{"id":29033,"date":"2016-08-13T19:58:03","date_gmt":"2016-08-13T23:58:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=29033"},"modified":"2016-08-13T20:11:52","modified_gmt":"2016-08-14T00:11:52","slug":"review-of-humans-of-new-york-stories-by-brandon-stanton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=29033","title":{"rendered":"Review of Humans of New York: Stories, by Brandon Stanton"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"humans_of_ny_stories_large\"<\/a>Humans of New York<\/p>\n

Stories<\/em><\/p>\n

by Brandon Stanton<\/p>\n

St. Martin\u2019s Press, New York, 2015. 428 pages.
\nStarred Review<\/p>\n

I loved Brandon Stanton\u2019s first book, Humans of New York<\/a><\/em>. Now I love his second book even more. In the first book, about half of the photographs had captions. In this book, he interviewed everyone, and includes snippets or in-depth stories from those interviews.<\/p>\n

You still have high quality photographs of random people, in all their variety, from the streets of New York. But you\u2019ve also got their stories.<\/p>\n

Honestly, some of these stories will break your heart. Others will make you shake your head. Some are inspirational. Some are simply cute. There were several with the caption \u201cToday in microfashion,\u201d showing a small child dressed in a striking outfit.<\/p>\n

What comes home to me after reading it is the sheer number of amazingly unique people on our planet (let alone in New York!).<\/p>\n

Many of the stories go on for paragraphs. This isn\u2019t as quick a read as the first book. However, I\u2019ll quote a small selection of some tantalizingly short captions to give you an idea. Imagine wonderful photos of the people doing the talking.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got what I want. I\u2019ve got a place to live, a girlfriend, and a child. My biggest struggle is just figuring out how to maintain.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cI spoil every girl I\u2019m with. I\u2019m bringing this dog to my girlfriend now. I\u2019ve already gotten her a snake, a rabbit, and two dogs. She loves animals. She wants to be a vet.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cSometimes, when I\u2019m going home to see her, I think: \u2018Nobody should be this happy on a Tuesday.\u2019\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cI went to a psychic the day before I met him. She told me I was about to meet the woman of my dreams. I said: \u2018I\u2019m gay.\u2019\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cHad cancer six times. Beat cancer six times.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cThree thousand years ago I had a disagreement with Zeus about the Trojan War, and he\u2019s been harassing me ever since.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve completed a series of monumental-sized drawings in ballpoint pen of girls who\u2019ve killed their mothers.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to adjust. You\u2019re reading a story to your daughters every night, then the next thing you know, you\u2019re only doing it once or twice a week. It\u2019s been hard letting go. It all happened without my consent. It only takes one person to want a divorce. And that person wasn\u2019t me.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cShe helps me with my math homework. When I run out of fingers to count on, she lets me use her fingers, too.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cI once crash-landed a plane in a desert in Tunisia. I wasn\u2019t even the pilot. The pilot got hysterical and I had to grab the controls.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Reading this book is a wonderful way to celebrate the amazing diversity of humans.<\/p>\n

humansofnewyork.com<\/a>
\nstmartins.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Nonfiction\/humans_of_ny_stories.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

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