From the New York Times architecture critic, his celebrated walking tours of New York City, now expanded, covering four of the five boroughs and some 540 million years of history, accompanied by some of the people who know it best.
A geographic memoir ... The Intimate City is a joyful miscellany of people seeing things in the urban landscape, the streets alive with remembrances and ideas even when those streets are relatively empty of people.
Has an eye-opening factoid or anecdote in practically every sentence. These facts are not just idle trivia; the pieces of information Kimmelman disburses have narratives behind them ... The stories here are embedded, and part of Kimmelman's substantial accomplishment is unearthing them from their sources again and again ... The dialogue format Kimmelman has chosen is a curious one ... At times his introduction of data might feel a little overaggressive. What's energizing about these dialogues...is that they're held within the perpetually shifting and challenging context of the city itself ... The depth of the research here, in which it seems like every detail has been plumbed and every corner has been trawled, is of course part of the book's magic ... This book is historical spelunking disguised as a series of strolls through New York City, and as such it is well with the descent.
Scintillating ... Illustrated with vibrant color photos, Kimmelman’s loose-jointed text and dialogues oscillate between beguiling lore...and piquant evocations of the New Yorkish soul ... The result is an enchanting and lyrical montage of an ever-evolving city.
