Product Description

The borough of Queens in New York City is the most ethnically diverse locality in the United States. For two years, Warren Lehrer and Judith Sloan traveled the world by trekking through the streets of their home borough. This title (and its companion audio CD) documents the people they encountered along the way. First-person narratives are illuminated by strikingly direct photographs; innovative design differentiates points of view; and the authors' personal and historical observations bring context to these narratives. In their native countries, these people belonged to all walks of life; now thrown together as neighbours, classmates, coworkers, enemies and friends, they reflect on the good, the ugly and the unexpected in the transformation of their lives. The stories, images and sounds reflected here resolve into a portrait of the ever-shifting future of America.

Product Details

• Published on: 2003-06-24
• Released on: 2003-06-24
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

From Publishers Weekly
New York's undersung borough of Queens, home to the new Ellis Island (the city's airports), may be the most diverse county in the country today, and documentarians Lehrer and Sloan have innovatively brought it to life. First-person narratives that sometimes intertwine several voices (some were broadcast on the public radio program The Next Big Thing) are matched by a bold and colorful layout: large portraits, long-view landscapes, multiple typefaces (sometimes within the same paragraph) and inset graphics or asides. The stories are grouped in five lower-case sections: "contemporary pilgrims," "asylum seekers," "family ties," "neighborhood tales" and "unlikely coexistences" (Ping-Pong players, a high school, a punk-gypsy cabaret band). The language can be poetic; a Congolese asylum-seeker declares, "Wackenhut is a for-profit business they are making from the sorrow of detainees." Two Egyptian restaurateurs, brothers, lament gentrification: "You really killed yourself with the atmosphere you created." A Russian emigre expresses disbelief that a call to 911 would actually bring the cops. Some interviewees express melancholy about their move, but they generally agree-an old American story-that opportunities are better for their kids. An accompanying CD (sold separately if you buy the paperback) includes interview excerpts as well as music by the authors and some of their subjects. While some of the texture of Queens is sacrificed-you wouldn't know the library system is the busiest in the country-this book remains an arresting, vividly printed mosaic.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

It's about time
It's about time someone took the time out to celebrate the people that make New York City the beautiful, wonderful place that it is. It's about time someone took the time out to celebrate Queens for the complex, intricate, deeply political, diverse and rich place that it is. It's about time that someone took the time out to illuminate the parts of this town where working people live and congregate and raise their children. This book is a celebration. It is rich with color and culture and compassion. It forces the reader to see immigrants as people, with talent, with kindness in their hearts and with the desire not only to survive but to live. Thank you Judith Sloan and Warren Lehrer!!! You have done a great service to society.

I loved this book on so many levels!
The authors did such a great job of creating a truly compelling multimedia piece that one doesn't just read, but experiences! The people are fascinating, the stories are inspiring, and the intriguing photos, creative graphic design and layout really works to enhance the experience. The authors even add helpful and interesting tidbits of information that help give the whole work social-historical perspective. And the CD is a work of art in itself! I couldn't put the book down, couldn't wait to meet the next person and hear their story. Such a great work!

Beauty of diversity
This might be very personal as I am living in Astoria, Queens. However, after reading this book I have a feeling I am no longer alone. Also, it shows hidden or forgotten beauty of our fellow neighbors. The book is full of colors, spices and distant but yet familiar life stories. Crossing the BLVD reminds its readers on things which we are all sharing, and we all have in common - humanity.