Ghosty Men: The Strange but True Story of the Collyer Brothers and My Uncle Arthur, New York's Greatest Hoarders (An Urban Historical)

Ghosty Men: The Strange but True Story of the Collyer Brothers and My Uncle Arthur, New York's Greatest Hoarders (An Urban Historical)
Average customer rating:

This is not a biography or an intense study of the Collyer brothers

Trapped By Their Own Excess

Poignant and Dark-Humored

A Classic!

painstaking accumulation of seemingly insignificant details

Ghosty Men: The Strange but True Story of the Collyer Brothers and My Uncle Arthur, New York's Greatest Hoarders (An Urban Historical)
Franz Lidz
Manufacturer: Bloomsbury USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Murder & Mayhem | True Accounts | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 158234311X

Book Description

A true tale of changing New York by Franz Lidz, whose Unstrung Heroes is a classic of hoarder lore.

Homer and Langley Collyer moved into their handsome brownstone in white, upper-class Harlem in 1909. By 1947, however, when the fire department had to carry Homer's body out of the house he hadn't left in twenty years, the neighborhood had degentrified, and their house was a fortress of junk: in an attempt to preserve the past, Homer and Langley held on to everything they touched.

The scandal of Homer's discovery, the story of his life, and the search for Langley, who was missing at the time, rocked the city; the story was on the front page of every newspaper for weeks. A quintessential New York story of quintessential New York characters.

Customer Reviews:

This is not a biography or an intense study of the Collyer brothers.......2007-02-10

The book jacket is hauntingly beautiful. But the insides are disappointing. Rather than place the focus on the Collyer brothers (known for not coming out of their brownstone forever...like in that Peter Sellers movie, "Being There," now that I come to think of it...) he uses them to tell a story of his life. Not Fair.

Trapped By Their Own Excess.......2006-02-02

In the spring of 1947, a crowd of reportedly thousands gathered outside the Harlem home of the Collyer brothers, Homer and Langley. The Collyers, whose time in Harlem dated to an era when the well-to-do occupied the neighbourhood's stately brownstones, were in their 60s and known as the "Hermits of Harlem."
They had spent their lives living in the four-storey mansion purchased by their father, Herman, a physician. Their lives had turned increasingly inward while the accumulation of goods in the Harlem home grew and grew.
In Ghosty Men, Franz Lidz recounts the scene that March day, of the police chopping their way into the home through the front door and telling tales, not tall, of crouching double through the maze in search of the brothers. Homer they found right away. "After two weeks, one hundred tons of junk had been removed and Langley was still missing," Lidz wrote.
What was itemized: "Susie Collyer's unfinished knitting. Dr. Herman's forms for 'Habit Forming Drugs.' A two-headed baby floating in formaldehyde. Thirteen ornate mantel clocks, one in a metal bust of a girl whose ears and bodice dripped coins. Langley's sheet music for Chopin's Nocturnes. Two pipe organs. A clavichord. A trombone. A cornet. An accordion. Five violins, including a Georgus Rugeri Cremona, 1762; a George Paolo Magini Brescia, 1784; and a cello, wrapped in cloth and labelled 'Stradivarius 1727.' All fake."
When Langley Collyer's body was eventually found, the medical examiner determined that he had been dead at least a month, smothered by the debris that had fallen upon him. More than 136 tons of what-not were ultimately removed from the home, recounts Lidz, who narrates the story with the emotional softness of someone who feels intimately connected to his subject matter.
In fact, his own uncle Arthur, he writes, spent a lifetime building an edifice of stuff, including 134 jars of Chock full o' Nuts coffee - "Uncle Arthur's hedge against a Colombian embargo."

Poignant and Dark-Humored.......2006-01-16

This book on New York's quintessential hoarders shimmers with dabs of color that bring the entire portait to life. Franz Lidz interlaces the story of the Collyers brothers with that of his own packrat Uncle Arthur, whom the youthful author admired "for his commitment to extreme squalor," his rejection of order and convention. Maybe touched, maybe crazy, these "ghosty men" defy Freudian analysis: Lidz's sympathetic evaluation makes more sense: "They tried to build personal utopias behind drawn shades and locked shutters from oddments of their own childhood, mementoes of their families, and parapets of newspapers... they found themselves trapped by their own fantasies."

A Classic!.......2006-01-06

In this age of bloated books, how nice it is to have a book that comes in at a fighting weight, with nary an ounce of fat on its spare frame. It's books like this that diehard book addicts truly live for -- they can literally be consumed in one large bite. In this case though, therein lies a tragedy. Ever since I first discovered the legend of the Collyer Brothers, I hunted for every meager scrap about them that I could find. What minor league hoarder wouldn't be curious about the hall of fame Collyers who hold every record in the rather neglected sport of accumulation.

