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Kate Ascher

The Works: Anatomy of a City Paperback – November 27, 2007

by Kate Ascher (Author)

186 ratings

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A fascinating guided tour of the ways things work in a modern city

Have you ever wondered how the water in your faucet gets there? Where your garbage goes? What the pipes under city streets do? How bananas from Ecuador get to your local market? Why radiators in apartment buildings clang? Using New York City as its point of reference, The Works takes readers down manholes and behind the scenes to explain exactly how an urban infrastructure operates. Deftly weaving text and graphics, author Kate Ascher explores the systems that manage water, traffic, sewage and garbage, subways, electricity, mail, and much more. Full of fascinating facts and anecdotes, The Works gives readers a unique glimpse at what lies behind and beneath urban life in the twenty-first century.

Print length

228 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Penguin Books
Publication date

November 27, 2007
Grade level

12 and up
Reading age

18 years and up
Dimensions

10.78 x 8.46 x 0.6 inches
ISBN-10

0143112708
ISBN-13

978-0143112709
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"The Works is both a reference guide and a geeky pleasure." —Time Out New York

"It's a rare person who won't find something of interest in The Works, whether it's an explanation of how a street-sweeper works or the view of what's down a manhole." —New York Post

About the Author

Kate Ascher serves on the faculty of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation and manages Happold Consulting’s U.S. practice. Prior to taking up her current positions, she worked at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the New York City Economic Development Corporation, and Vornado Realty Trust. Her other books include The Heights: Anatomy of a Skyscraper and The Way to Go: Moving by Sea, Land, and Air.

Product details

Publisher : Penguin Books; Illustrated edition (November 27, 2007)
Language : English
Paperback : 228 pages
ISBN-10 : 0143112708
ISBN-13 : 978-0143112709
Reading age : 18 years and up
Grade level : 12 and up
Item Weight : 1.89 pounds
Dimensions : 10.78 x 8.46 x 0.6 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #137,885 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #8 in Regional Politics Planning
- #50 in Architectural Materials
- #56 in Urban & Land Use Planning (Books)

Customer Reviews:
186 ratings

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5 star		77%
4 star		16%
3 star		6%
2 star 0% (0%)		0%
1 star		1%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Kevin

Slightly Outdated, But A Good Introduction Without Too Many Details

Reviewed in the United States on February 16, 2017

Verified Purchase

This book serves as a great introduction to the mechanics of city planning, focusing mainly on infrastructure of cities such as roads, electricity, water. It does not focus too much on the service and social aspects of the cities like parks, museums, police, hospitals, schools, migration/commuting, etc. The illustrations are very colorful and vibrant. However, it is not as detailed as I would like it to be. There are many modes of transportation of passengers not covered in this book, including buses, ferries, commuter rail, and taxi. It's too bias towards subways. I still enjoyed looking at the pictures and diagrams. Although the text is slightly outdated and could use some updates, such as the construction of the Second Avenue Subway.

Overall it's a good book to get a good introduction on the functioning levels of cities.

11 people found this helpful

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Brian Viehland

This was a gift. I have given away about ...

Reviewed in the United States on December 15, 2017

Verified Purchase

This was a gift. I have given away about 10 copies of this to various friends with kids. Really catpures the imagination. It is such a clever book and presented in such a unique way. Really - so informative and enjoyable.

6 people found this helpful

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PenB

everyone in every city should read everything in this book

Reviewed in the United States on November 17, 2016

Verified Purchase

Kate Ascher has made super entertaining and informative book about NYC. She answers the questions you walk around the city and briefly wonder but forget to google later. This book should be a requirement for anyone who lives in a big city, whether it's NYC or not, since a lot of it is applicable to all cities. We should all know what's happening below, around and even above us as we move through the city on a daily basis. It's also fun just to gather facts from the book and use them as convo starters or just to look smart at parties. (Giving Ascher credit of course)

2 people found this helpful

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Gotham Hawkeye

Fantastic work

Reviewed in the United States on January 11, 2006

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Imagine:

*an illustration of the special machinery used just to clean the ceiling of the Holland Tunnel.

*a sidebar on the "Poo-Poo Choo-Choo" that for years transported waste 2,000 miles (!) from NYC to a dump in Texas.

*a graphic showing payphone distribution density in all 5 boroughs.

*a drawing of the simple but effective interlocking bolts and cross-tie latching that keep the corrugated metal containers on barges connected to each other so upper containers don't slide off lower ones and fall into the water.

*a key to reading construction markings that crews spray paint on the streets.

Such drawings, historical tidbits, and facts are more abundant in this book than leaves in Central Park.

This book is exceptional. As the former Vice-chair of Manhattan Community Board 5 (greater midtown Manhattan), chair of its parks committee, and member of its land use and zoning committee, I can attest to the great value of Kate Ascher's remarkable accomplishment, "The Works." New York City's infrastructure--from garbage collection to traffic control; subway signaling to cable TV distribution among franchise-controlled territories--is one of the world's most multifaceted, and at times a curious mix of the high-tech and the antiquated.

