  Urbanoutdoors Member Username: Urbanoutdoors Post Number: 16 Registered: 11-2005 Posted From: 64.12.116.204 |
I just was wondering what books people would consider the best that have some detroit context. The first I will throw out is Thomas Sugrue's: The Origins of the Urban Crisis:Race and Inequality in Postwar Detroit. If anyone really wants to understand Detroit from a historical context. This is the book. It is a book that I believe every person in the metro area should read if they really want to understand where we are today and why. | ||
Smogboy Member Username: Smogboy Post Number: 1650 Registered: 11-2004 Posted From: 68.84.183.189 |
The one quintessential book I think all Detroiters should have is The Detroit Almanac that was put out by the Freep a few years ago during the Detroit 300 celebration. While I'm sure some of the facts have changed over the years (I'd love to see an updated version), it's still a huge repository of Detroit knowledge. I never knew so much about the city until I started reading and going through that book. It discussed everything from our regional dialect to dining to history to just about anything that we Detroit folk do. Great book, but again an updated version would be great. | ||
Corktownmark Member Username: Corktownmark Post Number: 159 Registered: 12-2004 Posted From: 68.61.194.191 |
The Detroit Almanac is a good one Smogboy. I like "reform in Detroit". When you read it you will find out why we still have a statue of Hazen Pingree watching over Adams and Woodward. | ||
Gumby Member Username: Gumby Post Number: 809 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 204.39.224.69 |
I really like the "Detroit then and Now" book. It contains a lot of really neat old pics and compairs them with pics of now. (duh) Although it needs an update already, I mean they show Compuware under construction. | ||
Dmart Member Username: Dmart Post Number: 12 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 68.84.183.222 |
"Detroit is My Own Home Town" by Malcolm W. Bingay (the original Iffy the Dopester) 1946. This is more a series of tales from old Detroit. Great stories about the Auto Giants, off field antics of the Tigers, stories about the Detroit Athletic Club, and a whole lot more. picked my signed copy up at John K. King Books north for $12, they still had a few copies left. Not necessarily the best, that award goes to Sugrue and the Urban Crisis, but a different kind of read from a very good author - Bingay from the Free Press. | ||
Futurecity Member Username: Futurecity Post Number: 215 Registered: 05-2005 Posted From: 69.212.228.17 |
The Detroit Almanac is my personal fave. When I read through the pages, there is so much information that it feels as if you are "discovering" Detroit as you read. Very fun indeed. | ||
Esp Member Username: Esp Post Number: 4 Registered: 09-2005 Posted From: 68.62.6.186 |
"Untold Tales, Unsung Heroes" by Elaine Latzman Moon. "Middlesex" by Jeffrey Eugenides is fiction but set in Detroit. Does anyone recommend "Who Killed Detroit" or "Stalking Detroit"? | ||
The_aram Member Username: The_aram Post Number: 4651 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 141.213.175.233 |
Middlesex is wonderful, and also extremely troubling. great book. | ||
Gary Member Username: Gary Post Number: 108 Registered: 02-2004 Posted From: 69.218.78.187 |
"Yesterday's Detroit" by former Free Press editor, and native Detroiter Frank Angelo is a good one. Not a whole lot of narrative information, but it contains hundreds of photos depicting Detroit from 1701 - 1950. Very interesting. | ||
Funkycarrie Member Username: Funkycarrie Post Number: 143 Registered: 02-2004 Posted From: 70.236.166.119 |
I love "Frontier Metropolis" by Brian Leigh Dunnigan, the recent "American City" by Sharoff & Zbaren, and although it only goes up to the 1960s "All Our Yesterdays" by Woodford and Woodford | ||
Jenay Member Username: Jenay Post Number: 127 Registered: 06-2005 Posted From: 68.41.224.19 |
"The Quotations of Mayor Coleman A. Young" It made me laugh on more than one occasion. | ||
Chow Member Username: Chow Post Number: 246 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 68.42.171.71 |
Esp, I would recommend 'Stalking Detroit' only if you are into conceptual projects and essays. The book itself is a nice design. Between the layout and photos and the vacant land map on the cover. | ||