There is of course a bit of information about the Collyers on the internet, but hardly enough to whet your appetite. As interested as I was, it's hard to believe that it took me this long to get to Franz Lidz' Ghosty Men: The Strange But True Story of the Collyer Brothers, New York's Greatest Hoarders. This pint-sized book packs a real wallop but sadly the 161 pages go by all too fast. If time travel were possible and I had a lot of trips, I'd love to have been outside their Harlem brownstone when they began hauling out the 180 tons of "junk" that made them a legend. There were a lot of things in the book that I hadn't known -- that Homer and Langley's dad, Dr. Herman Collyer, a gynecologist at Bellevue, left his family in 1919 when his wife refused his request to make their townhouse into a sanitarium! The good doctor was reputed to be something of a booklover himself, with a medical library of some fifteen thousand books in the house. From little acorns, mighty oaks certainly grow.

Franz Lidz masterfully contrasts the story of the collecting Collyers with the equally heartbreaking story of his Uncle Arthur, first immortalized in Lidz' earlier classic Unstrung Heroes: My Improbable Life With Four Impossible Uncles (surely you remember the film based upon this book).

As always, there are references in the book that require further investigation. Lidz mentions Helen Worden, a reporter on the World-Telegram (one of NY's eight daily newspapers), who first broke the story of the "ghosty men" who lived in the mysterious mansion. There is a reference to Out of This World, a book she wrote in 1953 that chronicled the Collyer Brothers and other lesser New York hermits and recluses. The book is subtitled: A Collection of Hermits and Recluses Their Ways of Life and the Stories Behind Their Retreats. Although there are no copies of this book available in nearby libraries, I'm sure I'll stumble across it at some library (even if I have to sit there and read it right then). For now I'll content myself with planning a trip in the spring to Brooklyn's Cypress Hills Cemetery to see if I can find their gravesite.

painstaking accumulation of seemingly insignificant details.......2005-04-21

the author has a fine story to tell, and he is its skilled servant. it is the story of homer and langley collyer, extraordinary urban hoarders who would have been invented by some novelist had they not in fact existed. this book's whimsical prose style meshes perfectly with its fluttery characters.

Customer Reviews:

Uniformology at its Best.......2000-06-24

Jack Dempsey is one of the authorities on uniforms of the Napoleonic period. His work is truly definitive, and his research is impeccable. This volume is a must for all students and enthusiasts of the period.

This book covers the prints on the Grande Armee by one of the famous artists of the period, greatly enhanced by the author's expert text. Dempsey knows his subject matter and tells it like it is. His work is thoroughly reliable, and this book belongs on every Napoleonic bookshelf.

I highly recommend this, and all of Dempsey's work. This ranks in the same category as the uniform volumes by Colonel John Elting, Michel Petard, Eugene Leliepvre, and Lucien Rousselot. It is a primary uniform source for the Napoleonic period and an outstanding addition to our collective knowledge of the period.

A real uniform research........2000-01-14

This is the way how a book about the hisory of military uniform should be written! We'd got so many of fake ones - and this one is a real treasure! There is only a thing - the author states that there is no material containing Hussars regiments which has been written and put together in one volume. I would like to reffer to the great L. Fallou's work "Notre Hussards", published in 1902 in Paris that pretty much covers the subject of the hussars' development starting from the very first regiments of the XVII century.

Outstanding........1999-05-12

Little needs to be said. If this book were only a reproduction of these plates, it would be a bargain, but Dempsey's commentary provides a great deal of insight placing the plates in context and identifying anomolies and commonalities. I can only add that I have no idea how a set of contemporary plates will illustrate the professional or mercenary aspects of the army!?

Excellent but lacks in-depth analysis of professionalism........1999-01-01

I found it an excellent book but it really lacks specifically an in-depth analyses of the mercenary and professional aspect of Napoleon's Army.

Book Description

"A remarkable reframing of action research that engages the spirit as well as the mind, in inquiry that matters, shared among inquirers who matter. 'Validity as we once knew it will never be the same after these improvements. Wonderfully provocative!"
--Karl Weick, University of Michigan

"This is truly a significant work. Not only has action research reached maturity, but in the context of the postmodern constructionist debates its scope has been dramatically expanded, its conceptual underpinnings deepened, and its forms of practice enormously enriched. The present confluence of humanism and pragmatism has inspired lively conversations between us; the work has the potential to transform the very idea of social science."
--Kenneth J. Gergen, author of An Invitation to Social Construction and Mary Gergen, author of Feminist Reconstructions in Psychology

