A thoroughly researched, if sometimes-daunting, technical survey.
A lawyer’s case for the centrality of infrastructure to the future of the United States.
As an attorney who specializes in construction defects and litigation against contractors and designers, Gravely is intimately familiar with the poor state of American infrastructure, which includes roads, buildings, electrical grids, sewage systems, and much more. In this, his debut book, he describes in painstaking detail how “our most essential resources have reached the end of their operable life” and are “failing without warning” at an increasingly alarming rate. Moreover, much of our infrastructure, built during the post–World War II economic boom, has failed to keep up with technological innovations, threatening the nation’s economy and security. The book’s first section provides a historical overview of the centrality of infrastructure to the health of civilizations. Investment in infrastructure is the common thread that connects ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia to 20th-century Western superpowers, the author notes. Beyond meeting the pragmatic needs of governments and their citizens, infrastructure inspires and even “defines us,” Gravely asserts, as projects such as the Hoover Dam, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Empire State Building, and the Erie Canal have become part of the nation’s identity. However, as the book’s second section details—with an unnerving number of specific examples—the country’s “cheap” and “fast” approach to infrastructure has led to “busted & rusted” bridges, overloaded and eroded dams and waterway locks, unhealthy drinking water, and shoddily constructed, uninspiring public schools and other buildings. After highlighting this near-dystopian state of affairs, the book’s final section looks at potential solutions.
Eschewing a partisan approach to infrastructure, the book blames both Republicans and Democrats at various points for failures to address problems head-on. The author dismisses China’s authoritarian approach to infrastructure projects—such as forcing people off of their land—but does discuss “what we can learn” from the country’s massive investments, which have created architectural wonders. The book is careful to emphasize that natural resources are also part of infrastructure and thus should be protected from unscrupulous development and extraction. The private sector, including Elon Musk’s vision of Starbase, Texas, is heralded as a viable path to innovative development that could bypass congressional stalemates in Washington. Overall, the book is written in the approachable, savvy language of a seasoned lawyer, expertly balancing readability with technical discussions of building and construction codes. With more than 1,000 footnotes, this well-researched book effectively makes its case by inundating readers with numerous examples of old, decrepit, or cheaply built infrastructure networks. It’s an engaging read, to be sure. However, it attempts to do more than a single book comfortably can, as it attempts not only to document America’s failed infrastructure, but also to provide readers with a narrative of infrastructure development throughout history as well as policy ideas for the future. Although each part stands well on its own, the three sections combined may overwhelm readers. Still, the book more than succeeds in making its argument that “the future of America depends on the decisions we make today.”
A thoroughly researched, if sometimes-daunting, technical survey.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Sutton Hart Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.
The veteran actor, comedian, and banjo player teams up with the acclaimed illustrator to create a unique book of cartoons that communicates their personalities.
Martin, also a prolific author, has always been intrigued by the cartoons strewn throughout the pages of the New Yorker. So when he was presented with the opportunity to work with Bliss, who has been a staff cartoonist at the magazine since 1997, he seized the moment. “The idea of a one-panel image with or without a caption mystified me,” he writes. “I felt like, yeah, sometimes I’m funny, but there are these other weird freaks who are actually funny.” Once the duo agreed to work together, they established their creative process, which consisted of working forward and backward: “Forwards was me conceiving of several cartoon images and captions, and Harry would select his favorites; backwards was Harry sending me sketched or fully drawn cartoons for dialogue or banners.” Sometimes, he writes, “the perfect joke occurs two seconds before deadline.” There are several cartoons depicting this method, including a humorous multipanel piece highlighting their first meeting called “They Meet,” in which Martin thinks to himself, “He’ll never be able to translate my delicate and finely honed droll notions.” In the next panel, Bliss thinks, “I’m sure he won’t understand that the comic art form is way more subtle than his blunt-force humor.” The team collaborated for a year and created 150 cartoons featuring an array of topics, “from dogs and cats to outer space and art museums.” A witty creation of a bovine family sitting down to a gourmet meal and one of Dumbo getting his comeuppance highlight the duo’s comedic talent. What also makes this project successful is the team’s keen understanding of human behavior as viewed through their unconventional comedic minds.
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-26289-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
A frank and funny but uneven essay collection about neurodiversity.
An experimental, illustrated essay collection that questions neurotypical definitions of what is normal.
From a young age, writer and comedian Myers has been different. In addition to coping with obsessive compulsive disorder and panic attacks, she struggled to read basic social cues. During a round of seven minutes in heaven—a game in which two players spend seven minutes in a closet and are expected to kiss—Myers misread the romantic advances of her best friend and longtime crush, Marley. In Paris, she accidentally invited a sex worker to join her friends for “board games and beer,” thinking he was simply a random stranger who happened to be hitting on her. In community college, a stranger’s request for a pen spiraled her into a panic attack but resulted in a tentative friendship. When the author moved to Australia, she began taking notes on her colleagues in an effort to know them better. As the author says to her co-worker, Tabitha, “there are unspoken social contracts within a workplace that—by some miracle—everyone else already understands, and I don’t….When things Go Without Saying, they Never Get Said, and sometimes people need you to Say Those Things So They Understand What The Hell Is Going On.” At its best, Myers’ prose is vulnerable and humorous, capturing characterization in small but consequential life moments, and her illustrations beautifully complement the text. Unfortunately, the author’s tendency toward unnecessary capitalization and experimental forms is often unsuccessful, breaking the book’s otherwise steady rhythm.
A frank and funny but uneven essay collection about neurodiversity.Pub Date: Oct. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9780063381308
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2025
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
