The 99% Invisible City - The Library of the Uncommons

hardcover, 400 pages

Published Oct. 6, 2020 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

ISBN:: 978-0-358-12660-7

99% Invisible is a big-ideas podcast about small-seeming things, revealing stories baked into the buildings we inhabit, the streets we drive, and the sidewalks we traverse. The show celebrates design and architecture in all of its functional glory and accidental absurdity, with intriguing tales of both designers and the people impacted by their designs.

Now, in The 99% Invisible City: A Field Guide to Hidden World of Everyday Design, host Roman Mars and coauthor Kurt Kohlstedt zoom in on the various elements that make our cities work, exploring the origins and other fascinating stories behind everything from power grids and fire escapes to drinking fountains and street signs. With deeply researched entries and beautiful line drawings throughout, The 99% Invisible City will captivate devoted fans of the show and anyone curious about design, urban environments, and the unsung marvels of the world around them.

7 editions

David Atwell reviewed The 99% Invisible City by Roman Mars

Review of 'The 99% Invisible City' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Pretty fun, tapas-like stories about the built world in cities. I wish [a:Roman Mars|19916841|Roman Mars|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] and [a:Kurt Kohlstedt|19916842|Kurt Kohlstedt|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] had put the book format to a bit more use, though; if you'd had Mars read this with some soft indie instrumentals in the background, the book would be indistinguishable from an episode of the podcast. A podcast which, to be clear, I very much enjoy; but I was hoping for some more depth, or photographs, or diagrams, or any of the other things that are easier to do in a book than in a podcast. Mars and Kohlstedt talked on the podcast recently about wanting to make the book accessible for the reader who started at any point in the book, but I wish there had been a greater attempt to weave a greater narrative through the story bits.

There is a lot to like about this book. It's really …

Pretty fun, tapas-like stories about the built world in cities. I wish [a:Roman Mars|19916841|Roman Mars|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] and [a:Kurt Kohlstedt|19916842|Kurt Kohlstedt|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] had put the book format to a bit more use, though; if you'd had Mars read this with some soft indie instrumentals in the background, the book would be indistinguishable from an episode of the podcast. A podcast which, to be clear, I very much enjoy; but I was hoping for some more depth, or photographs, or diagrams, or any of the other things that are easier to do in a book than in a podcast. Mars and Kohlstedt talked on the podcast recently about wanting to make the book accessible for the reader who started at any point in the book, but I wish there had been a greater attempt to weave a greater narrative through the story bits.

There is a lot to like about this book. It's really compellingly-written, impressively smooth in its prose and stunningly well-researched (seriously, 30% of the e-book version is bibliography). I'm really looking forward to the next 99pi book; hopefully it'll be more depth than breadth.