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girlbosslindsey's review against another edition
this is interesting conceptually but its just not grabbing my attention enough, i know ill regret it if i try to keep going and have to slog through
exhaustrovert's review
challenging
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
5.0
I deeply enjoyed this book. I feel now, not that I should become a burglar, but that I should befriend them. The clever ones, at least - none of my friends would turn up in my drywall. Do they truly love me?
Content Warnings
This book was cleverly and smoothly written. I felt I was in the cockpit of a helicopter and the grungy understeer sewer systems, exploring a world I hope one day to fall into like Richard Mayhew.
book_concierge's review
3.0
Manaugh looks at architecture and the central role it plays in the crime of burglary.
The book begins and ends with the 19th-century New York superburglar George Leonidas Leslie, who used his training as an architect to figure out new and unexpected ways to gain entry to building.
There were parts of this book that I found completely fascinating, and it made me look at our own efforts at home security differently. However, Manaugh has a tendency towards repetition. He’s very fond of lists: for example, “burglar, thief, robber, bandit, gang member, miscreant, delinquent” etc. This seemed a little like padding to me.
My own background as a former Probation/Parole Officer kept me reading, however. My interest was further piqued when I came across a reference to a particular criminologist … a man to whom I was once engaged! (We never married, but have remained friends for 40 years.) Well, I tell you I read much more closely after that name popped out at me.
The book begins and ends with the 19th-century New York superburglar George Leonidas Leslie, who used his training as an architect to figure out new and unexpected ways to gain entry to building.
There were parts of this book that I found completely fascinating, and it made me look at our own efforts at home security differently. However, Manaugh has a tendency towards repetition. He’s very fond of lists: for example, “burglar, thief, robber, bandit, gang member, miscreant, delinquent” etc. This seemed a little like padding to me.
My own background as a former Probation/Parole Officer kept me reading, however. My interest was further piqued when I came across a reference to a particular criminologist … a man to whom I was once engaged! (We never married, but have remained friends for 40 years.) Well, I tell you I read much more closely after that name popped out at me.
csgiansante's review
2.0
Started strong, but it isn't really what I expected. More about actual crime that the built environment :(
betzal_eel's review against another edition
As many reviewers commented on, the writing feels very repetitive, repeating a thesis point over and over while not adding more details, and the author is very taken with and uncritical of police. Overall, he seemed to totally avoid thinking about any social issues that could contribut to burglary or arise from policing at all... he went on about how you could consider burglars "architecturally challenged", saying that it's almost like they can't understand the point of doors, which felt like a bizarre and ridiculous digression. So, overall, I felt like the book really failed to live up to its premise or critically examine any of the information it introduced.
lalaoblivion's review
Unfortunately, I didn’t even finish this book. It was so painfully redundant that I felt I was just reading the same words over and over again. The word metropolis, architecture, and burglary are obviously the key points of the book, but the craft of this book was subpar. The content did not need to be reduced. The way that the author chose to write needed a clear minimization of words. It could have been very good.
archergrid's review
5.0
Fascinating look at how burglars "hack" architecture and think of buildings very differently. I read it a while back and forgot the title and was scouring the internet for it. One of my favorites.