Customer Reviews

If These Streets Could Talk

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is definitively New York - not in the way it is traditionally represented in books, movies and television - but rather in a tapestry of creativity and passion from true urbanites who are generally ignored. This book makes you want to listen and learn more. And the best part is you'll forget all of that and just enjoy the work.

I really enjoyed reading "If These Streets Could Talk." It encompasses all forms (poetry, prose, memoir, essay, etc.) from the disenfranchised voices of people you'd never get to hear otherwise. The writing is honest, heartbreaking, beautiful, gritty, silly--pretty much running the gamut. This book is the cure for bland genre-centric literature, such as chick lit, metafiction, maximalism, and all the other dumb titles publishers make up to sell books.

From "God tensed in an airline seat" to "I am from big white dumplings with things inside" these are the voices of everyman (woman, and child)--voices full of poetry, pain, humor, truth, and startling originality. The genius of IF THESE STREETS COULD TALK is its inclusiveness: that literature most profound can come from the pen (pencil or crayon) of anyone. Literature is no longer the preserve of the elite, the educated, the famous, the monied. It is the artful voice of anyone, even you. It's the soul of humanity.