An Architectural Guidebook to Brooklyn

Rating:
Summary: An Delightful and Necessary Addition to New York Guides
Review: An elegant writer and gifted independent scholar, Francis Morrone has done his adopted home proud in An Architectural Guidebook to Brooklyn. With sharp descriptions and apposite facts, Morrone conveys both the complexity and vibrancy of one of New York City's largest boroughs. Readers may well disagree with a few of his assured opinions but what use is a guidebook without a point of view? Morrone's perceptive comments, illustrated by James Iska's graceful photographs, make An Architectural Guidebook to Brooklyn a boon for both the Brooklyn visitor and the armchair New York fan alike.

Rating:
Summary: Factually dead on, but a tad fatiguing
Review: Everything in this book is 100% correct: Mr Morrone is doubtless a perfectionist in his research and I mean that as a compliment. You want to know the history of a building, an area in Brooklyn or an architect, this book is the ne plus ultra.

I give it 3 stars because his writing style is a tad heavy. It reminds me of Frasier Crane, he of the tv show "Frasier".

But it is good enough to merit a double purchase: One you keep at home and the second you rip out pages at a time as you work your way through the various sections/chapters in Brooklyn. I am never in favor of destroying books, but given the size of this tome, buying two and giving one of them a good going over in the streets of Brooklyn is entirely acceptable.

Rating:
Summary: A Spirited Urban Delight
Review: Francis Morrone's new book on the architecture of Brooklyn proves once again that he is not just a masterful prose stylist, he is a uniquely high-spirited urbanist of wide-ranging tastes, keen architectural discrimination and infectious enthusiasms. At every page I wanted to jump up and rush out to Brooklyn to walk up and down the streets with *An Architectural Guidebook to Brooklyn* in hand, sharing Francis Morrone's delight in Brooklyn's wonderful, and even its less wonderful, buildings. A popular lecturer on New York City history at NYU, and long-time principal guide for the Municipal Art Society of New York, Morrone does not merely describe the architecture of his own borough, Brooklyn, he savors it, he uncovers it--many Brooklyn treasures have never been described in print before this book--and he loves it. He knows the fascinating histories of the buildings and their owners, he knows his architecture, he looks not just at the buildings but at the neighborhoods and the whole borough. He has read deeply, he has walked the streets of the borough many times, and his research has even taken him to the best web sites. A wonderful, richly detailed, helpfully illustrated book for every urbanist, architecture fan, history buff and, indeed, for every reader. If you love cities, architecture and good writing, read this book!

Rating:
Summary: Brooklyn love -- A great find!
Review: I just bought this book and I absolutely love it. It's a treasure that I'm sure I'll take with me on many a weekend walk around Brooklyn. True to the title, this is an excellent guidebook to Brooklyn, but it's much more than this. It includes lots of historical and cultural information about the buildings, political figures and architects connected to the various neighborhoods and buildings that Morrone describes. Obviously the author feels the same love for the borough that many Brooklynites share, and this comes through in the affectionate and informative details he relates. The layout is very reader-friendly as well, and the photos (though black and white) capture many of the most noteworthy buildings. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in city architecture and history.

Rating:
Summary: passionate and intelligent
Review: Morrone's passion for urban life is infectious. He puts things in a broad historical and cultural context to give a real sense of how and why the neighborhoods of Brooklyn evolved. Few books of this kind even attempt to do that, let alone do it well. The book is well written, with many astute observations, and often very funny.

Rating:
Summary: A delightful compendium from our city¿s best tour guide
Review: Rare is the architectural guidebook that merges intricate depictions of the masterpieces with compelling tales about how they came to be. Yet that is precisely what Mr. Morrone has accomplished with this tome, which shows off a borough he clearly loves to great effect. This is a book you can, and should, hold in your hands as you walk through the neighborhoods Mr. Morrone has chosen to include. He made me love Brooklyn even more than I thought possible, and made me wish I lived both in this era and some many years ago, when the many buildings and neighborhoods he describes were coming into being. A must-have book for anyone who intends to look at the buildings of Brooklyn, whether for scholarly pursuits or for pure weekend pleasure.