Review of NEW YORK, WISH YOU WERE HERE by Eileen M. Ward

It would seem that all aspects of Manhattan have been pursued and covered in all media, but this book is both fresh and engaging in its approach to its subject, and in its unique involvement of the reader. Some authors focus on historical fact about the Borough; others try to place the reader on the sidewalks of Gotham’s busy streets, while still more use the City as background for adventuresome travel. In her work, though, Diana Krause Oliver achieves all of the above approaches while imbuing the reader with nostalgia for America’s prime international City, whether that reader is a native, a repetitive visitor, or someone whose life has been touched by the varied magic of Manhattan through the twentieth century.

In vivid imagery supported by an incredibly comprehensive series of postcards featuring Manhattan and its neighborhoods, Krause Oliver captures the history, the color, the pulse, and the strength of the Big Apple’s trail‐blazers in establishing “the City that never sleeps.” Supplementing the postcards with succinct text and historic detail, she also celebrates the art of the NYC subways, features bridges, and seamlessly sews together the emergence of neighborhoods, often stamped by the intrepid emigrant migrations who cherished liberty and sacrificed to have it become the background against which they raised families and internationalized their new home with their traditions.

Native to NYC but now transplanted to Chicago, the author is clearly immersed in her father’s style as he “treated every corner of Manhattan like a friend he had just met.” And this mystique is graciously shared with her readers who become spiritually and sensually rapt in her dedicated work of fifteen years.

It is fitting, in this tenth anniversary year of 9/11, that one of her motivators for her work was that cataclysmic day when she found herself “on an early morning flight about to descend into New York.” Diverted to Philadelphia, she sat, like most of us, incredulous at TV images of the horror that “changed our lives.” From the depths of her appreciation of her birth city, she has woven a tapestry of illustration and explanation that gentles the reader back to the challenging and rewarding times that inspired Manhattan’s citizens to fashion a home with pride and gratitude. No reader will be left without both virtues in taking Diana Krause Oliver’s journey with her to the heart and soul of the City she so loves.

To introduce someone with no knowledge of Manhattan’s life legacy, to help a transplanted native recall the warmth and richness of the place, or simply to celebrate the heritage of Manhattan with those who love what the City represents, there can be no better gift than this book.