Name: Owen Kraft's review of The New York Nobody Knows by William B. Helmreich
Item: The New York Nobody Knows
Rating: 3
Author: Owen Kraft

William B. Helmreich

"A modern-day flaneur, ethnographer William Helmreich moves engagingly through the streets and neighborhoods of New York, making pithy and substantive observations that place the everyday lives of the city's diverse peoples in a peculiarly revealing light. "The New York Nobody Knows" is a brilliant representation of everyday lives of New Yorkers, and as such--what Baudelaire did for Paris, Helmreich's work promises for New York."--Elijah Anderson, author of "The Cosmopolitan Canopy: Race and Civility in Everyday Life" "Helmreich's original and incredible book shows what every nook and cranny of this city looks like from the inside. I have never seen a work that amasses so many observations from so many scenes and deploys them with such elegance. It is a monumental and inspiring achievement."--Mitchell Duneier, author of "Sidewalk" "William Helmreich has walked everywhere and read everything pertinent on New York, and has many astute observations about both the essential spirit of the Big Apple and its rapid changes. Recommended to all lovers of this particular city, and cities in general."--Phillip Lopate, author of "Waterfront: A Walk around Manhattan" "The book offers an intriguing journey through the jagged patchwork of New York neighborhoods. Helmreich is a native son who has never lost his love for the city, its unusual characters, and its capacity to absorb change."--Sharon Zukin, author of "Naked City: The Death and Life of Authentic Urban Places" "Original and important, "The New York Nobody Knows" presents a picture of the inner life of the city, bit by delightful bit, as a complete whole. The book is enchanting in a wonderfully old-fashioned way."--Peter Moskos, author of "Cop in the Hood: My Year Policing Baltimore's Eastern District" "In a clear storytelling manner, Helmreich makes the case that New York is a vibrant, complex, and diverse municipality grappling with a range of social conditions and different forms of social change, all of which are affecting America's major cities. I know of no other work comparable in scope."--Alford A. Young Jr., author of "The Minds of Marginalized Black Men: Making Sense of Mobility, Opportunity, and Future Life Chances"

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The New York Nobody Knows by William B. Helmreich