Kevin T. Dann

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this book. All I can say is WOW! As a native New Yorker, this book is totally fascinating, enthralling, and filled with details and information that I never knew about my beloved city. But the best part about this book, besides the nuggets that you learn about along the way, is that you need not be a New Yorker to love or appreciate it. Hell, you don't even have to be an American! I ripped through this book in a few days, but found myself going back again and again and again to review locations and stories about places that I have been to hundreds of times. Highly recommended.… (meer)

New York, the City that Never Sleeps, one of the great metropolises (or is it metropoleis?) of the world, has, unsurprisingly, received plenty of attention from writers of all kinds. There is certainly no shortage of books dedicated to its boroughs, its history, its architecture, and its protagonists, whether famous or less known. So what is it that makes Kevin Dann’s book stand out?

In Enchanted New York, Dann gives us an alternative and esoteric history of the Big Apple, one shaped by a coterie of mavericks ranging from Freemasons to magicians, occultists to scientists dabbling in cryptozoology and spiritualism. Split in seven chapters, the book follows a roughly chronological sequence from the inauguration of the George Washington in 1789, to the present and beyond. In the course of his account, however, Dann examines different themes and provides a wealth of anecdotes linking the specific subjects to the city’s locations.

The result is an intriguing book which can be read in one stretch or dipped into at leaisure, a portrait of New York City which, probably, even most of its inhabitants will find surprising and unfamiliar.… (meer)

New York, the City that Never Sleeps, one of the great metropolises (or is it metropoleis?) of the world, has, unsurprisingly, received plenty of attention from writers of all kinds. There is certainly no shortage of books dedicated to its boroughs, its history, its architecture, and its protagonists, whether famous or less known. So what is it that makes Kevin Dann’s book stand out?

In Enchanted New York, Dann gives us an alternative and esoteric history of the Big Apple, one shaped by a coterie of mavericks ranging from Freemasons to magicians, occultists to scientists dabbling in cryptozoology and spiritualism. Split in seven chapters, the book follows a roughly chronological sequence from the inauguration of the George Washington in 1789, to the present and beyond. In the course of his account, however, Dann examines different themes and provides a wealth of anecdotes linking the specific subjects to the city’s locations.

The result is an intriguing book which can be read in one stretch or dipped into at leaisure, a portrait of New York City which, probably, even most of its inhabitants will find surprising and unfamiliar.… (meer)

A biography that seeks to understand Thoreau through the influence the events of the mid-1800's, location and education. The book was quite informative and included many direct quotes from Thoreau's journals. Thoreau's terminology was well explained.
My only complaint was the intrusion of the author into the biography through use of jargon (Harlequin & Elysian Fields in the same sentence!); unsupported conclusions ("actually a universal law"; "uniquely American") & wanderings (8 pages on sea serpents!)… (meer)