"A wholly new kind of human inquiry is emerging. It is to do with taking our own, previously ignored, spontaneously responsive, living involvements with our surroundings seriously. Rather than with views and perspectives, rather than with a one-way manipulative understanding, gained by merely observing movements from a distance, it is concerned with quite a different kind of participatory, experiential understanding - the kind of understanding we have when playing a part in an activity which also to an extent 'plays' us. Workers are beginning to bring to light the many different knowledges present to us in the different practical ways in which we can be relationally involved with the others and othernesses around us. Everything changes when we get up close and personal. All that is solid melts into air! In this exciting Handbook, Reason and Bradbury have collected together a large number of the central workers in this new and developing sphere of participative inquiry. Overall, in the detailed explorations they conduct, just as in becoming familiar with a new and strange landscape, they help us get to know our `way about' in its rich and intricate 'landscape'. Literally, this is a landmark volume."
--John Shotter, University of New Hampshire

"The Handbook of Action Research is truly a remarkable book. We are greatly indebted to the editors Peter Reason and Hilary Bradbury, who managed to avoid the usual tower of Babel, and succeeded to forge and orchestrate the somewhat incoherent mosaic of action research, with its many voices, into an intelligent comprehensive and logical whole. This handbook provides a much needed clarification of a critical transition in the social sciences."
--Hans van Beinum, International Journal of Action Research and Organizational Renewal

The publication of the Handbook of Action Research is a publishing milestone, drawing together the different strands of action research, demonstrating their diverse applications and showing their interrelations. Far-reaching in scale and scope, the Handbook informs readers about the latest approaches, both quantitative and qualitative, in social inquiry, and moves the field forward with fresh insights and applications. Throughout, the contributing authors grapple with questions of how to integrate knowledge with action, how to collaborate with co-researchers in the field, and how to present the necessarily 'messy' components in a coherent fashion. The organization of the volume reflects the many different issues and levels of analysis represented. This volume is an essential resource for scholars and professionals engaged in social and political inquiry, organizational research and education.

Customer Reviews:

Transform Your Mind and Then the World.......2005-05-01

You've been tasked with changing the world, but the world you find doesn't conform to the world the taskmasters imagined. Simultaneously providing a broad overview of Action Reseach and illustrative examples, the Handbook of Action Research illuminates the meaning of "reality" and provides guidelines for manifesting the ethos of the bumpersticker that reads, "Question Authority."

The SAGE Handbook of Action Research: Participative Inquiry and Practice

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The SAGE Handbook of Action Research: Participative Inquiry and Practice

Manufacturer: Sage Publications Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Research | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1412920299

Book Description

'For anyone seeking to create meaning out of life, inspire others with publication of research discoveries and insights, and help the world become a better place within which to live and work, action research holds great promise as an approach. The challenge is to do it well and with rigor. The Handbook is a magnificent collection of articles that will help the reader do all of that'

- Richard E. Boyatzis, Case Western Reserve University and ESADE

'This second volume will be a welcome extension of the landmark first volume of the Sage Handbook of Action Research. It effectively secures the field's 'second wave' in a particularly powerful and creative articulation of well-theorised practice. It could not be more timely for a fast-growing field that has attracted recent appreciation from parties as disparate as Shell, 3M, Australian Aboriginal women in outback Australia working to prevent harm to children and the Secretary General of the UN'

- Yoland Wadsworth

'For anyone thinking about or doing action research, this book is an obligatory point of reference. If any one text both maps the action research paradigm, and at the same time moves it on, this is it'

- Bill Cooke, Manchester Business School

Building on the strength of the seminal first edition, The Sage Handbook of Action Research has been completely updated to bring chapters in line with the latest qualitative and quantitative approaches in this field of social inquiry. Editors Peter Reason and Hilary Bradbury have introduced new part commentaries that draw links between different contributions and show their interrelations.

Throughout, the contributing authors really engage with the pragmatics of doing action research and demonstrate how this can be a rich and rewarding reflective practice. They tackle questions of how to integrate knowledge with action, how to collaborate with co-researchers in the field, and how to present the necessarily 'messy' components in a coherent fashion. The organization of the volume reflects the many different issues and levels of analysis represented.

This volume is an essential resource for scholars and professionals engaged in social and political inquiry, organizational research and education.

Handbook of Action Research: Participative Inquiry & Practice. (Briefly Noted).(Book Review): An article from: Journal of the American Planning Association

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Handbook of Action Research: Participative Inquiry & Practice. (Briefly Noted).(Book Review): An article from: Journal of the American Planning Association
Stacy Harwood
Manufacturer: American Planning Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Reference | Subjects | Books

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Book Description

This digital document is an article from Journal of the American Planning Association, published by American Planning Association on June 22, 2003. The length of the article is 445 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Handbook of Action Research: Participative Inquiry & Practice. (Briefly Noted).(Book Review)
Author: Stacy Harwood
Publication: Journal of the American Planning Association (Refereed)
Date: June 22, 2003
Publisher: American Planning Association
Volume: 69 Issue: 3 Page: 332(2)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Product Description