Reviews suggesting that the text is for teenagers may be accidentally misleading. "The Works" by no means is for teenagers either *primarily* or *at the exclusion of* adults. Yes, the book--especially its more heavily-illustrated sections--will no doubt fire the imagination of many teens who have engineering, design, line drawing, architectural, historical analysis, or problem-solving aptitudes. (Have a teenager who loved Legos as a kid but has outgrown them? This book will probably make a good gift.) Just because the book is broad in scope and doesn't examine each urban work it covers with the detail of a textbook for electrical engineering students at M.I.T. doesn't make it merely for adolescents.

If you enjoy TV shows on The Science Channel or Discovery, shows like "Building the Ultimate," if you are a history trivia buff, if you just like looking at diagrams or line drawings of machinery and equipment, of you're fascinated by cities, or if it is simply the cast that you love New York City, this is a great book, and I highly recommend it.

71 people found this helpful

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Will Handsfield

there is no better primer than this text

Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2016

Verified Purchase

I already owned this book, and bought this as a gift. If you are interested in, or work in the infrastructure field, there is no better primer than this text. It shows you how nearly all municipal infrastructure systems work in a diagramatic fashion. I've read it cover to cover.

6 people found this helpful

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KVLA

Highly recommended

Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2017

Verified Purchase

Learn about the interior workings of a city--the infrastructure. Covers all the systems.

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Julia Hua

it's amazing!

Reviewed in the United States on June 13, 2017

Verified Purchase

2nd copy since I seem to have permanently loaned out the first copy. Read if from cover to cover. Lots of pictures and diagrams for kids (and guys hahahaha). For what it is, it's amazing!

One person found this helpful

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Timothy J. Kropp

Ultimate coffee table/nightstand/waiting room book

Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2008

Verified Purchase

Induldge your inner nerd and buy this book. The sections are well laid out with excellent and clear graphics and the sections are small enough that you (or your visitors) can either take one bite at a time or just browse through the thing till you find something that interests you (and you will). Describes detail in a way that's accessable to everyone and without getting tedious. My wait at the dentist's office would fly by with something like this to while away the time.

One person found this helpful

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Frank D

Marvelous feast of facts, figures and insights

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 7, 2017

Verified Purchase

One is singularly impressed with how Miss Ascher has covered virtually every aspect of the functioning of one of the world's greatest cities. A great feat.

If you love figures, facts and understanding of how a modern city functions (often in ways one couldn't imagine), this tremendously interesting book is a must.

PS. Naturally, some of the numbers have to be adjusted since their original compilation.

Guillermo Garcia

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 21, 2016

Verified Purchase

Just as I was expecting

Dr. Tim Parker

I love books like this

Reviewed in Canada on June 30, 2014

Verified Purchase

I love books like this, that explode both graphically and in words what goes on in, around, and under something. As with all of Ascher's volumes so far, this is along a similar line with lots of graphics (really well done!) and good readable descriptions to accompany the graphics. The subject of this volume, of course, is the city, and what goes on underground, in the buildings, the roads, and the infrastructure of a metropolis.

Younger kids will like the pictures, which are descriptive and explanatory enough that they won't have to read all the text to understand. Adults will like the descriptions in words, which cover all you could need from such a book. I like the two together! While this isn't the first of such a narrative book (and the subject of cities has been tackled in similar books in the best), this one puts it all together, well, just right! Other books I've seen are much heavier on the graphics and lighter on the text, which means some of the detail is lost. The graphics here are a support to the text, and there are quite a few, but I found myself wanting even more!

There's lots of basic information here, all fascinating, but it's the little nuggets of information about something associated with the city that makes this volume an interesting read. Whether you're settling in for an extended reading session, or just skimming a couple of pages to pass a wee bit of idle time, you'll learn something. And, after all, isn't both education and entertainment the reason we read?

The graphics are well done, which helps the narrative flow. By breaking things down, and looking at them individually, you can then appreciate the beauty or function of the larger picture, and Ascher dives into the nitty-gritty (sometimes literally) very well. When I first saw these books on the shelves, I assumed they were for a teen audience, but I bought one anyway. Just glancing through that one book had me here on Amazon buying all of the author's works, and each has been a winner. Strongly recommended both for its educational and entertainment value; these books make ideal coffee table volumes, as well as bed-side reading.

3 people found this helpful

Pablo Daniel

La ciudad y todo lo que se involucra con ella

Reviewed in Mexico on April 25, 2017

Verified Purchase

Libro recomendable para ingenieros, arquitectos, diseñadores, curiosos. Inforgrafias, estadisticas, informacion. Nos explica la infraestructura que involucra a una ciudad, electricidad, agua, desperdicios, transporte. Todo profusamente ilustrado y explicado de manera eficaz y entretenida.
Como antiiguo jugador de un juego de PC llamado Sim City, este libro es una maravilla.

One person found this helpful

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T.R.Ramaswami

An Over and Under the Ground Tour

Reviewed in India on March 21, 2015

Verified Purchase

This book must be read together with two other books by the same author - Heights Anatomy of a Skyscraper and The Way To Go. The three give an all round 360* view of the infrastructure we live and utilise. Should not be read in one go but in installments and with the connected parts in the other two books.

One person found this helpful

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