About this ebook
Central Park is perhaps the most well-trod and familiar green space in the county. It is both a refuge from the city and Manhattan's very heart; a respite from the urban grind and a hive of activity all its own. 843 carefully planned acres allow some 37 million visitors each year to come and get lost in a sense of nature. Unsurprisingly, the park also inspires a wealth of great writing, and here Andrew Blauner collects some of the finest fiction and nonfiction-- 20 pieces in all, with classics sprinkled among 13 new ones commissioned from great New York writers. Bill Buford spends a wild night in the park; Jonathan Safran Foer envisions it as a tiny, transplanted piece of a mythical Sixth Borough; and Marie Winn answers definitively Holden Caulfield's question of where the ducks go when the park's ponds freeze over. There are bird sightings and fish sightings; Jackie Kennedy and James Brown sightings; and pieces by Colson Whitehead, Paul Auster, and Francine Prose. This vibrant collection presents Central Park, in all its many-faceted glory, a 51-block swath of special magic.
Ratings and reviews
2.0
1 review
A Google user
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August 5, 2012
The book sounds like a great idea - having a group of New York writers pen memory pieces and stories about an icon as dynamic as Central Park. The implementation of the idea didn't wow me as much as the concept. I enjoyed the introduction by Adrian Benepe, former Commissioner of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, and the epilogue by Doug Blonsky, president of the Central Park Conservancy. Their words reinforced why Central Park is important. What lay in between underwhelmed me except for some enjoyable pieces by John Burnham Schwartz, Bill Buford, Nathaniel Rich, Susan Cheever and Buzz Bissinger. Central Park is very much a reference point for just about any memory I have about Manhattan but I found this book fades quickly from memory.
About the author
Andrew Blauner is the founder of Blauner Books Literary Agency and the editor of two previous anthologies, Coach and Brothers.
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