Reviews

Central Park: An Anthology by Colson Whitehead, Bill Buford, Marie Winn, Andrew Blauner, Susan Sheehan, David Michaelis, Mark Helprin, Ben Dolnick, Buzz Bissinger, John Burnham Schwartz, Donald Knowler, Paul Auster, Brooks Hansen, Adam Gopnik, Adrian Benepe, Doug Blonsky, Thomas Beller, Susan Cheever, Nathaniel Rich, Jonathan Safran Foer, Francine Prose, Alec Wilkinson

elusivesue's review against another edition

4.0

*Note: I won this advance copy in one of the Goodreads giveaways.

I enjoyed the anthology. It looks like I took forever to read it, but the last few months were really busy at work, and it was actually perfect for that time period - small stories/reflections/essays, usually written very well. I don't live in NYC, but whenever I have visited I usually end going to Central Park, and I love it. I appreciated that the editor had the Director of Parks and Recreation (and former director of Central Park) write the forward piece - perfect choice. Highly recommend for anyone that enjoys the park, frequently or not, or someone who enjoys reading short travel essays.

sabinereads's review against another edition

5.0

Exalts the magic of Central Park while offering snapshots of its evolution. An impressive list of contributors - Francine Prose, Adam Gopnik, and Colson Whitehead, among others. Definitely would recommend, especially to New Yorkers.

marcella's review

3.0

This is a sweet anthology of memories, stories, explorations, and fantasies in Central Park. I especially liked the one about hidden things (Wilkinson), and of walking through the park at night (Buford) and of birdwatching (Knowler), and of the zoo (Dolnick). A lot of them sort of romanticized the grittier days of high danger in central park, which felt weird.