New York: Metropolis of the American Dream (Urban Tapestry Series)

"From within America and from around the world people come to New York, as the song has it, `to be a part of it.' New York measures." So writes Martin Mayer in New York: Metropolis of the American Dream. New York is where "the people who want to be measured, whose pride tells them that they are the great ones, still want to come and show their stuff." In practically every realm of human endeavor, New York is the metronome that sets the tempo for excellence around the world. It is the touchstone, the standard bearer for all who chase the dream that only New York can offer. Given this unique position as the world's greatest city, it's only fitting that Martin Mayer has chosen to bring the essence of New York to life through a series of vignettes about his life in New York over the past decades. With the aid of more than 350 colorful images by many of New York's best known and most renowned photographers, this photojournal is one that captures the changes that have animated the spirit of this thriving, evolving metropolis. Mayer's rendition is both realistic and evocative, soaring and, yes, just a bit gritty. Just like New York on its proudest days. "Samuel Johnson wrote that a man who was tired of London was tired of life -- and that was before the electric light," Mayer writes. "Today's New York has many technological advantages of Johnson's 18th century London; even if you're tired of life, you've got a reasonable chance to perk up here." In the shadows of the soaring buildings -- down where the neighbors congregate on porches and the kids play on hot summer days in the spray from opened fire hydrants -- evidence is ample that the American dream, in all of its myriad manifestations, is not merely alive, but thriving.