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428 pages, Hardcover
First published October 13, 2015
The great thing about New York is that if you sit in one place long enough, the whole world comes to you.
I'm physically nauseated by commonplace humanity, which is the only kind there is. And sometimes I willfully aggravate the nausea, like someone who induces vomiting to be relieved of the urge to vomit.I like the concept of Humans of New York (HONY) - I admit to having spent some minutes of my life on my Facebook news feed seeing a picture of a human, hearing what that human has to say, and reading what other humans say about it. It's an innovative form of online entertainment that can be reached with a click of the mouse - perfect for this day and age. However, that's what it should be - insta-entertainment on our computer or mobile phone screen. It felt wrong reading, essentially, the voice of any random person on the street, in a book (and a hardcover no less). I would see the person/people in the picture, read their 'story', reflect on it for a few seconds, and go on to the next one. I think a factor is that I've gotten a little tired of reading these sorts of snippets anyway, so maybe people who have never seen this media form will find it more interesting and worthwhile. I respect Stanton for his work and humanitarian efforts, and as I said at the start, I like the whole concept of HONY. But reading it as a book? It wasn't very fun.
- Fernando Pessoa, The Book of Disquiet (Text 62)