Hail Babylon!: In Search of the American City at the End of the Millennium

by Andrei Codrescu

Book Overview

Andrei Codrescu, longtime observer and commentator on things odd and American, takes us on a personal tour through our withered yet increasingly alluring urban landscapes. Our trusted, if sometimes... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312181078
• ISBN13: 9780312181079
• Release Date: May 1998
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.4" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Great insights into great American cities and places

Andrei Codrescu's sharp observational wit is put to good use in this insightful book. Mr. Codrescu, as always, looks under the rocks most of us don't even see, and then he finds gem after gem. I am from San Antonio, covered in the book, and next time I go back, I'm definitely looking under some of the rocks Mr. Codrescu did. The book is funny, witty, appreciative of the places he visits and really contains great historical and social information. I would especially recommend it if you're moving to one of the places covered in the book. It'll give you a leg up on the city your moving to or visiting.

Droll Humor

Review of the book: "Hail Babylon! !: NPR's road scholar goes in the search of the American city." by Andrei Codrescu Picador USA Paperback Edition: June 1999 Review written August 22, 2000, Encino, California by Ileana Costea, Ph.D., Professor, California State University, Northridge (CSUN) icostea@csun.comIf you like to travel, or if you do not and only like to read about places on this world while on an armchair in your living room; if you like the US or dislike it; if you think high about the East Coast or the West Coast, or vice-versa, read this most recent book by Andrei Codrescu: Hail Babylon!: NPR's road scholar goes in the search of the American city." You will like it. Well, but I worn you, you must have a good sense of humor to enjoy it and not be easily shocked by pictures like the one on page 39, taken in the streets of New Orleans during Mardi Gras. (The book also contains some beautiful or intriguing photos by Walker Evans and David Graham and others...)For many years (about 30) since my arrival in the US I kept asking myself what is the best way to describe our sense of humor, that of people from Romania (because yes, Andrei Codrescu is from the city Sibiu in Transylvania, and he mentions it in the introduction to his book, and I also come from Dracula country) or other Eastern European countries. Now I have my answer for I found it well expressed on the front cover of the book, in the statement made by John Berendt, author of the "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil": irreverent and droll. In this book, says John Berendt, Andrei Codrescu is his usual self, informative, irreverent and droll. The same Andrei that travells in a red convertible limousine through the US in the movie he made some time ago, called "Road Scholar" (same sense of humor, same powerful way of perceiving things ...) So, if you saw that movie made by Andrei Codrescu, a feature-length documentary (mentioned in his book on page 177) about strange Americans and you liked it, you will also love this book. If you missed the movie, read the book, it looks at American people, places and "phenomena" with the same eyes. The "Rhode Scholar" becomes the "Road Scholar" (note the pun!) who travels throughout the US not taking the things, people and places he sees too seriously, as he does not take himself too seriously (a mistake that many people from the "Ivory Tower" do, for which "not laughing" = "seriousness".) For me, orginally from the same country as Andrei, the book and the movie seem so very familiar, for I would have most probably observed the same things, and looked at them with the same sense of perception and "strange" humor and LOL (to use a computer jargon term meaning "Lots of Laughter"). If you want to have a good taste of the book before buying it I suggest spend a few minutes to read a very short story ("Christina of Pasadena," two-pages long, pp.165-167) in a bookstore sipping from a cup of coffee... ). It wi