Sister Member Username: Sister Post Number: 16 Registered: 01-2005 Posted From: 205.188.116.137 |
I like Island in the City, How Belle Isle Changed Detroit Forever by Janet Anderson. It is available through Friends of Belle Isle, 331-7760. The Detroit Almanac is great. | ||
Lowell Board Administrator Username: Lowell Post Number: 2238 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 66.167.58.137 |
"Working Detroit" by Steve Babson et. al is my personal favorite, a terrific history of working Detroit told from the perspective of labor history an chuck full of pictures. | ||
Spitcoff Member Username: Spitcoff Post Number: 62 Registered: 03-2004 Posted From: 69.242.221.186 |
The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality in Postwar Detroit by Thomas J. Sugrue this book opend my eys to alot of what has happened here in Detroit | ||
Karl Member Username: Karl Post Number: 979 Registered: 09-2005 Posted From: 207.168.116.66 |
Just finished "Made in Detroit - A South-of-8 Mile Memoir" by Paul Clemens c-2005 From the jacket: A richly detailed, often funny story about living in a tight-knit ethnic enclave inside an otherwise black city, Made in Detroit describes what it was like to grow up white and working-class in a city that had become emblematic of white flight and urban decay. Born in 1973, the year Detroit's first black mayor was elected - the legendary Coleman Young - Clemens traces his own working-class Catholic upbringing alongside the city's long decline during Young's 20 years at the helm. | ||
Aarne_frobom Member Username: Aarne_frobom Post Number: 8 Registered: 10-2005 Posted From: 162.108.2.221 |
I second the recommendations of the Detroit Almanac and the Frank Angelo picture history. I also want to add a plug for "Edge City" by geographer Joel Garreau. Metro Detroit is only one of the ten or so case studies in the book, but the whole work provides great insight into why cities like Detroit are shaped the way they are. This book will contribute to your understanding of the relationship between office and retail densities, roads, and transit. And the two appendices, "The Words" and "The Laws" will have you rolling on the floor as your learn the basics of suburban real-estate development. And "Middlesex" was so good and so freaky I forgave the author for misidentifying MC Depot. Musta thought Grand Trunk was a more evocative name. | ||
Sumotect Member Username: Sumotect Post Number: 164 Registered: 08-2004 Posted From: 64.243.32.9 |
I am reading "Hard Stuff" The autobiography of Coleman Young, now. It is really good. Also "Arc of Justice", the Ossian Sweet story. It is a real eye opener. I will second what was said about "Frontier Metropolis" really good for the historians and cartographers. "Stalking Detroit" is by U of M architects who make some interesting proposals, (some a little far fetched) The MIT book on Lafayette Park is also a good book. For true crime; try "Masquerade", the Dr Canty murder. | ||
56packman Member Username: 56packman Post Number: 31 Registered: 12-2005 Posted From: 129.9.163.106 |
"The geography of nowhere" by Kunsler, and "New Africa High" by keliher and "Dynamic Detroit" (1941) by Pound, illustrated by Sudyham (Message edited by 56packman on January 30, 2006) | ||
Funkycarrie Member Username: Funkycarrie Post Number: 145 Registered: 02-2004 Posted From: 69.208.32.222 |
I have yet to read "Arc of Justice" but it seems like it would be a good read. I picked it up when I was researching my Jazz paper for school, and quickly realized it was not a good source for Jazz. Hopefully I'll get through it this summer! | ||
J_stone Member Username: J_stone Post Number: 272 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 63.77.247.130 |
Kilowatts at work:a history of the Detroit Edison Company. Raymond Curtis Miller Wayne State Press,1957 | ||
Hornwrecker Member Username: Hornwrecker Post Number: 772 Registered: 04-2005 Posted From: 66.2.148.40 |
"I Remeber Detroit" by John C. Lodge of freeway fame, is one that hasn't been mentioned yet. More Detroit books here. http://wsupress.wayne.edu/grea tlakes/detroit/detroit1.html | ||
Royaloakian Member Username: Royaloakian Post Number: 60 Registered: 05-2004 Posted From: 65.42.23.2 |
Muddy Boots and Ragged Aprons has interesting pictures of a Detroit in a time that I was unfamilar with. | ||
