When most people think about street addresses, if they think of them at all, it is in their capacity to ensure that the postman can deliver mail or a traveler won't get lost. But, street addresses were not invented to help you find your way; they were created to find you. In many parts of the world, your address can reveal your race and class. In this wide-ranging and remarkable book, Deirdre Mask looks at the fate of streets named after Martin Luther King Jr., the wayfinding means of ancient Romans, and how Nazis haunt the streets of modern Germany. The flipside of having an address is not having one, and we also see what that means for millions of people today, including those who live in the slums of Kolkata and on the streets of London. Filled with fascinating people and histories, The Address Book illuminates the complex and sometimes hidden stories behind street names and their power to name, to hide, to decide who counts, who doesn't-and why.
"An entertaining quest to trace the origins and implications of the names of the roads on which we reside....The Address Book is [Mask's] first book, and she is already a master at shoehorning in fascinating yet barely germane detours just for kicks....Mask populates her daunting inquiries with a cast of stirring meddlers whose curiosity, outrage and ambition inspire them to confront problems igno
Sarah Vowell, The New York Times Book Review
"An impressive examination of the origins of street names around the world….It's a damning look at the intersection of place, power and identity, tied together through Mask's absorbing and thoughtful voice."
