywhere and small enough that you can have it out and nobody could tell it is a map. It looks as though you are just reading a book. I have bought other guides but they never compare. I would recommend this mapguide to anyone visiting the best city in the world.



3. I have used this book twice when I have gone to New York City for a week at a time. The maps are accurate, the restaurant guides and entertainment tips help a great deal. This is the second edition of this book that I have purchased. If I go back to NYC again and there is another newer edition, I will definitely buy it as well.



4. I used this to travel to NY for the first time and it was great. It was also shipped fast.



5. Of the four items I purchased to help me navigate NYC, I would rate this as my second choice. It bills itself as a unique publication with information to enjoy Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx and it lives up to it's promise.
   This would be my number one choice it I were staying in NYC or visiting with my family. It has tons of tourist information, is very easy to use and very detailed. It has a section titled "Interesting Walks" which is very nice for anyone who would like to stroll the city and take it all in.

3 comments about LITTLE BLACK BOOK NEW YORK 2nd ED. (Travel Guide) (Little Black Book Series).

1. Very informative and splits up New York by sections to make it easy to find the area you want to see and what attractions are available.



2. I travel to NYC for work and I enjoy being able to explore during my free time - this book has proven itself helpful over and over again. The fold out subway map is the main reason I bought the book - I think I need to have that page laminated!
   
   Still, I have three small suggestions to make this Little Black Book even better: 1) a place to stash a pencil/pen (a small elastic loop would work) 2) two or three blank pages in the back of each section for adding our own "finds" for each neighborhood and 3) a small envelope in the front for tossing in business cards, Metro cards, etc.
   
   Can't wait for the second edition!



3. I brought this book with me when I revisited New York City last year, and it came in extremely handy in helping me navigate the different sections of Manhattan. The book divides the big city into eight neighborhoods, each given its own fold-out area map and chapter that gives a brief history & overview of that neighborhood, as well as suggestions and tips for activities, places to eat, and hotels at which to stay. There's also a fold-out map of the MTA subway system that's easier to use than the giant folded ones you get at the subway stations.
   
   The size of the book is perfect for carrying in your jacket pocket or small handbag, and because it's in a nice little black-book format, it's not as conspicuous as some other tourist guides. I read through the book before my trip and made good use of sticky flags to mark pages that contained info I was sure to need during my trip. I recommend this book for any first-time visitor to New York City, but it's also great if you've already been there several times but could still use a few tips.

3 comments about Ideo Eyes Open: New York (Eyes Open).

1. Not just an unusually thoughtful collection of places you'll want to eat, shop, and play. IDEO's keen observations and photos spark curiosity about how our improvisations and adaptations shape public space. A hip crash course in the cultural anthropology of modern NY.



2. I'm posting similar reviews for this pair of Ideo Eyes Open guides, one for Ideo Eyes Open: New York and one for Ideo Eyes Open: London, because they were released at the same time and share a common approach, with some promise of more guides to follow in the series.
   
   Ideo is a design and image consulting firm that has created this series incorporating some of its more general design approaches and hoping the reader will slow down and look at usual things in an unusual way: "It's really just a matter of getting out there and opening yourself up to it all." Both books are beautifully designed, handy in the back pack or purse, with some clever "for your comments" stickers to highlight your own favorites.
   
   The firm made its name in designing products, including the Palm V, but more recently has focused on environment design. Fred Dust is team leader of Smart Space, the company's real estate division and the editor of this series. One of Dust's first projects was Dilbert's Ultimate Cubicle designed in consultation with Scott Adams. It featured a boss monitor, an electronic window, a fold down Murphy chair, an Aquarium module and a roll up hammock.
   
   In their projects, the team the starts with a "deep dive," during which "Smart Space designers, anthropologists and researchers spend days -- sometimes weeks -- shadowing people to observe how they live: when and where they eat, what time they go to bed, what their hobbies are, how they spend their money." The Eyes Open website and guide books follow the same approach: they publish unique experiences shared by IDEO staff and friends, and offering site visitors the opportunity to submit their own unique experiences in text and imagery.
   
   Here are a couple of examples from the London guide of suggestions:
   
   "Instead of taking high tea at a hotel lounge, go to Coffee@157. The light fixtures in this coffeehouse, as you can see, are made of to-go cups. Outside, a yellow vending machine dispenses artworks for less than 5 pounds each."
   
   "Crumbs and Doilies is a boutique cupcake shop in the Sunday UpMarket, which is a spontaneous gathering of people selling arts and crafts and playing carom."
   
   I'm not entirely sure who these guides will appeal to; there is precious little of the traditional guidebook information about prices, opening hours, travel directions, etc. But the goal is certainly worthy: opening yourself to your surroundings while traveling can be a wonderful experience. I remember once sitting in a shady cave high above a canyon in Utah one hot summer day enjoying the scenery. Suddenly, I realized my body fit the hollow perfectly, and saw to my surprise that the rock had been hollowed out to make a comfortable seat. All at once I was engulfed in a culture several hundred years old, re-living the life of sentries watching for approaching enemies.
   
   These guidebooks promise the same flashes of discovery, and so far they have delivered on a couple of occasions in New York City. I can hardly wait to try out this edition in London later this year.
   
   Robert C. Ross 2008



3. This book from Ideo authors shows a creative approach to exploring New York City. Some of the recommended visits are unusual and out-of-the-ordinary, but are ways of seeing the unusual. I look forward to similar reviews of other U.S. cities.

