Caro On Robert Moses

I am done with the Robert Caro book on Robert Moses—all the way to page 1162, plus some of the back matter, as it’s called in the book trade. In the course of reading, I marked some passages and made a few notes in preparation of a blog post; but have now decided to let a decent review inform you instead: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/oct/23/the-power-broker-robert-moses-and-the-fall-of-new-york-robert-caro-review.

   Here I just want to note how impressive I find Caro’s achievement to be. He has control of a mind-boggling amount of detail, always given in its authentic specificity, composed in a narrative that moves along, at all times clear, never “rhetorical.” The book deserves all the praise and prizes it has received, plus one for the ability to harness so huge amount of material between the pages of a mere book.

   I am puzzled about one thing, the subtitle: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York. As a somewhat casual reader, I thought of Moses’ impact on New York was both good and bad. But while certainly bad, I don’t see the very extreme “fall of New York” label reflected in the text. I suspect an editor’s “suggestion.” A very good book! After this, on to other things.