Customer Reviews

Big City Junk

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BIG CITY JUNK, which was probably in production on September 11, 2001 (it arrived in bookstores a couple of months later), carries a special resonance because of the events of that day. What would otherwise be a lark of a style book appealing to the collectibles crowd becomes a small shrine as well for a piece of the New York lifestyle and psyche. In the course of celebrating the cast aside and disposable, Mary Randolph Carter, the author and photographer caught a lasting, brave, prophetic comment about fear and city living rendered in the temporal medium of a sidewalk chalk message. But she is also onto something else that is so very much a part of the economy and ecology of the city: the cycle of "stuff" in a population intensive, small place. The sociological angle raises this volume in Carter's Junk series above the others.

This is not to say the book isn't fun. It is fun. And it is very fair: Carter gives very specific information about how much things cost (or don't) and where they were found. She provides lists of flea markets and thrift shops in the major metropolitan areas she covers. Her method is to focus on individual collectors in locales like New York, San Francisco and LA, profiling how they find their stuff and what they do with it.

Like a novelist who succeeds in creating a world and staying true to it, Carter has established a vision that makes junk matter. I need open, less cluttered surfaces in my own environment, but when I read the Junk series, I can certainly enjoy that collectible urge.

I love this book, and I will admit, I am the subject of one of the chapters in the book (Lost and Found). But I was a big fan of
Carter's books before I met her 2 years ago. I remember the excitement I felt when I saw "American Junk" for the first time.
A woman after my own heart! (I have been making art from junk for the last 6 years.) Thank you Carter (she prefers to be called that), for helping us to see so many fun ways to decorate inexpensively and recylce, reuse, and clean up the environment.
Carter writes in an inviting, cozy manner that makes you feel like an old friend. And I really enjoyed watching her photograph
for my chapter, no fussy rearranging of things, she captures the
images as she sees them and moves on. Packed full of inspiration!

Mary Randolph Carter, aka "Carter", is Queen of all things Junk! Others may use that title, but Carter owns it. The fourth (!) book in her "American Junk" series, "Big City Junk", finds our heroine Carter trapsing through the junk yards, stores and flea-markets of more cosmopolitan outposts. As usual, Carter's unique gift is her ability to photograph junk in its "natural state", and giving the discarded, outdated and seemingly unimportant the artistic presence it deserves. Subconciously, every compulsive junker has always understood the "power of junk", and Carter's "Big City Junk" is a celebration of that understanding. Particularly poignent in "Big City Junk" are Carter's photographs of various paintings, sketches and souvenirs of New York and The World Trade Center. Odd and touching how a few photos of humble junk express that which cannot be said in a million words.

Wonderful! Carter's all-seeing eye easily elevates trash to treasure by simply selecting things and saving them from oblivion. We should all do so!

ok I admit- I'd never,no never have this much junk in my home. but it's like going to an antique store, where you don't plan on buying anything anyway, you can just LOOK.

Full of color photos, wonderful junk, themed rooms, and commentary that is not obnoxious!

a keeper!

I wasn't too sure about getting this book, but, when it arrived I was so pleased about the attractive cover. However, when I opened it I was more than pleased at the gorgeous way it introduced you to a world of Gorgeous Junk.

I Love this book, every page was a treat and was so exciting to see what a person could do to decorate their home with ordinary stuff that anyone could find most anywhere. The decorations ran from a variety of vintage signs to old parts to vintage knic knacs. Old pillows mixed with metal chairs some old mirrors used in a way that you would not normally display it or putting with items that you wouldn't think would go together. It gave it a kind of modern retro look, absolutely great!

So, yes, I recommend this book to anyone who likes that funky off beat look with a little uptown modern look in their lives.

Happy Junk Hunting.

It is quite obvious, after reading this book, that the author spent a lot of time researching, planning the layout, and describing, the many pictures in each of her books. I feel, if each book sparks only one idea to use something, in a different way, her desire has been achieved. Her books have inspired me to search harder and reach higher to look at objects in a different way. Always search for new ways to use old things in a different but safe way. Everyone is a crafter in some way.