Haydenth Member Username: Haydenth Post Number: 6 Registered: 05-2005 Posted From: 67.107.50.35 |
I second those who recommend "Hard Stuff" by Coleman Young. I read it a few months back and thought it was a fascinating look at not only Mr. Young but also the city. He goes all the way from his days living in Black Bottom to 80s-90s. You can pick up a copy on amazon.com pretty cheaply. Also, I highly recommend reading "Middlesex" by Jeffrey Eugenides. It's a fictional novel, but Detroit plays as large of a role as any of the characters. (Message edited by haydenth on January 30, 2006) | ||
Sumotect Member Username: Sumotect Post Number: 165 Registered: 08-2004 Posted From: 64.243.32.9 |
Just picked up "Urban Ecology Detroit and Beyond" by Kyong Park. Haven't read it, but good photos and a unique graphic design. | ||
Jimaz Member Username: Jimaz Post Number: 85 Registered: 12-2005 Posted From: 68.2.191.57 |
Great thread. Thanks to all who contributed! | ||
Neilr Member Username: Neilr Post Number: 182 Registered: 06-2005 Posted From: 69.242.215.65 |
For Detroit's architecture and more, The Buildings of Detroit by Hawkins Ferry has no peer. To me, American Odyssey, by Robert Conot, 1974, is the best, most readable, general history of Detroit. Conot traces the history of Detroit through the fictionized account of several generations of several families, both black and white, rich and poor, as they coped, or didn't cope, with the changes in the course of our history. Before the Ghetto by David Katzman is a good, well-documented history of Detroit's black community in the 19th century. Art in Detroit's Public Places by Dennis Nawrocki, 1999, is an excellent field guide to art in Detroit's public places. A word of warning: Before you start to read and research our local history, be prepared to possibly find it an addictive course of study. (Message edited by neilr on January 30, 2006) | ||
Second_ave Member Username: Second_ave Post Number: 12 Registered: 11-2005 Posted From: 68.40.223.253 |
I just read The Vernor's Story this weekend. Definately not THE best book I've read about Detroit, but it was quite enjoyable and educational . . . and made me crave Vernors although I no longer drink pop. I also really enjoy American Ruins by Camilo Jose Vergara, who coincidentally is giving a lecture at UM in February. | ||
Soulhawk Member Username: Soulhawk Post Number: 261 Registered: 04-2004 Posted From: 68.85.153.94 |
Funkycarrie look no farther than forum member Jim G's book "Before Motown." | ||
Dan_cluley Member Username: Dan_cluley Post Number: 2 Registered: 05-2005 Posted From: 207.179.65.210 |
If we are including fiction, take a look at the works of Loren Estelman. His Amos Walker mysteries are contemporary (80's - present) His "Detroit" series is historical fiction crime covering most of the 20th century. My favorites, are "Whiskey River", "Edsel", and "Motown" | ||
Urbanoutdoors Member Username: Urbanoutdoors Post Number: 19 Registered: 11-2005 Posted From: 207.74.192.1 |
I can't remember the name but Kevin boyle's book on the Sweet case is really an interesting book. | ||
Jimg Member Username: Jimg Post Number: 555 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 205.188.116.137 |
Arc Of Justice by Kevin Boyle, already cited by Funkycarrie up-the-thread, is the Sweet case book, Urbanoutdoors. Boyle is an excellent storyteller. | ||
Iheartdetroit Member Username: Iheartdetroit Post Number: 82 Registered: 03-2005 Posted From: 69.246.111.79 |
I am currently reading The ALgiers Motel Incidient by John Hersey. I was worried it would be difficult to get through, but it's really very interesting. I second the vote for Hard Stuff by Coleman Young. I thought it was great. I always got the feeling that a lot of people try to blame everything that's wrong with detroit on CAY, so it was interesting to read his version of things. I've actually read the book twice now. I also second the vote for Middlesex. It has won the title of my all time favorite book. read it! thanks for all the other recommendations.... | ||
Kova Member Username: Kova Post Number: 186 Registered: 12-2003 Posted From: 141.213.184.173 |
Class Predicaments of Whiteness in Detroit just bought it online, anyone read it ? | ||
Carptrash Member Username: Carptrash Post Number: 1435 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 72.16.51.242 |
