Synopses & Reviews
With a new preface and afterword by the author and drawings by Lili Rethi.
Towards the end of 1964, the Verrazano Narrows Bridgelinking the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Staten Island with New Jerseywas completed. It remains an engineering marvel almost forty years laterat 13,700 feet (more than two and a half miles), it is still the longest suspension bridge in the United States and the sixth longest in the world. Gay Talese, then early in his career at the New York Times, closely followed the construction, and soon after the opening his book The Bridge appeared. Never before in paperback, it remains both a riveting human drama of politics and courage, and a demonstration of Taleses consummate skills as a reporter and storyteller. His memorable narrativeaccompanied, as then, by the astonishingly beautiful working drawings of Lili Rethiwill now captivate a new generation of readers. Gay Talese is an internationally bestselling author whose works include The Bridge, The Kingdom and the Power, Honor Thy Father, Thy Neighbor's Wife, and Unto the Sons. His best magazine writings have been collected in The Gay Talese Reader. He lives in New York City and Ocean City, New Jersey. In the late fall of 1964, soon after the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge was completed connecting the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Staten Island, Gay Talese's remarkable book The Bridge was first published. Talese, then in his early as a reporter for the New York Times, followed the construction closely, on many occasions donning a hard hat and joining the workers on the catwalk of iron beams. More than just the story of the famous bridge, Talese produced a tribute to those who built it and an absorbing drama pf politics and courage, loss and achievement, which reminds us of the ways in which a man-made structure can affect myriad lives.
Almost forty years later, the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge remains, at two and a half miles, the longest suspension bridge in the United Statesand The Bridge is finally available in paperback, introducing a new generation of readers to Talese's consummate skills as a reporter and storyteller. He paints a revealing portrait of the daring, hard-living, high-steel workers, and of the average families and tradespeople who were displaced by the bridge and its ardent champion, Robert Moses. Revisiting the places and the people he encountered four decades earlier, Talese has added a lengthy and poignant afterword, bringing full circle the many dramas that make The Bridge a resonant story for our times. "Mr. Talese has written a vivid, highly readable story of the building of the bridge. He has described movingly the people caught up in the projectthe engineers, the workers, the displaced, [and he] sees the bridge as a human rather than a mechanical achievement . . . [imparting] drama and romance to this bridge-building story."The New York Book Review
"This book has the charm of max Miller's I Cover the Waterfront and the precision of Hemingway's Death in the Afternoon."St. Louis Dispatch
"Only a writer in love with his subject could have produced so charming a narrative about a bridge. There are many stories within the story of The Bridge. All are worth reading."Houston Post
"Talese has spun a fascinating, engrossing account of the construction of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. This is an absorbing drama; superbly written."The Florida Times Union (Jacksonville)
"Talese tells warm, funny and tragic stories of men, women, steel and concrete. This book is fine reading."Denver Post
"Fine writing and story-telling . . . Superbly well does Talese tell his story, one that combines sadness, high humor, bawdiness, danger, death and poignancy in one fine package that readers will find hard to put down."Arizona Republic
"Talese is a shining example for all writers. He gets the drift of the story . . . A complete, informative and fascinating account of the bridge."Indianapolis Prime Times
Review
"Mr. Talese has written a vivid, highly readable story of the building of the bridge. He has described movingly the people caught up in the project the engineers, the workers, the displaced, [and he] sees the bridge as a human rather than a mechanical achievement...[imparting] drama and romance to this bridge-building story." The New York Times Book Review
Review
"Only a writer in love with his subject could have produced so charming a narrative about a bridge. There are many stories within the thory of The Bridge. All are worth reading." Houston Post
Review
"Talese has spun a fascinating, engrossing account of the construction of the Verrazanno-Narrows Bridge. This is an absorbing drama; superbly written." Times Union (Jacksonville)
Review
"No finer tribute in print will ever be found than this book." Wilmington News Journal
Review
"Talese tells warm, funny and tragic stories of men, women, steel and concrete. This book is fine reading." Denver Post
Review
"Fine writing and story telling...Superbly well does Talese tell his story, one that combines sadness, high humor, bawdiness, danger, death, and poignancy in one fine package that readers will find hard to put down." Arizona Republic
Review
"Talese is a shining example for all writers. he gets the drift of the story...A complete, informative and fascinating account of the bridge." Times (Indianapolis)
Review
"This book has the charm of Max Miller's I Cover the Waterfront and the precision of Hemingway's Death in the Afternoon." St. Louis Post Dispatch
Synopsis
Towards the end of 1964, the Verrazano Narrows Bridge linking the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Staten Island with New Jersey was completed. It remains an engineering marvel almost forty years later at 13,700 feet (more than two and a half miles), it is still the longest suspension bridge in the United States and the sixth longest in the world. Gay Talese, then early in his career at the New York Times, closely followed the construction, and soon after the opening his book The Bridge appeared. Never before in paperback, it remains both a riveting human drama of politics and courage, and a demonstration of Taleses consummate skills as a reporter and storyteller. His memorable narrative accompanied, as then, by the astonishingly beautiful working drawings of Lili Rethi will now captivate a new generation of readers.
With a new preface and afterword by the author and drawings by Lili Rethi.
Synopsis
In the late fall of 1964, soon after the Verrazano-Narrows bridge was completed connecting the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Staten Island, Gay Talese's remarkable book
The Bridge was first published. Talese, then in his early days as a reporter for the New York Times, followed the construction closely, on many occasions donning a hard hat and joining the workers on the catwalks of iron beams. More than just the story of the famous bridge, Talese produced a tribute to those who built it and an absorbing drama of politics and courage, loss and achievement, which reminds us of the ways in which a man-made structure can affect myriad lives.
Almost forty years later, the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge remains, at two and a half miles, the longest suspension bridge in the United States and The Bridge is finally available in paperback, introducing a new generation of readers to Talese's consummate skills as a reporter and storyteller. He paints a revealing portrait of the daring, hard-living, high-steel workers, and of the average families and tradespeople who were displaced by the bridge and its ardent champion, Robert Moses. Revisiting the places and people he encountered four decades earlier, Talese has added a lengthy and poignant afterward, bringing full circle the many dramas that make The Bridge a remarkable story for our times.
About the Author
Gay Talese is known for his daring pursuit of "unreportable" stories, for his exhaustive research, and for his formally elegant style. These qualities, arguably, are the touchstones of the finest literary journalism. Talese is often cited as one of the founders of the 1960s "New Journalism," but he has always politely demurred from this label, insisting that his "stories with real names" represent no reformist crusade, but rather his own highly personal response to the world as an Italian-American "outsider."