PD Smith

What people are saying about City

01 July 2012 | City, Writing & Poetry | Post a comment

Since Jonathan Glancey's and Jonathan Yardley's reviews of City appeared at the beginning of June, there have been many more favourable pieces on my book. Here are a few quotes and links:

“It’s a wonderful book: BLDGBLOG meets Italo Calvino. Gorgeous, smart, fun, and full of surprises, like wandering all the world’s great cities at once … Irresistible”
— David Dobbs, Wired.com

"From megalopolis to small urban spaces, we cannot deny that the power and influence of cities is truly global, as Smith argues. This book is a perfect way to understand the globalised phenomena hidden behind the word 'city'."
— Ethel Baraona Pohl, Domus, 29 June 2012

"...handsome and well-written...the great strength of City is that it gathers in one place myriad themes and angles, providing generalists with a highly readable, pithy resumé of centuries of city-related happenings and trends. Authors such as Alain de Botton and Iain Sinclair have covered similar territory elsewhere, but Smith is less pretentious and and less opaque than either..."
— Chris Moss, Times Literary Supplement, 15 June 2012

"The range of material is breathtaking, but Smith wears his erudition lightly. The prose of City is smart and fast-paced, with a nice balance between big picture history and close-up details. The book is full of "aha" moments and occasional humor. This one's a must read for history geeks."
— Pamela Toler, Shelf Awareness, 29 June 2012. Starred review.

"Smith's prose is clear-cut and confident, and the book features stunning illustrations, most of them in colour...Smith is especially adept at capturing the incessant human interaction which characterizes city life, from carnivals to street demonstrations and graffiti. Readers can virtually smell the pho sold by a street vendor in Hanoi, or marvel at acrobatics of skateboarders along the Thames. An absorbing and timely book.”
— Marc Vincent, Cleveland Plain Dealer, 24 June 2012

More reviews and comments here. City is available as a hardback or as an e-book on Kindle (UK & US) or iPad. Buy at Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com | Barnes & Noble | Bloomsbury |Indiebound | Waterstones

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