‘Mapping Manhattan’ author to celebrate book launch in Brooklyn
Brooklyn BookBeat
“Maps are the places where memories go not to die, or be pinned, but to live forever.”
—Adam Gopnik
Armed with hundreds of blank maps that had been painstakingly printed by hand, Becky Cooper walked Manhattan from end to end, asking strangers to map their city and mail in the results. Soon, her P.O. box was filled with an atlas of intimate narratives: past loves, childhood memories, and surprising confessions. Some well-known New Yorkers then joined the project, including Yoko Ono, Momofuku chefDavid Chang, Tony-award winner Harvey Fierstein, and tightrope walker Philippe Petit, as well as the New Yorkers behind New York—the head of the Public Library’s map division, a former police lieutenant who responded to the call on 9/11, and many more.