Customer Reviews

Crossing the BLVD: Strangers, Neighbors, Aliens in a New America

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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.

Page by page, frame by frame, Crossing the Blvd introduces the reader to the most ethnically diverse locality in the United States, Queens. The lives, images, sounds and stories of new immigrants and refugees resonate profoundly. Each page has a texture that brings to life the incredible stories of strangers who by the end of your reading experience become your neighbors. Reading the book reminded me of a documentary film. The book is a visual experience. The hard cover comes with an audio CD. The soundtrack to the book is an array of amazing compositions that stay with you. EXPERIENCE THIS BOOK! Crossing the BLVD is a testament of our present condition as Americans.

Queens, in New York City, is the most ethnically diverse community in the country. Over a period of three years, from 1999 to 2002, editors Warren Lehrer and Judith Sloan collected stories from a sampling of the borough's 2 million residents. The result is this book, a much needed tribute to the people, most of them immigrants, who make Queens such a culturally rich locale.

The stories are wide and varied: a Congolese man who fled his country to seek asylum in the United States, only to be detained for nearly two years once he arrived here; an Afghan woman and her mother who were separated from each other for 22 years; a gay Colombian couple forced to flee their home; a pair of Egyptian brothers who opened a cafe and restaurant in Astoria. It's impossible to summarize them all here.

The words of the storytellers are, for the most part, kept intact. Everything is quoted directly, and even the speech mannerisms of those with rough or accented English are preserved, making the book feel just as colorful and diverse as the people featured in it. In a few cases, where the interviewee spoke little or no English at all, the stories are translated from the teller's native language. The editors have included helpful explanatory notes where the storyteller's make reference to events and individuals with which the reader may not be readily familiar.

"Crossing the BLVD" is also a refreshing visual treat. There are numerous photographs, pieces of artwork, maps, and other visuals. Each page has clearly been laid out with loving attention. Font style, size, and placement, along with the placement of the pictures, is carefully balanced to achieve certain effects. The book is just as colorful and full of character as the people whose stories it relates.

This is definitely a book everyone should read. Though nearly 400 pages in length, the text is large and makes for quick reading. But this simplicity is only a cover for the rich, inspiring, and heartfelt stories these people have to share. "Crossing the BLVD" certainly has something to offer any reader.

Well done and Bravo for Warren Lehrer and Judith Sloan for this formidable effort! I couldn't put this book down, not so much because the book has stories of gore or thrill, but because of the beautiful and thoughtful way in which it is crafted, laid out and presented. The subjects are treated with complete dignity, affirmation and love, something that is rarely seen when dealing with immigrants and foreigners. I applaud this multi-media venture [the accompanying CD and website are mindblowing as well] and the amount of effort it took. I put down the book feeling like I had had the best world education lesson ever-if only high school were like this I'd be so much further in life! Bravo!

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!

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.

Book is an excellent companion to a travelling show we saw at the University of Maine in Orono. It captures in an extraordinary fashion the incredible ethnic and cultural diversity within a relatively small section of Queens, NY.

This book is an easy and entertaining read. The stories are engaging and refreshing to read and to delve into.

Highly recommend purchasing and reading this book.

Crossing the Blvd is endlessly beautiful. The dignity underlying these immigrant tales--from political, ethnic, and economic struggles back home to new issues of assimilation, disrespect, discrimination, and legal and job difficulties, but loads of hope and freedom in the USA--is striking in every passage. Along with a book of work stories ("Gig: Americans Talk about their Jobs"), this is one of my favorite oral histories.

This book is filled with beautiful images and beautiful stories. It embodies all that is New York City.