"Radio Priest: Charles Coughlin; the Father of Hate Radio" by Donald Warren does a good job on that subject. [and I second "American Odyssey"] | ||
E_hemingway Member Username: E_hemingway Post Number: 480 Registered: 11-2004 Posted From: 68.42.176.123 |
I highly recommend CAY's autobio: "Hard Stuff" Great read. The beginning and middle of the book is the best. It starts to sound a little too much like a press release toward the end when it talks about his time as mayor. But overall, a very good read. You won't want to put it down. "Made in Detroit" is also a great read. I am a slow reader, but I knocked that one out in a few days. Couldn't put it down. The "Quotations of CAY" is another book that will interest just about any Detroit. It's practically gaureenteed to make you LOL. | ||
Harsensis Member Username: Harsensis Post Number: 2 Registered: 07-2005 Posted From: 70.156.185.133 |
One of my favorite books on Detroit is the Detroit and Environs book from 1893. It has lots of great pre turn of the century pictures and text of old Detroit. | ||
Mauser765 Member Username: Mauser765 Post Number: 712 Registered: 01-2004 Posted From: 4.229.69.131 |
I met Elaine Latzman Moon at a pub in Royal Oak the other day. Very nice lady - we talked for several hours. Carptrash - this lady knew Mr Parducci very well ! She told me many personal stories that really blew my mind. I'll be talking with her again soon, I will keep you posted. (btw - she confirms that CP did the doors as well as the figures on the Fisher Building) | ||
Funkycarrie Member Username: Funkycarrie Post Number: 170 Registered: 02-2004 Posted From: 69.208.32.222 |
if you're into Jazz I'd recommend Before Motown, A history of Jazz in Detroit 1920-1960 by Lars Bjorn... I learned a lot that I didn't know in that book, its fabulous. | ||
Mikem Member Username: Mikem Post Number: 2387 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 68.43.15.105 |
http://www.marygrove.edu/ids/ | ||
Funkycarrie Member Username: Funkycarrie Post Number: 173 Registered: 02-2004 Posted From: 69.208.32.222 |
I've got a great bibliography compiled by Dr. Philip Mason from WSU, unfortunately its not online, if I can figure out how to use our scanner, I can scan it up if anyone is interested... | ||
Renf Member Username: Renf Post Number: 36 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 141.211.34.33 |
My comments about quite a few books focused on Detroit are attached. I have used parts or all of these books in the courses I taught at U of M. http://www.detroit1701.org/Det roitbooks.pdf | ||
Funkycarrie Member Username: Funkycarrie Post Number: 175 Registered: 02-2004 Posted From: 69.208.32.222 |
Renf, if you teach the course again, definitely add Frontier Metropolis to the list. Its a huge book, and hard to carry around, but the artwork inside is amazing, and Dunnigan did a fine job writing it as well... | ||
Detourdetroit Member Username: Detourdetroit Post Number: 158 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 69.212.44.212 |
I don't see on this list "Killing Me Softly: Detroit and Fifty Years of Stupidity" or "Apocalypse Now: How Southeast Michigan and the Federal Government Conspired to Create Hell on Earth" I thought those titles were real popular a few years back. | ||
Bvos Member Username: Bvos Post Number: 1169 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 70.236.147.248 |
"Singing in a Strange Land" by Nick Salvatore is an outstanding book that hasn't been mentioned here. It simultaneously does a fantastic job of informing you of: the Black migration to the North, the Black church in America, history of Gospel music, The Black Power movement of the 60s and the beginings of Motown Records. All of this is written from the standpoint of how Detroit had the unique convergence of all the above items to revolutionize the world. Highly, highly recommended. | ||
Jimg Member Username: Jimg Post Number: 557 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 64.12.116.204 |
(Repeat of earlier post...) As this thread surfaces every few months, Lowell agreed to put a comprehensive list somewhere on the site. I volunteered to format and forward to Lowell on a regular basis any new Det related books. As Mikem and Ren pointed out, there are excellent lists already in use - perhaps they can be borrowed for our site, or linked, at least - Any books not included on those lists should be posted on this thread. Thanks for your help. Ren, I remember when Lars and I gave a presentation for your class in AA when B Motown first appeared on the scene...some good jazz too. | ||
