NEW INSIGHTS ON NEW YORK CITYThe Only Book You�ll Ever Need About the Greatest City in the World
If Mencken�s words ring true, then Insight Guide: New York City is the book where all of the city�s aspirations � not to mention its history, neighborhoods, attractions, anecdotes, tips and listings � have been gathered together to form the only book about the �Big Apple� you�ll ever need. Written by hardcore New Yorkers � with essays by Samuel G. Freedman and Daniel Goleman � the book is a combination tourist guide, love letter, historical documentary, and inside scoop, to be equally appreciated by native sons and daughters and first time visitors. Like all Insight Guides, Insight Guide: New York City features four-color by world class photographers that, by themselves, tell what to expect and what to remember about this great city. A reader can turn to a two-page photo spread of the Rockettes � decked out in red velvet, fur-trimmed Santa dresses and red, patent leather boots � kicking their long legs, only to flip the page for a photo of a temple full of Hasidic Jews, bowing and worshipping. The juxtaposition of strikingly varied photographs from page to page is like New York itself, a rich tapestry of images, people, foods, places, and colors. Insight Guide: New York City demonstrates, over and over, a blend of what�s seen--the surface--and what�s meant--the depth. For example: SIGHT: The fashionable streets of SoHo are chic, trendy, and great for INSIGHT: Shoppers love SoHo now, but in the late 19th Century, Greene Street was the center of New York�s most notorious red-light district, where brothels with names like Flora�s and Miss Lizzie�s flourished behind shuttered windows. And note, those shuttered windows probably belonged to America�s longest continuous row of vast-iron buildings, wonderful examples of unique American architecture. SIGHT: The sprawling Central Park is a lovely place to walk, people- INSIGHT: In the mid-1800s, it took 16 years, more than $14 million, 21,000 barrels of dynamite and the planting of 17,000 trees to help Frederick Law Olmstead create Central Park. The area was originally an unsavory expanse of granite quarries and swamp occupied by illegal distilleries, pig farms, and wild dogs. SIGHT: Times Square. More than 20 million people pass through this hub every year, which was transformed during the 1990s with new buildings, theaters, restaurants, shops, and many attractions. INSIGHT: Words for the wise tourists from the Insight Guide: New York City: �Miscreants whose lives are devoted to exploiting the unwary will be quick to seize advantage of your bewilderment, so adopt the typical New Yorker�s guise of looking street-smart at all times.� Essential Information:Insight Guides are published by Langenscheidt Publishing Group. Insight Guide: New York City (ISBN#0-88729-158-9) has a suggested retail price of $21.95. It is available at bookstores, travel stores, and selected outlets where maps and travel products are sold. You may purchase this book at Amazon.com Edited by Kerry Cohen |
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"New York is not all bricks and steel . . .It is the place where all the aspirations of the Western world meet to form one vast master aspiration.� � H.L. Mencken