Book Review: How to Read New York

One of the greatest highlights of any trip to the Big Apple has to be its architec­ture, for New York, above all else, is a city of buildings. This essential guide to the city’s architecture does not restrict itself to its celebrated skyscrapers. It goes on to cover some of its lesser-known treasures; so there’s everything from the Guggenheim Museum to the prefabricated Crimson Beech on Staten Island (both buildings, incidentally, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright). Charmingly illustrated with line drawings, the guide provides insights into the main architectural styles that have contributed to one of the most famous cityscapes in the world. The book jacket describes it as “small enough to fit in a pocket yet serious enough to provide real answers”. We definitely like the sound of that.