Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
So combining the CD and literature themes, I have a question for all of you. I love reading about America's cities and wanted to see if we could compile some suggestions for books on various American cities. Preferably they would be books that focus on a single city or metro area, or single theme among American cities. Certain cities will obviously have more literature written about them. For example, New York City:
Gotham by Burrows & Wallace Island at the Center of the World by Short Times Square Red, Times Square Blue Delany The Warhol Economy by Currid
And I'd even seek out other NYC suggestions. What are the "great" books on other American cities? Whether they be planning focused, historical, sociological, etc. And whether that city be Boston, Detroit, Anchorage, or Bakersfield. Any and all cities, looking for some great reads to get under the skin of America's great cities.
The first one that comes to mind for me is Devil in the White City by Eric Larson. This is a historic look at the summer of 1893 when Chicago hosted the World's Fair. The book is an intertwining of a the tale of a real serial murderer who terrorized Chicago that summer and Daniel H. Burnham, the architect of the World's Fair. I learned so much about Chicago's architecture and development.
The first one that comes to mind for me is Devil in the White City by Eric Larson. This is a historic look at the summer of 1893 when Chicago hosted the World's Fair. The book is an intertwining of a the tale of a real serial murderer who terrorized Chicago that summer and Daniel H. Burnham, the architect of the World's Fair. I learned so much about Chicago's architecture and development.
I was just going to recommend this one! You beat me too it. So may I second your recommendation? Having been born and raised in Chicago, even though I haven't lived there in some thirty some years I loved this book, in fact, I think I will reread it.
I love historical fiction. The Valley of Decision by Marcia Davenport is about 4 generations of a steel-company owner's family, taking place in Pittsburgh from the late 1800's through WWII. This is the old Pittsburgh everybody thinks of, the 'hell with the lid off' version which it certainly has changed from today.
What is really cool for me, when I was very young I took ballet lessons in the house where the movie was filmed back in the 1940's. It starred Gregory Peck who my mother was obsessed with, which is why I first saw the movie and then read her copy of the book. I've re-read it many times over the years.
Want to know about the old, gritty Chicago? These books weren't published recently, but they stand the test of time. For many people, Chicago is best told in the voice of author Studs Terkel. "Studs Terkel's Chicago" is one of them; he also wrote one of the introductions in Nelson Algren's "Chicago: City on the Make." (I didn't know this before cq'ng the author's name spelling on Amazon, but evidently when the book was first published in 1951, the Chicago Chamber of Commerce was mightily PO'd -- it was too gritty for the chamber, which was worried about the effects of tourism.)
For Miami, I love seeing that city through the crime writing of Pulitzer writer Edna Buchanan's nonfiction books. But then again, I love a good real-life crime story!
Hmm...some of the biggies that quickly come to mind from my Urban History & Development days are:
Nature's Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West by William Cronon
City of Quartz by Mike Davis
Robert Moses and the Fall of New York by Robert Caro (read it before HBO completes their mini-series!)
And maybe some Lewis Mumford (starting with The Urban Prospect and working up to The City in History) for a mid-century American treatise on the history of urban development and the possible future of the American city.
[quote=Nast;25996346]Robert Moses and the Fall of New York by Robert Caro (read it before HBO completes their mini-series!)
quote]
Whoops - screwed that one up. I was so concerned about getting the sub-title correct that I completely missed the primary title. The proper name is The Power Broker.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
