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Outside Lies Magic: Regaining History and Awareness in Everyday Places
Outside Lies Magic is a book about the acute observation of ordinary things, about becoming aware in everyday places, about seeing in utterly new ways, about enriching your life unexpectedly.
For more than 20 years, John R. Stilgoe has developed and practiced the art of exploring the everyday world around us, where so much lies hidden just beneath the surface, offering unc
For more than 20 years, John R. Stilgoe has developed and practiced the art of exploring the everyday world around us, where so much lies hidden just beneath the surface, offering unc
Paperback, 187 pages
Published
April 1st 1999
by Walker & Company
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The jacket describes this book as being about “the acute observation of ordinary things.” Being a person more than a few have described as “observant”, I was curious to see what Professor Stilgoe had to say about being an everyday explorer.
Stilgoe is the Professor of Landscape History at Harvard, and was featured on 60 minutes a couple of years ago describing the art of exploration, which is the title of the course he teaches. While I didn’t watch the 60 minutes piece, I remembered his name as I...more
Stilgoe is the Professor of Landscape History at Harvard, and was featured on 60 minutes a couple of years ago describing the art of exploration, which is the title of the course he teaches. While I didn’t watch the 60 minutes piece, I remembered his name as I...more
I picked this up at the library thinking it might give some ideas for outdoor field study for my husband's history classes. There is very little "magic" in this book at all--instead I felt the author's attempt to excite the potential "explorer" to study the history of industry through examination of manhole covers and telephone poles falls flat and made for a moderately tedious read.
Indeed, the author--presumably the cloyingly over-used "Explorer" with a capital E-- bicycles through the dissecti...more
Indeed, the author--presumably the cloyingly over-used "Explorer" with a capital E-- bicycles through the dissecti...more
"Outside Lies Magic" is an inspirational call to exploration. John Stilgoe, however, does not call upon the reader to leave home and explore distant lands; instead, he points out that many places nearby remain unexplored.
While it may seem strange for an author to find wonder in power lines and abandoned railroad tracks, Stilgoe provides a relatively freeform narrative that illustrates how places that most people overlook tell detailed stories of how people lived and worked in the past. Stilgoe'...more
While it may seem strange for an author to find wonder in power lines and abandoned railroad tracks, Stilgoe provides a relatively freeform narrative that illustrates how places that most people overlook tell detailed stories of how people lived and worked in the past. Stilgoe'...more
You see more from a bicycle than you do from a car. You see even more from a balloon-tire Schwinn than you do from a carbon fiber Pinarello.
That’s why author John Stilgoe, in Outside Lies Magic, says to choose the cruiser.
“Bicycle to the store,” he says, “then ride down the alley toward the railroad tracks, bump across the uneven bricks by the loading dock grown up in thistle and chicory, pedal harder uphill toward the Victorian houses converted into funeral homes, make a quick circuit of the sc...more
That’s why author John Stilgoe, in Outside Lies Magic, says to choose the cruiser.
“Bicycle to the store,” he says, “then ride down the alley toward the railroad tracks, bump across the uneven bricks by the loading dock grown up in thistle and chicory, pedal harder uphill toward the Victorian houses converted into funeral homes, make a quick circuit of the sc...more
I finished this book several days ago and I'm still not certain what to make of it. And I certainly can't recommend it to anyone I know because it is so utterly idiosyncratic. Witness the fact that its chapter headings include the following: lines, mail, strips, enclosures, interstates, main streets, stops. Unless you're a "road trip" sort of person, someone who really enjoys slowly exploring out of the way places, this is not to likely to be appealing. There are, admittedly, references to relat...more
A wonderful book that explores the mundane and encourages us to get out and look at what we take for granted everyday. From the powerlines to mailboxes Stilgoe teaches us of the reason behind these everyday inventions and leads the reader to think about how these everyday conveniences have impacted the built environment.
I have told everyone important to me about this book and encourage everyone to read it. I found it fascinating. The sentence structure on occasions required a re-read of the pass...more
I have told everyone important to me about this book and encourage everyone to read it. I found it fascinating. The sentence structure on occasions required a re-read of the pass...more
At first the writing style bothered me - it seemed too refined, too eloquent, too high-falutin'. But I got used to it, and besides it complemented the subject matter: discovering how interesting everyday places are, how rich a history they hold. This book is not only informative but also borders the edge of inspirational. At times during the reading, I wanted to put the book down and go out for a walk, maybe trespass a little to get behind the surface of things. It awoke my deep-seated nostalgia...more
I read this because I love the idea of exploring your surroundings and discovering hidden things around you, and the landscape history aspects of the book were quite interesting, but by the end, I was finding "the explorer" himself pretty insufferable. Liking to ride your bike around in areas where most people don't go is great and all, but does not actually make you a superior being.
I liked the book, but it wasn't quite what I hoped for. I am not sure why, but maybe I wanted more details of the amazing discoveries you might find by being more aware, and less romanticizing of being more aware and traveling slowly. Also, I found the writing style a bit annoying. The phrase The Explorer discovers... must have been used 1000 times
I'm actually re-reading this book. I first read it a few years ago and liked it very much, but couldn't recall the title or the author. I own a copy of another Stilgoe book titled "Train Time," and seeing it was enough to finally jog my memory. Leave the car at home. Walk or ride a bicycle. Look, really look, at the human-built environment.
Fun, quick read. An grown up book to inspire a Charlotte Mason education. Reminds me of my childhood: walking everywhere, skating around our small town all day long. One notices much more at a slower pace and noticing more things leads to an appreciation and wonder of all that is within the world. Worth the little time it takes to read.