Nip Member Username: Nip Post Number: 44 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 67.38.15.42 |
I too concur that "Arc of Justice" is fantastic. Is the Sweet house still there? If not, is there a landmark? I just recently finished "Land of Opportunity: One family's quest for the American Dream in the age of Crack" which is also an incredible read. I was in HS when this was happening, so it brought back memories of Chris Hanson's five-part piece on the Chambers brothers (Larry Chambers home videos were unbelievable), Bill Bonds, Police Chief Hart, White Boy Rick, and many other names. I'm guessing that the film "New Jack City" was loosely based on the Chambers Brothers... This is highly recommended reading. | ||
Douglasm Member Username: Douglasm Post Number: 489 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 66.189.188.28 |
Anybody got a copy of "Michigan: A Guide To The Wolverine State", the WPA guide book? How extensive is its description of Detroit? | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 265 Registered: 01-2005 Posted From: 207.200.116.139 |
Looking over my den library, I find three odd-ball books about Detroit worth a mention. 1. "The News of Detroit", by Wiliam W. Lutz, 1973; the history of that newspaper. 2. "Dies a Crapshooter", by Doc Greene, 1960, tales generally centered around Detroit. 3. "Good Moanin'", by Bob Talbert,1984, from his Freep column 1968-1984. Ancient books, but a good read. | ||
Jimg Member Username: Jimg Post Number: 558 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 205.188.116.137 |
The Detroit Black Writer's Guild, Paradise Valley Days: A Photo Album Poetry Book of Black Detroit 1930's to 1950's (Detroit: Detroit Black Writer's Guild, 1998) 110 ppg. Rich collection of rare photographs, advertisements and poetry celebrating the Valley. | ||
East_detroit Member Username: East_detroit Post Number: 514 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 69.212.169.194 |
"a hill o' beans - Chronicles of a Black Bottom Boy" by Herbert Ides Sanders, 2003, Bookman Publishing Specific addresses are mentioned... good luck hunting them down. | ||
Kathleen Member Username: Kathleen Post Number: 1174 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 69.14.122.57 |
Nip, Yes, the Ossian Sweet House is still standing. A Michigan Historic Marker was dedicated there in 2004. Check out these webpages and news articles: http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/trave l/detroit/d4.htm http://info.detnews.com/histor y/story/index.cfm?id=201&categ ory=events http://www.michigan.gov/docume nts/hal_mhc_shpo_feature_0401_ 100021_7.pdf | ||
Tracya2 Member Username: Tracya2 Post Number: 29 Registered: 12-2004 Posted From: 68.40.72.56 |
I have a few books that I've recently read and am willing to pass on: Hard Stuff - The Autobiography of Coleman Young, Y.B.I. Young Boy's Inc.- The Autobiography of Butch Jones and Land of Opportunity by William Adler (this one is about the Chambers Brothers drug operations). I highly recommend all 3 books, esp. the last one. Email me at tracyk@abac.com if interested. | ||
Nip Member Username: Nip Post Number: 50 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 68.74.10.230 |
Thanks for the links Kathleen. Glad to hear that the Sweet house is still standing and has been recognized for its historical and symbolic importance. | ||
Ed_golick Member Username: Ed_golick Post Number: 230 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 69.246.55.51 |
From Soupy To Nuts!- A History Of Detroit Television by Tim Kiska. http://www.detroitkidshow.com/ From_Soupy_To_Nuts.htm | ||
Smogboy Member Username: Smogboy Post Number: 1828 Registered: 11-2004 Posted From: 69.47.101.255 |
Okay so it's long past the Detroit tricentennial now, but I really would like to think that the Freep should update the Detroit Almanac. I was going through it last night- and while it's still an interesting book of tidbits & information, some of it has long in the tooth. A newer version of the book would be fantastic for anyone even mildly curious about this area. |
