An Urban Odyssey

A Critic's Search for the Soul of Cities and Self

Sam Hall Kaplan

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English

Cherry Orchard Books
22 January 2025

Memoirs; Press & journalism; Publishing industry

An evocative, candid reveal of the media and design worlds by an award-winning journalist and activist urban planner in search of the soul of cities and himself.

From the stoops of Brooklyn and the streets of East Harlem to the newsrooms of New York and Los Angeles, from the freeways of Southern California to the shores of Malibu, An Urban Odyssey traverses the award-winning author's seven decades in the media and the public and private sectors, as well as his time teaching and advocating for a more, equitable, livable city. Here, Sam Hall Kaplan regales readers with personal tales of his time at the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, and Fox Television, among others, interspersed with anecdotes of a host of the famed and ill-famed. A rollicking reveal of the vainglorious media and design worlds, candid and compelling.

By: Sam Hall Kaplan
Imprint: Cherry Orchard Books
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 228mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 18mm
Weight: 362g
ISBN: 9798887195483
Pages: 240
Publication Date: 22 January 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Introduction 1. The Stoop, and City Beyond 2. Jobs and Bosses 3. Wide-Eyed and Bushy-Tailed 4. City Desk Diversions 5. Saint Jane of Planning 6. Good Times, Bad Times 7. Reality Bites 8. Dreams Deferred 9. Jumping Rock to Rock 10. Los Angeles Beckons 11. Welcome to the Land of Sunshine and Shadows 12. “L. A.’s The Place” 13. Persevering Preservation 14. Planning, for Better or Worse 15. The Art and Angst of Architecture 16. Moving On 17. Disney Hall and Its Discontents 18. Critic at Bay 19. Tough Love Urbanism 20. Teaching as a Delight 21. Ever the Iconoclast 22. Community Planning Challenged 23. Critic Unbound 24. Reading Architecture 25. Misanthropic Malibu 26. The Fire and the Aftermath 27. Democracy’s Soft Underbelly 28. Going Forward Afterthoughts About the Author

Sam Hall Kaplan is a renowned print and broadcast journalist, activist urban planner, and teacher, who in a seventy-year career has been a New York Times reporter, Los Angeles Times design critic, and Emmy Award-winning television commentator. His books include The Dream Deferred, L.A Lost & Found, and L.A. Follies.

Reviews for An Urban Odyssey: A Critic's Search for the Soul of Cities and Self

“A Zelig of urbanism, Kaplan has rubbed shoulders—and rankled egos—with seemingly every major player in modern urban design and architecture. His very enjoyable memoir outlines his consistent mission that planning and architecture need to serve the public. Kaplan has no fear of losing a job or access, as his first allegiance is to the greater community. He always considers the full scope of a building’s effect on its users—workers, builders, patrons—before any artistic gesture. Stalwartly writing his mind—paying no heed to trend or hype—Kaplan consistently maintains that if something looks good but isn’t user-friendly, then it isn’t architecture.” — Julie D. Taylor, Hon. AIA/LA, Society of Architectural Historians/Southern California Chapter, November 2024 “One of the finest journalists of his generation.” — Tom Johnson, former CNN President & Publisher of the LA Times “Unapologetic populist.” — John Rabe, Award-winning radio host and producer