Not quite as I expected, but compulsively readable

What did you love best about The New York Nobody Knows?

I enjoyed the premise, what the author did to get to know the city he grew up in. It is a comprehensive look at the many different "categories" of New Yorkers, their differences in race, class, religion, and the perceptions of living space, sidewalks, transportation... I think I expected him to go by neighborhood and describe the socioeconomic, racial and religious differences, but I think the finished product is more readable - broken up into different categories and sub-categories.

Have you listened to any of Mark Cabus’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I haven't, but I do like him as a narrator; will definitely check out his backlist.

Any additional comments?

I loved this book! I am going to New York in the very near future, and will definitely consider many points brought out in this book. I will re-read it again upon my return, contrasting my own perceptions as (admittedly) a tourist.

3 people found this helpful

Don't Judge a Book by its........Title

If you expect this to be a sort of "New York off the beaten path" tour guide, you'll be disappointed - it reads more like a doctoral dissertation in sociology. At times it also reads like an apartment finder handbook! With that said, it's worth a listen if you're interested in those sorts of things. For me, I would like to have heard much more of the supposedly hundreds of interviews he did with New York residents. That would have been much more interesting than listening to him drone on about what HE thinks about New York.

2 people found this helpful

Borderline offensive.

Truthfully, I couldn’t get past hour 1. I was willing to give the author a little wiggle room because he’s born and raised in NYC, however there were SEVERAL comments in the first few chapters that ultimately led to this review and my deleting the book from my library. Namely, “stick your head in any restaurant in NYC and shout: ‘immigration’” and something else to the effect that it’s unlikely for poor or urban people to gain entry into Harvard.

I have lived in NYC for 15 years and, like the author, I too enjoy walking and discovering new neighborhoods. But this book seems very self-impressed and tone deaf and does not do the city justice.

2 people found this helpful

Similar to a college course on New York

I was looking for a book with facts about New York before I visit on vacation. This book offered a study on the people of New York in the six major burrows. It is insightful and entertaining.

2 people found this helpful

Awesome

Awesome book, I love NY. Excellent narrator as well. Audible is helping me to improve my English.

2 people found this helpful

Sociology Textbook with Manhattan Examples

I mistakenly listened to this book hoping to learn about Manhattan. Instead I was taught remedial sociology, complete with section titles so I could follow easily. The examples were usually about Manhattan, but they were scattered around the city in a way that was frustrating if your main interest was learning about Manhattan and not sociology. And I would have thrown my iPad across the room if I had to hear one more time about his walking every street in the city to write the book. I ended this book thoroughly hating it.

Mesmerizing take on why New York is New York

An inspiring project with insightful reflection, this book is must read for new yorkers, city dwellers, and prospective social scientists.