Life on the Ledge: Reflections of a New York City Window Cleaner [Paperback]

Ivor Hanson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 15, 2006

Despite playing in legendary punk bands with Henry Rollins and Ian Mackaye, Ivor realizes that window cleaning isn't his day-job, it's his only job. While washing the windows of celebrities and using the service entrance to Manhattan buildings, Ivor reflects on where he has been, what he is doing, and where he wants to go.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Having moved to New York to fulfill his creative dream-hitting it big in a punk rock band-freelance writer Hanson soon found himself viewing the city "as the skyscraper does," hooked to the outside of a high-rise office building working as a window cleaner. Hanson's memoir has plenty of engaging material to draw from, and occasionally soars on the engaging details of his precarious day job, but a lack of focus and confidence proves crippling to the narrative. In his discussion of window-washing, Hanson is effortlessly sharp, insightful and funny ("I get paid by the window, not by the hour"), but this fascinating perspective is too often clouded by banal talk of his writing aspirations (getting into Columbia's Graduate School of Journlaism) and distracting, self-conscious stabs at establishing his literary and cultural chops (as in his irrelevant, overlong aside on "a 'Christo' building-when a building undergoing extensive exterior work gets wrapped in plastic, just as Christo, the artist, has done to such buildings in Berlin's Reichstag"). It's missteps like these that keep this book from getting off the ground.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Ivor Hanson is a freelance writer and window cleaner who has written for The New York Times, The Big Takeover, Time Out New York, and other publications.

Product Details

• Paperback: 232 pages
• Publisher: Two Dollar Radio Movement (January 15, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0976389533
• ISBN-13: 978-0976389538
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #758,616 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An absolutely inspiring, fun and wonderful read ..., December 10, 2006

By 

Charlie Stella (Fords, New Joisey) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Life on the Ledge: Reflections of a New York City Window Cleaner (Paperback)

As I wrote to the author and his publisher: I'm not sure if it's because I was a window cleaner for 10 years and therefore can relate to so much of what you describe ... or if it's because I lived in the Corinthian ... or if it's because I was/am a drummer ... and a writer ... or if it's just a wonderfully told memoir filled with funny and touching stories ... but this was one wonderful read, my brother. I started yesterday morning and finished this morning. Just great fun.

It was and is an inspiring read about a guy with many creative talents working his way through the challenge of life and all the obstacles it seems to put in our way ... this memoir is touching, funny (sometimes hilarious) and always inspiring. Wonderful, wonderful stuff.

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun, intelligently written, touching, November 23, 2007

By 

WriterReader (East Coast) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Life on the Ledge: Reflections of a New York City Window Cleaner (Paperback)

What a great read! I couldn't put it down. It was well-paced, with each chapter full of its own tension and beautiful observations. It was painfully and hilariously honest, very informative and felt like a trip to Manhattan without the train fare, the ledge without the risk, and into the mind of a man without the dirty socks. I felt queasy, reading it, afraid I was going to plummet vicariously to the pavement below, or crap my pants, as the case may have been. There are a few areas in the book, mostly toward the beginning, where a stilted, industrial-manualeze takes over, probably for the sake of expediency in describing the technical aspects of the job, which were intriguing in their own right, but during the 98% of the book where Ivor writes in what seems to be his natural storytelling voice - witty, compassionate, confident,poetic - the writing shines! I would have liked a few chronological references in the D.C. sections. I lived in D.C. during the `80s and would have liked to revisit DC Space and 9:30 Club through Ivor's eyes more. Also, I was dying to see inside his 13th Street apartment some more, just out of nosiness. Plus, what's with the bananas? Also, excuse my saying so, but I don't think he should offer his parents a discount on their windows anymore. That windowly rate is way too cheap. I sure hope he writes a sequel about his subsequent adventures. And I think he would make an excellent fiction writer.

5.0 out of 5 stars An enjoyable book. Recommended!, March 21, 2007

By 

East Side Reader (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Life on the Ledge: Reflections of a New York City Window Cleaner (Paperback)

Ivor Hanson's "Life on the Ledge" is a very good, enjoyable read--especially for those who enjoy tales of New York City life. [It's sort of similar to the Joel Kostman's "Keys to the City" (the memoir of a NY City locksmith), in that it gives you an inside look at the way New Yorkers live their lives.]
The elements of sex, voyeurism and risk are handled deftly, and Hanson's insightful observations of the people and situations which make New York a people watcher's paradise are a treat.
I would definitely recommend this book to others, and have already sent several copies to friends who are former New Yorkers. And I think that the book has universal appeal--who hasn't watched a window cleaner without wondering, "who would ever do a job like that?"--and will be interesting to people from outside the Big Apple.