The Address Book

What Street Addresses Reveal About Identity, Race, Wealth, and Power

De: Deirdre Mask

Narrado por: Janina Edwards

An extraordinary debut in the tradition of classic works from authors such as Mark Kurlansky, Mary Roach, and Rose George.

An exuberant and insightful work of popular history of how streets got their names, houses their numbers, and what it reveals about class, race, power, and identity.

When most people think about street addresses, if they think of them at all, it is in their capacity to ensure that the postman can deliver mail or a traveler won’t get lost. But street addresses were not invented to help you find your way; they were created to find you. In many parts of the world, your address can reveal your race and class.

In this wide-ranging and remarkable book, Deirdre Mask looks at the fate of streets named after Martin Luther King Jr., the way finding means of ancient Romans, and how Nazis haunt the streets of modern Germany. The flipside of having an address is not having one, and we also see what that means for millions of people today, including those who live in the slums of Kolkata and on the streets of London.

Filled with fascinating people and histories, The Address Book illuminates the complex and sometimes hidden stories behind street names and their power to name, to hide, to decide who counts, who doesn’t - and why.

©2020 Deirdre Mask (P)2020 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Janina Edwards narrates this globe-trotting and highly informed work in a fluid style. Edwards acts as a tour guide who leads the listener from India to Haiti, London to Manhattan, and skillfully renders the numerous people the listener meets along the journey. Her performance deftly captures the broad interests and wide-angle lens of the author." —AudioFile Magazine

Interesting, but…

I almost couldn’t finish listening to this book because the reading was so annoying. She sounds like a computer reading.

Excellent read

Wow! I learned so much! So fascinating to think about how something many of us take for granted —our address— was created, effects our lives, plus add in race, politics, marketing, etc.

Author has a clear agenda

I think I wanted to listen to this book because it sounded interesting about addresses. Unfortunately, halfway through the book you realize that the authors, bias and agenda for Black Lives Matter throughout the remainder of the book. It’s a skewed book that has some interesting parts to it, but is clearly biased by the authors racial in equality agenda. If it’s something you’re interested in by all means listen to it. For me, I just wanna listen to something about history and not be forced to listen to some other person.

Excellent nonfiction

Well written, interesting, and thought provoking. The Address Book is a combination of a look at the history of addresses and current research related to the same.

Who would have known street addressing would be interesting!!

I found this book to be very interesting, informative and enlightening. I had read some of the reviews before I started listening and yes the author does go off track a few times.