Mid-Manhattan is the story of Jerry and Amanda who meet there, at a concert on the lawn in Central Park through the accident of a spilt bottle of wine. Their futures are entwined forever after. He is an artist in scientist's clothes and she an English teacher and food critic on the side. The story unravels around the special, but largely unobserved, events that happen every day in Mid-Manhattan. It is paralleled by that of Jerry's sister Lisa and her French boyfriend. Moreover it is punctuated with paragraphs called philosophies that separate the chapters and reflect personal thoughts of the author on as many topics as there are different aspects to the story. The author has thus created a new genre in novel recounting. It is gentle and soothing, quite the opposite of current novels, with their need for the action and violence of computer games. It is reminiscent of the best of 19th century novels, where human relationships were the essence of the story telling. Mid-Manhattan is both the backdrop and the basis for the book. All manner of places in New York are examined, from the windows of Fifth Avenue shops to the Metropolitan Museum. As such the book is attractive to both residents and foreigners alike, who want a taste of what they thought unattainable, but now know where to look for it.
Nicole Michelin avoids airplanes, motorcycles, and most of all, Japan, where her parents once were missionaries. Something happened in Japan...something that sent Nicole and her father back to America alone...something of which Nicole knows only bits and pieces. But she is content with life in little Mount Olive, North Carolina, with her quirky relatives, tank of lively fish, and plenty of homemade pineapple chutney. Through her online column for the Pretty Fishy Web site, she meets Harrison Michaels, who, much to her dismay, lives in Japan. She attempts to avoid him, but his e-mails tug at her heart. Then Harrison reveals that he knew her as a child in Japan. In fact, he knows more about her childhood than she does...
Our gadgets, appliances, and cars are sleeker and more elegant than they’ve ever been; in our free time, we trawl the internet for pictures of flawless minimalist interiors; and even the great industrialist of our time—Steve Jobs—is admired more for his visual savvy than his technological inventiveness. And yet with Instagram and Pinterest at our fingers and great design more available—and more affordable—than ever, we’ve had no guidebook to this ever-fascinating field. Though it’s an inescapable part of our lives, there has been no single book that could, in one fell swoop, tell us everything we need to know about design. Enter Hello World. The design critic for the International Heard Tribune, Alice Rawsthorn has spent many years reckoning with the history of design and with its place in contemporary life, and Hello World is the extraordinary summation of her research and reporting. Rawsthorn takes us on a trip through design that ranges across continents and centuries, and wherever she goes, she discovers inspiring, thrilling examples of resourcefulness, inventiveness, and sheer vision. From the macabre symbol with which eighteenth-century pirates terrorized their victims into surrender, to one woman’s quest for the best prosthetic legs, to the evolution of the World Cup soccer ball, Hello World describes how warlords, scientists, farmers, hackers, activists, and professional designers have used the complex, often elusive process of design to different ends throughout history. Hailed as a “rapid-fire and illuminating ode to contemporary design†? (Telegraph) and “an extremely readable tour of the subject†? (Financial Times), Hello World is a major work that radically broadens our understanding of what design can mean, and explains how we can use it to make sense of our ever-changing universe.
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