Not exactly a thrilling read, but a really good book for writing students. As we continue to live our lives at a faster and faster pace, whether that mean actual physical movement or simply the speed at which information travels, Stilgoe theorizes that what we have lost with all this speed is the ability to truly observe the world around us. Through very detailed description and exploration of the simple, every day world, Stilgoe takes the reader on a tour of observation. I say it would be a goo...more
An exercise in psychogeography, and a field manual for exploring spaces & their histories. Down to earth, excellent writing supplemented by a keen eye for observation and detail. If you bicycle, this is a must-read along with David Byrne's 'Bicycle Diaries'
John Stilgoe is infamous for his lecturing style, and after seeing him talk last year I picked up this book. The front cover will make your eyes bleed, but inside is a really delightful book about actively observing the built landscape around us.
I read this as part of research I'm doing for work. I thought it was intersting and had some interesting bits of trivia, but I found him a bit too lyrical. I know that sounds strange, but I really wondered sometimes, as I got lost in the language, what the point was exactly.
Feb 09, 2010
Aneel
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommended to Aneel by:
<a href="http://www.metafilter.com/65473/John-Stilgoe-wants-you-
Mostly an exhortation to get outside and look around. Lots of interesting little tidbits about the "built environment", like that cities tend to not have street trees because they get tangled in overhead wires.
Stilgoe’s enthusiasm leaps off the page. This is a swift, entertaining book, an optimistic book about the joys of looking at the world. Sign me up! I’d happily ramble around the city and country with him
This is required summer reading for the freshman AP geography class at my daughters' school. My older daughter, who read it five years years ago, loved it. My younger daughter has to read it this year.
My rating mainly applies to the first parts of the book since I found them to be the strongest. Basically, this book asks you to look at the hidden world or structure around you. He covers things like all the wiring around us, the postal network, roads and other infrastructure we take for granted. It caused me to pay a lot more attention to things, and see if I could deduce what was going on. (For instance, figuring out which lines were cable and which were phone in my neighborhood.) The only do...more
The opening essay of this book is lovely and very insightful. Unfortunately, to my taste, the author's sort of lyrical tone doesn't work well for the entire length of a book.
I think I would've liked this better if there were photos or at least drawings illustrating some of the author's points. And also if he'd done up a bibliography. I frankly had a hard time believing some of the points he makes that are meant to come across as shocking revelations. (I've had no luck finding information about...more
I think I would've liked this better if there were photos or at least drawings illustrating some of the author's points. And also if he'd done up a bibliography. I frankly had a hard time believing some of the points he makes that are meant to come across as shocking revelations. (I've had no luck finding information about...more
Critically, the concepts are good. Some ideas are intriguing. The creative writing aspect is an admirable attempt but has some rough edges.
I had high hopes for this book. I think I heard a good review or an interesting interview with the author on NPR.
The better parts of the book made me aware of some of the underlying structure of cities, answering some "why" questions about things like utility lines and manhole covers — nice little things to notice while walking my dog.
But the interesting bits were buried in so many words! I finished it, but was disappointed that the piece that drew me to the book was more interesting than the...more
The better parts of the book made me aware of some of the underlying structure of cities, answering some "why" questions about things like utility lines and manhole covers — nice little things to notice while walking my dog.
But the interesting bits were buried in so many words! I finished it, but was disappointed that the piece that drew me to the book was more interesting than the...more
Very inspiring and fun -- the sole reason for my new interest in railroads. After reading this, be prepared to want to spend days on end outside exploring and observing, and trying to make connections with the past. I can't even look at power lines the same way again! This book is eye-opening and fascinating, and a must-read for any budding explorer and inquisitive mind.
May 26, 2008
Jennifer
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommended to Jennifer by:
Rick Darke's Reading List
Shelves:
non-fiction
"Get out now. Not just outside, but beyond the trap of the programmed electronic age so gently closing around so many people...Go outside, move deliberately, then relax, slow down, look around...Abandon even, momentarily, the sleek modern technology that consumes so much time and money now, and seek out the resting place of a technology almost forgotten. "
This book is about changing your perspective into that of an explorer. An explorer of the forgotten, neglected and sometimes forbidden spaces....more
This book is about changing your perspective into that of an explorer. An explorer of the forgotten, neglected and sometimes forbidden spaces....more
Wonderful and interesting - what more can you ask from a non-fiction book?
This book was an interesting start but it never went beyond the musing stage.
Helps you see everyday landscapes in a whole new way.
This wasn't exactly what I expected, but interesting nonetheless. Stilgoe encourages pedestrian and pedaling adventurers to explore the world just behind the public-front facades of our "built" environment, to discover the nearly-forgotten and rarely-recognized connections in the structures and infrastructure that make up our modern American landscape.
Stilgoe writes a sort of combination field guide and manifesto for exploring the built environment. It urges you to get outside, on foot or bike, by showing you just how interesting the connections, histories and hidden meanings behind the parts of the built landscape. Stilgoe's work is in the same vein as Paul Groth, whose class at Berkeley on the built environment was one of my favorites. It's a quick read and basically packed with insights that will keep coming back to you every time you go o...more
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John Stilgoe is an award-winning historian and photographer who is the Robert and Lois Orchard Professor in the History of Landscape at the Visual and Environmental Studies Department of Harvard University, where he has been teaching since 1977. He is also a fellow of the Society of American Historians. He was featured on a Sixty Minutes episode in 2004 entitled "The Eyes Have It."
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