[My Name]

Professor Van Noy

English 102, Annotation #1

20 January 2000

Kunstler, James Howard. The Geography of Nowhere: The Rise and Decline of America's Man-made Landscape. New York: Touchstone, 1994.

Argues that much of the American man-made landscape is depressing, ugly, and unhealthy. Traces America's evolution from a land of village commons to one that ignores nature and human needs. At once stimulated by the industrial revolution, and advanced further by the proliferation of the automobile, Kunstler charts the degradation of the human qualities of American cities and towns--resulting in the "generica" so prevalent in America today: tract home developments, "shopping smarm" (40), faceless and soulless architecture, and decaying inner cities. Kunstler also exposes the social and economic ramifications of such a landscape, that, without regard to creating places worth living in, has resulted a "geography of nowhere."

Kunstler examines the evolution of the built environment with a critical and satirical eye. The evidence seems anecdotal rather than thoroughly researched, but Nowhere's overview of urban planning is accessible and frankly expressed. If his attachment to the small towns of the past seems an insufficient answer to the problems of the present and future, his depiction of those problems is on target. The car, especially, comes off as the main culprit of 20th-century ills in this polemic.

While I don't agree with everything Kunstler says, I will use parts of his "The Evil Empire" to discuss how my town became more spread out and dependent on the automobile: "The two elements of the suburban pattern that cause the greatest problems are the extreme separation of uses and the vast differences between things" (117).

(Note: trying to summarize, paraphrase, and quote. The first paragraph is meant to summarize what the text says, the next one pays attention to how it says it, and the last one explains how I'll use it in my paper. ).