The Geography of Nowhere: The Rise and Decline of America's Man-Made Landscape

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 304 pages
• Published by: Free Press July 26, 1994
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0671888250
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0671888251
• Book Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Weighs: 9.6 ounces

From Publishers Weekly
In this inconsistent but provocative analysis, Kunstler ( Blood Solstice ), a novelist and journalist, mixes memoir, historical essay and reporting to condemn the car-dependent suburbanization of America. Kunstler, who writes ably, casts a very wide net: he finds the roots of American individualism in pre-colonial property ownership, decries the abstracting influence of modernism on city architecture and slams road-builder Robert Moses to support his contention that suburbia is a social environment without soul. He offers an intriguing history of the decline of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., his hometown, describes trips to failing Detroit and well-planned Portland, Ore., and dissects "capitals of unreality" like Disney World and Atlantic City. His worthy but sketchily described solutions--a sustainable economy, better neighborhood development and preservation of the countryside--could, however, each merit a book.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
In this spirited, irreverent critique, Kunstler spares none of the culprits that have conspired in the name of the American Dream to turn the U.S. landscape from a haven of the civic ideal into a nightmare of crass commercial production and consumption. Kunstler strips the bark off the utopian social engineering promoted by the machine-worshiping Modern movement of Gropius, Le Corbusier, and Frank Lloyd Wright and skewers the intellectual camps (e.g., Venturi) that have thrived on making academic glory of the consumer wasteland. With the fervor of an investigative reporter and in the vernacular of a tabloid journalist, Kunstler exposes the insidious "car lobby" and gives case studies of landscapes as diverse as Detroit, Atlantic City, and Seaside, Florida, to illustrate both the woes and hopeful notes. The ideas in this book are not new (Jane Jacobs and William H. Whyte Jr. were bemoaning the loss of civic life a quarter-century ago), but Kunstler gives their case an urgent, popular voice. An eminently relevant and important book; highly recommended.
- Thomas P.R. Nugent, New York
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Reader Reviews
James Howard Kunstler would perfectly understand Dorothy's wish to return to simpler days and a happier life. He argues here that pre-WWII small-town America with it's sense of community represents all that was good about urban living. In contrast to that what we now have is THE GEOGRAPHY OF NOWHERE which is large central-city and suburban conglomerations incessantly spreading outwards, all interconnected by a network of freeways. Or as Kunstler's says "the whole destructive, wasteful, toxic, agoraphobia-inducing spectacle". This brings up my problem with the book - it's overly angry tone and the hyperbole that is used throughout. The book starts off well enough with a brief description of early colonial settlement patterns and the planning and design elements that governed our first towns and cities. There was a connection with community and an appreciation for space. Also a recognition that there can even be romantic and spiritual elements in how and where we lived. Kunstler then goes on to briefly mention architectural schools of thought and how changes in thinking have been reflected in our urban landscape. This is a pastel-shaded description of the first few chapters but if it's purple-prose you wish there is more than enough of that here. Also some of Kunstler descriptions of the more blighted aspects of our landscape are scarlet with anger. After describing Modernism and Postmodern approaches in architecture (and overly simplifying the differences between them) Kunstler is flowery yet dismissive: "Worshipping the machine and industrial methods as ends in themselves, they became the servants of an economy that plundered the future in order to power the engines of production and consumption for the present." As for the architects, far from being motivated by belief in their work or some element of professionalism, Kunstler says they are only interested because it was "the huge, out-of-scale, inhuman, corporate glass boxes that put paychecks on their desks every Friday." There is too much of this anger here and contrary to his publishers who describe it as "elegant and often hilarious" it's actually tedious and sometimes misplaced. In describing the silliness of Tomorrowland's vision of the future, Kunstler comes up with an inappropriate metaphor using dead and thus defenseless Walt Disney himself: "Walt's spiritual life must have been a torment." And after reading the following paragraph I completely lost track of what this book was about. It's about urban blight, right? "Families crack under the pressure. Fathers unable to cope take off for good. Mothers slip into public assistance, depression, obesity, alcoholism. Yet they keep having babies. There are parasitical boyfriends and a heightened incidence of child abuse..." There are some good points and the first part of the book before Kunstler got really upset is not bad. His enthusiasm for the subject and his passion in wanting a better urban America is obvious. If he were to put forward his recommendations for change in a less strident tone then maybe more would be done. Overall though there is too much histrionics and we shouldn't blame Dorothy if she said "Come on Toto let's go home, but leave the book behind".