Synopses & Reviews
The Geography of Nowhere traces America's evolution from a nation of Main Streets and coherent communities to a land where every place is like no place in particular, where the cities are dead zones and the countryside is a wasteland of cartoon architecture and parking lots.
In elegant and often hilarious prose, Kunstler depicts our nation's evolution from the Pilgrim settlements to the modern auto suburb in all its ghastliness. The Geography of Nowhere tallies up the huge economic, social, and spiritual costs that America is paying for its car-crazed lifestyle. It is also a wake-up call for citizens to reinvent the places where we live and work, to build communities that are once again worthy of our affection. Kunstler proposes that by reviving civic art and civic life, we will rediscover public virtue and a new vision of the common good. "The future will require us to build better places," Kunstler says, "or the future will belong to other people in other societies."
Review
"A serious attempt to point out ways future builders can avoid the errors that have marred the American landscape." New Yorker
Review
"Contributes to a discussion our society must hold if we are to shape our world as it continues to change at a dizzying pace." Christian Science Monitor
Review
"A wonderfully entertaining useful and provocative account of the American environment by the auto, suburban developers, purblind zoning and corporate pirates." Boston Globe
Review
"Provocative and entertaining." New York Times
Synopsis
The Geography of Nowhere traces America's evolution from a nation of Main Streets and coherent communities to a land where every place is like no place in particular, where the cities are dead zones and the countryside is a wasteland of cartoon architecture and parking lots.
In elegant and often hilarious prose, Kunstler depicts our nation's evolution from the Pilgrim settlements to the modern auto suburb in all its ghastliness. The Geography of Nowhere tallies up the huge economic, social, and spiritual costs that America is paying for its car-crazed lifestyle. It is also a wake-up call for citizens to reinvent the places where we live and work, to build communities that are once again worthy of our affection. Kunstler proposes that by reviving civic art and civic life, we will rediscover public virtue and a new vision of the common good. "The future will require us to build better places," Kunstler says, "or the future will belong to other people in other societies."
About the Author
James Howard Kunstler is the author of eight novels. He has worked as a newspaper reporter and an editor for Rolling Stone, and is a frequent contributor to The New York Times Sunday Magazine. He lives in upstate New York.
Table of Contents
CONTENTSChapter
One SCARY PLACES
Two AMERICAN SPACE
Three LIFE ON THE GRIDIRON
Four EDEN UPDATED
Five YESTERDAY'S TOMORROW
Six JOYRIDE
Seven THE EVIL EMPIRE
Eight HOW TO MESS UP A TOWN
Nine A PLACE CALLED HOME
Ten THE LOSS OF COMMUNITY
Eleven THREE CITIES
Twelve CAPITALS OF UNREALITY
Thirteen BETTER PLACES
NOTES
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX