[audiobook] The Provisional City: Los Angeles Stories of Architecture and Urbanism (MIT Press) by Dana Cuff at Arts-Photography

Review

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful. The Kindle version isnt greatBy SrhWI regret purchasing the Kindle version of this book. Its a really cool concept; and the content seems pretty good; but the experience of reading it in black and white is kind of depressing. Its also kind of a hassle to zoom in on images. This book seems like it was intended for print (or at least a higher-resolution e-reader format than the Kindle Touch).5 of 6 people found the following review helpful. Not really what I expectedBy EileenThis book is a nice one to pick up and read a few pages at a time and skip around- each item is followed by a page or two explanation of its origins etc so its nice to just page through and not read front-to-back. There are items youd expect in a book with this title: "lace"; "champagne"; "tea"; "masquerades"; "nectar and ambrosia" but then there are items like "hello"; "talk"; "subaquatic"; and "crickets" (the bug; not the sport) that seem kind of out of place. The insects for sale as snake food in the pet store are considered exquisite? When I think of exquisite luxurious feminine objects; crickets just dont hold the same appeal as perfume or folding fans and blancmange. Then there are items that just seem to be space-fillers: "lightning" (wait; doesnt that belong in a third-grade science textbook?); cloud type classification (see previous); "velocity" (maybe more fifth-grade science book) "miracles" (really? does literate human not know what a miracle is?) and "twilight" (again; is this a dictionary?). There are some sections in here that are informative and fun to read full of lovely facts; but I thought the entire book would be such; not just a few parts. All in all; I wish I had saved my money (and the whole selling point of "coffee table book" is kind of a stretch- its physically a pretty small book; not the large glossy sort of thing you picture on a coffee table).2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. It does have lengthy descriptions and not as many pictures as people would like; but I find the entries and the overall ...By Rosie TerrazasThis book is absolutely magical. Yes; It does have lengthy descriptions and not as many pictures as people would like; but I find the entries and the overall appearance of the book makes up for this. It looks very expensive and the cover is to die for. I purchased one as a hostess gift; and after looking through it; i purchased one for myself.