This was an amazing book to edit, dark and gritty and quite extraordinary. It's as though Hunter S. Thompson were Dutch, and a photographer, and went to live in the tunnels under Manhattan. And actually got his hands dirty collecting cans and bottles at 6 am, as well as trying out the tunnel drug of choice. It's every bit as noir as our Switchblade series, a clear look at the true underbelly of New York, along with the people who relate to it...from police to academics to non-profit workers. It's fascinating to see how all these worlds come together from the perspective of the tunnels. Teun spares no punches which I really like, as I hate the liberal tendency to romanticize, which in itself I find terribly patronizing. Instead he sees people clearly, and respects them with all of their strengths and their flaws. And of course his own experience (strengths and flaws included) comes through so nicely, this is no dry academic or even journalistic account, but a living breathing record of life underground, from frightening to hilarious, from tragic to just plain annoying...it's riveting all together, and I have read it enough times to attest to that.

Apart from that, no studies of what happens when people are displaced ever follow up after the study is done. But Teun stayed in touch, and we actually get to see where people are 13 years later. It's unique I think...