1 comments about Sacred Koyasan: A Pilgrimage to the Mountain Temple of Saint Kobo Daishi and the Great Sun Buddha.

1. Okay, just to put all the cards on the table, I was already predisposed in this book's favor at first sight. Shingon Buddhism and its founder, Kukai (Kobo Daishi), sparked my intense fascination all those years ago when I first started acquainting myself with Japan and Japanese Buddhism and has remained a persistent if sometimes understated obsession ever since. And my visits to Shingon's mountain headquarters, the extensive temple complex up on Koyasan, remain one of my fondest memories of the 1990's. So, yes, I was thrilled to see a substantial book-length study of Koyasan finally come out in English. And given Koyasan's immense importance as a religious site, about time too!
   
   Given all that, the book still exceeded my expectations and is probably one of the most thoroughly enjoyable as well as brass-tacks informative books I've read in quite a while. The style is deceptively informal and colloquial, even a bit cheesy now and then, but a veritable mountain of painstakingly thorough research and years of firsthand experience have been weaved into this narrative with a deeply serious enthusiasm that only comes from true labors of love. All of which trumps the fact that, in a way, this is not a specialized work of groundbreaking original scholarship in the sense that something new has been translated and/or analyzed in expert's jargon. Rather it is a superb synthesis of such studies skillfully and accessibly unpacked while informed by a keen observational eye--all rendered in the engaging format of a kind of personally meaningful travelogue.
   
   Indeed, a vividly concrete account of getting to and leaving Koyasan frames the main body of the work, the latter of which comes alive with detailed descriptions of the main buildings of this extensive temple complex--what they're like, what they contain, what goes on there, their place in the overall institutional framework, and such--AND the temple town and its many old and quirky shops (including a venerably vintage sake shop) as well as Koyasan's many and varied ritual and festival cycles all taking place at these many locations. Coupled with this and giving it depth is a highly reliable retelling of the life and thought of the man who established Koyasan in the 800's, Kukai (Kobo Daishi) along with the many legends that grew up around him--and then a fascinating and thorough history of Koyasan starting with Kukai's immediate disciples and following the tale through the ages up until the Meiji persecutions of the late 1800's and on into present times. One also gets a good solid portrait of the average life of a monk at Koyasan from youth to old age, from novice to head of the Shingon order.
   
   A short review such as this actually can't do justice to both the variety and the fine level of detail packed not only in the main narrative but also in the footnotes. Definitely check the latter or you'll be missing out. That said, this is not a travel guide in the sense that you are given info about travel routes and accommodations and such; if you are actually planning to physically visit Koyasan, you will want to consult other sources for that. But for understanding what's actually going on once you get there this book might very well be almost indispensably useful. Anyway, whether you're riding up the cable car starting your own pilgrimage or sitting somewhere on the other side of the world imagining it all, "Sacred Koyasan" is just the thing for getting into the spirit of this holy place at once highly civilized and cozily rustic, quietly austere and exuberantly festive, mystically esoteric and down-home familiar, freshly contemporary and old as the hills.

5 comments about Above New York.

1. This book is really great. I recommend it to anyone who loves NY!



2. This is the best photographic book I have ever seen. Its pictures of The Big Apple are magnificent! Comparative pictures taken in years past, many in the 1920s, show how sections of the city have changed. Whether one is a fan of New York and who isn't, you will enjoy this book. It makes me want all the other "Above" books now.



3. Robert Cameron's "Above New York: A Collection of Historical and Original Aerial Photographs of New York City" sets itself apart from other similar books. In no particular order:

   a) the photos are unbelieveably crisp and the printing is of top-notch quality;
   b) don't ask me how, but Mr. Cameron makes the city look like a place where human beings actually live and work, rather than making the cityscape look like an architectural diorama;
   c) other boroughs are represented! New York is not just Manhattan, as so many other books would have you think.

   The contrast of the modern skyline with the older photographs is very effective, as others have mentioned. But what is also appealing is the changes of the skyline between the time these photos were taken (ca. 1988) and today, as we New Yorkers would notice. The images of the World Trade Center are poignant, but I'm glad that the publishers did not update the book, in order to remove them. As time takes its healing course, we can look back fondly on those buildings--still with pain, but now with some acceptance. "Above New York: A Collection of Historical and Original Aerial Photographs of New York City" remains a glorious collection that has yet to be eclipsed in quality.

   Rocco Dormarunno
   author of The Five Points




4. I haven't found any picture book of Manhattan that's as sharp, descriptive and beautiful as this one. Unfortunately, it is a bit outdated--for those seeking a realistic portrayal--because of new construction and destruction in New York City.



5. Let me first say I love New York, it is quite simply the most energetic, vibrant, alive place on earth. This book does the city such a service, it is spectacular and photographs just amazing. Mr. Cameron is such a singular talent and he does it hanging out of a helicopter. This book really captures the city and lets the viewer see the hidden New York, that very few see. I love the photos of Central Park, you have no idea what an oasis it is until you see it from high above. Some photos are in summer some are in winter and you get to see the city in all its various incarnations. Mr. Cameron also includes some vintage photos to let the viewer see how much the city has changed. I only wish that Mr. Careron had been able to photograph my city of Houston, she would have welcomed him with opened arms. I highly recommend this book, you won't be disappointed.