BeigeJournal

The City In Mind: Notes on the Urban Condition, by James Howard Kunstler, 2001.

Unlike his previous books on the urban condition that mainly make fun of cities in the United States (which is easy to do), here we tour the world with him, with a chapter for each of Paris, Atlanta, Mexico City, Berlin, Las Vegas, Rome, Boston, and London. As you can imagine, he likes some better than others. He writes extensively of the history of the cities, which I found quite interesting, though I have my doubts about some of the notions of Aztec history he relates, involving Julian Jaynes’ ideas of consciousness as a learned cultural ability.

Although I enjoyed reading the book, I do think that it would benefit from some maps and perhaps photos. Particularly with the international scope of the book a even fairly crude maps of each city would clarify how the different parts of each city relate to the others.

Kunstler may be shrill, but he is fun to read. You don’t tend to find yourself wondering how he really feels. I think the book is worth reading just for the numerous passages like the following:

“Buffalo looks as if it suffered a prolonged aerial bombardment.”

“To make sure the mall’s skin evoked the local vernacular, the developer hired an out-of-town consultant, Communications Arts from Boulder, Colorado, to research architectural motifs that would ‘relate’ to the region’s art, history, and natural characteristics. This is how psychotic commercial development has become in America.”

“The destiny of Las Vegas, therefore, would seem bright in the same sense that a thermonuclear explosion is bright.”

“It had the characteristics—and all the charm—of a freeway toll plaza.”