Reviews for The 99% Invisible City: A Field Guide to the Hidden World of Everyday Design, by Roman Mars, Kurt Kohlstedt
nancydrew's review
informative
relaxing
slow-paced
3.0
A diverting and interesting read, would have been helped by actual photographs instead of drawings.
chockstarx96's review against another edition
3.0
Read this because I'm obsessed with the 99% Invisible podcast. The podcast is so much better than this book. Imagine instead of a 5 minute chapter, a 30 min to hour long episode where things go so much more in-depth, and relationships between ideas are built. If you are super into architecture, then I would highly recommend. If you aren't but you like backstories to why things in our built world are the way they are, then I would say go straight to the podcast and skip this one.
bookishpriest's review
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
3.0
Felt more like a collection of soundbites suitable to a coffee table book than a deeply-researched, informative piece of writing. This wouldn't be so bad but, as a long-time fan of the podcast that birthed this book, I'd already heard everything in it in far more detail in that other medium.
Roman Mars is a wonderful speaker and I would listen to him narrate just about anything. What a lovely voice!
Roman Mars is a wonderful speaker and I would listen to him narrate just about anything. What a lovely voice!
triceratopper's review against another edition
4.0
An interesting look at bits and pieces that often go overlooked in cities around the globe.
I am a longtime 99% Invisible fan, and this book did justice to the topics that are covered in the podcast. Different in that they were shorter-form pieces, but very in line with the types of observations and subject matter that 99PI is known for.
The audiobook was superb; Roman Mars could make the phone book sound fascinating, so listening to him for nearly 10 hours was a treat.
I am a longtime 99% Invisible fan, and this book did justice to the topics that are covered in the podcast. Different in that they were shorter-form pieces, but very in line with the types of observations and subject matter that 99PI is known for.
The audiobook was superb; Roman Mars could make the phone book sound fascinating, so listening to him for nearly 10 hours was a treat.
fuzzy_feltz's review
informative
slow-paced
4.0
Really interesting book, loved hearing all the stories and provides the breath which is a great accompaniment to the more in depth podcast