For all who enjoy the sight of a job well done

Forgotten Delights: The Producers
A Selection of Manhattan's Outdoor Sculpture
by Dianne Durante

A celebration of nineteen explorers, inventors, engineers, businessmen and workers
whose thoughts and efforts reshaped New York, the United States and the world

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  About the book

• Excerpts 

• Reader comments

• Related lecture on New York Sculpture  

• SALE on first edition

• Images of front and back covers

About the book
Have you ever stood enthralled at the sight of someone – a photographer, a crane operator, a chef, a skier - doing a job superlatively well? The sight of such competence is refreshing, even inspiring.

The figures who appear in Forgotten Delights: The Producers are inspiring in the same way, but on a larger scale. The remarkable efforts of these explorers, businessmen, engineers and workers changed New York, the United States and the world. Today these 19 Manhattan sculptures stand largely forgotten, but once you know their stories, you’ll get an emotional boost every time you pass by.

Forgotten Delights can be read straight through, but section headings allow you to focus on history or on discussion of art (Why should you look closely at details? Why does texture matter? What is the value of portrait sculpture?). Or just browse the sidebars, which include substantial quotes from nineteenth-century sources such as the New York Times, writers as varied as Booker T. Washington, Henry Hazlitt and Ayn Rand, and even a smattering of poetry – all thought-provoking complements to the sculptures. If your interest is piqued, the Bibliography and Further Reading section suggests where to find more information.

For those who live in New York or plan to visit, Forgotten Delights: The Producers includes maps and advice for a walking tour. But you need never set foot in Manhattan to enjoy the book: it’s aimed at anyone who finds inspiration and a moment of rest in the sight of great achievement.

Included: CD-ROM with 346 images of the sculptures, all but 2 in color.

Sculptures covered: Columbus Monument -  Columbus in Central Park -  Giovanni da Verrazzano - The Pilgrim - Humboldt -  Cooper -  Morse - Sims -  Vanderbilt - Dodge -  Ericsson - Holley -  Marteleur - The Immigrants  - The Garment Worker - Rea - Double Check - Taxi -  Dreaming of Far Away Places

Excerpts

Excerpt on John Ericsson and the Ironclad Monitor
Excerpt on Samuel Rea and Penn Station
Click here to see front and back covers.
Click here to see an illustrated brochure, with more photos. (Use the "rotate 90 degrees" button on the Adobe Acrobat tool bar to switch the brochure from portrait to landscape)

Forgotten Delights: The Producers, revised edition ISBN 0-9745-8991-8. 180 pages, including 59 B&W photographs and 3 maps. 8.5 x 5.5" paperback, with CD of supplementary photos in envelope.

Price: list price for book plus photo CD $20. Click here to order.

Reader comments
 

• “An exhilarating experience … a  glorification of the best in man, his productive ability and his triumphs.”
• “I enjoyed the conversational tone of the writing.”
• “The book is truly a delight … This is what art is about, what it's for, with an insight into how it's done, how much it used to be appreciated as part of the daily existence, a window into how it could be and will be again.”
• “This book makes one want to slow down and be refueled by the accomplishments of both the subject and sculptor.”
• “I love the methodology of the format.”
• “The high resolution pictures on the CD are quite attractive.”
• Comments in the New York Sun, 1/19/04

MORE READER COMMENTS

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