Genius of Common Sense: Jane Jacobs and the Story of the Death and Life of Great American Cities - Hardcover

Lang, Glenna; Wunsch, Marjory

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1567923844 ISBN 13: 9781567923841

Publisher: David R. Godine, Publisher, 2009

Synopsis

Three books, all written by women in the early 1960s, changed the way we looked at the world and ourselves: Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique, and Jane Jacobs's The Death and Life of Great American Cities. All three books created revolutions in their respective spheres of influence, and nothing affected city planning and architecture or the way we think about how life is lived in densely packed urban centers more than Jane Jacobs's far-sighted polemic. This was an era when the urban renewal movement was at its most aggressive, and Jacobs correctly perceived that the new structures that were being built to replace the aging housing of our older cities were often far worse, in both their impact on society and their architectural sterility, than what urban planners identified as the problem. She was ridiculed and pilloried by the establishment, but her ideas quickly took hold, and no one ever looked at what made for livable and viable neighborhoods the same way again.

Here is the first book for young people about this heroine of common sense, a woman who never attended college but whose observations, determination, and independent spirit led her to far different conclusions than those of the academics who surrounded her. Illustrated with almost a hundred images, in­cluding a great number of photos never before published, this story of a remarkable woman will introduce her ideas and her life to young readers, many of whom have grown up in neighborhoods that were saved by her insights. It will in­spire young people and readers of all ages and demonstrate that we learn vital life lessons from observing and thinking, and not just accepting what passes as conventional wisdom.

About this title

About the Author:

Glenna Lang's previous work includes illustrations for four classic poems with David R. Godine. She wrote and illustrated the award-winning Looking Out for Sarah. Although she grew up in New York City, she lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and teaches at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Marjory Wunsch has illustrated and written numerous children's books. While studying architecture, she encountered problems of urban design, rehabilitation of old buildings, and the ideas of Jane Jacobs. Marjory and her husband live in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Review:

Jacobs had developed her ideas about what makes cities work from looking around and keeping her eyes open. As a young woman in Manhattan, she was fascinated by the symbols stamped on the city s ubiquitous manhole covers and had learned to recognize each one for its function. Later, as a writer for magazines like Architectural Forum, she would attend official briefings on the urban renewal projects then viewed as the solution to aging cities.

On one occasion, Jacobs toured Philadelphia with Edmund Bacon, a well-known city planner; she later described how the tour began in a poor but lively neighborhood, where people chatted on front stoops and children played in the street. Bacon proudly showed Jane a new high-rise public housing project one street away, Lang and Wunsch write. Looking around, she sensed that something was not right. While the people on the messy crowded street seemed to be enjoying themselves and each other, Jane saw that the tidy streets of the new project were empty, except for a little boy kicking a tire. . . . Perhaps the schemes that looked so good to the architects and planners were not really working.

It was a revolutionary idea. The Death and Life of Great American Cities, published to critical acclaim in 1961, had an immediate impact and forever changed the way people looked at the problems of cities.

No stodgy history texts, Claudette Colvin and Genius of Common Sense throb with their heroines passionate struggles. They are handsome books, loaded with primary sources like photographs and contemporary news accounts that bring alive these stories for any teenager wondering how she can make a difference in the world.

As the bumper sticker says: Well-­behaved women rarely make history. --Ruth Coniff, The New York Times

The theories of Jane Jacobs ... should be in the curriculums of grades 7 and 8, her books should be must-reads in all high schools, and her ideas should be discussed in all colleges and universities. Genius of Common Sense is not only a refreshing concept but also a delightful read ... a little gem of a book.... --Bernard Poulin, Toronto Globe and Mail

Included on the New York Times List of Notable Children's Books 2009 --New York Times

About this edition

• Publisher: David R. Godine, Publisher
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 1567923844
• ISBN 13: 9781567923841
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 127