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Wednesday, October 27, 2010

HEART OF THE CITY, Nine Stories of Love and Serendipity on the Streets of New York

by Ariel Sabar - to be released January, 2011

In HEART OF THE CITY, Ariel Sabar introduces us to nine couples who met by chance at different landmarks or places in New York City from the 1940's through present day.

The lenghty introduction in the book delves into the environmental and psychological effects of physical space on human interaction.  The author infuses architecture into each story, providing us with short historical vignettes.  Being married to an architect who is currently pursuing a PhD in Urban Planning, this was especially enthralling.

As I finished reading each couple's story, my mind was racing with questions.  What happened to them?  What became of twenty-five year old Chris and forty year old Tina who met on the ferry to the Statue of Liberty in 1988?  Are they still married twenty-two years later?  Or Joey and Willis who met in Central Park so many years ago?  Mr. Sabar very deftly provided the answers to all of my questions in the postscripts.

This is a beautiful, fascinating and intelligent book about the impact of our physical environment and the happenstance of meeting and falling in love.  HEART OF THE CITY was a delight to read.

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