There is a sense of mystery that surrounds hummingbirds: Why are they so small? What makes it possible for them to hover? Why are they so colorful? Do they ever rest? This book gives the often amazing answers. The Secret Lives of Hummingbirds takes the reader into the high-energy world of North America's smallest bird. Hearts that beat 500 to more than 1200 times per minute. Wings that buzz at as much as 52 beats per second. And respiration that can clock in at up to 600 breaths per minute. But their energetic lifestyle is only one facet of the secret lives of hummingbirds. Illustrated with twenty-nine full-color photographs, The Secret Lives of Hummingbirds is a treat for birders, naturalists, or anyone else who can't resist the allure of these eye-catching, pugnacious miniature birds. The book also includes a close-up look at the Desert Museum's famous hummingbird aviary as well as tips on how to enjoy and attract wild hummingbirds. It's no wonder that The Secret Lives of Hummingbirds is our most popular publication!

Customer Reviews:

Everything You wanted to Know About Hummingbirds But Were Afraid to Ask !!.......2007-10-16

This is a wonderful Book!! The pictures are fantastic!! Makes a great table book but unlike most table books it's full of everything you need or want to know not just pretty pictures. I "Raise" Hummers in the wild and it has provided me with a wealth of information regarding these truly magnificent creatures. I'm constantly referring to it! I wish it wasn't such a beautiful book! That way I wouldn't worry so much about dog earing it up!!hehe!!

AMAZING AND TRULY INFORMATIVE BOOK........2007-09-08

You really cannot go wrong with this one if you have any interest in these wonderful little creatures what-so-ever. I have been watching, photographing, feeding and studying these little birds for years now. It is rather amazing that the author could pack so much information into one small volume and give us some wonderful photographs to boot. We here in Missouri have only the Ruby Throated, but, and I am lucky, I know, we are able to travel to other parts of the country and view other species. No matter how much you know of these birds, you are sure to pick up some new information in this work. As another reviewer pointed out, the photographs are well worth the price of the book. Recommend this one highly.

Don't waste your money........2007-06-02

This book is written as if you had a degree in animal or plant science. It is small enough they should have shipped it in an envelope, but to get more than they asked for the price of the book. They send it in a box the size of a cell phone box so they can charge you $3.95 for S&H. I am very disappointed with the purchase.

Great info on hummingbirds.......2006-11-15

I thought I knew a little about hummingbirds, but I found there was a lot I didn't know. This book is full of information on hummingbirds, their traits, their travel and when they sleep, the size of the eggs they lay, etc. A perfect book for anyone who is mesmerized by these beautiful little creatures.

Secret Lives of Hummingbirds.......2006-08-02

A very nice look at the smallest, but most colorful and energetic, member of the family of birds.

Secret Lives of Common Birds: Enjoying Bird Behavior Through the Seasons

Average customer rating:

Wonderful pictures!
A Master Bird Photographer Delights Again
Great book!
wonderful mix of art and description
A must have for good and bad days

Secret Lives of Common Birds: Enjoying Bird Behavior Through the Seasons
Marie Read
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Birdwatching | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
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Rare Encounters with Ordinary Birds

ASIN: 0618558721

Book Description

All around us birds are going about their lives, offering us fascinating insights into how they survive and interact with one another, defending territories, courting mates, nesting, raising young, displaying, preening, feeding, and more. The difference between noticing and missing these secret lives is a little time, a relaxed mind, and some curiosity. An introduction to the world of bird behavior, Secret Lives of Common Birds explores many of the most important tasks in the lives of the familiar birds that enrich our lives. Wildlife photographer Marie Read has a knack for capturing the most intimate, often dramatic moments in the activities of birds. In this book, her beautiful photographs of birds in action are paired with engaging and informative descriptions of behaviors that anyone might observe in the backyard or at a local park, pond, or woodland. Her lighthearted writing style is a delight as the reader travels through the seasons of the year and discovers the secret lives of common birds.

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful pictures!.......2007-10-17

The photographs are stunning, the text much less so. So I averaged 'wonderful' and 'ho-hum' and got four stars. It would make a great gift for an older bird lover or even for a mature child.

A Master Bird Photographer Delights Again.......2006-02-09

Marie Read is a masterful bird photographer. She has an amazing ability to capture on film not only a bird behavior but a glimpse into the creature's inner life. The photos are accompanied by insightful commentary with clever, irresistable section headings, bringing to the page suggestions of the inner life of the photographer herself. I am a longtime fan of Marie Read's work, and this book surpassed expectations!

Great book!.......2005-11-02

This book is fabulous! The photos are spectacular! The text is very well written. It is informative as well as entertaining. It would make a great gift for a bird lover or for someone new to birding. The book is very reasonably priced and well worth the money. Marie Read pays great attention to detail and the birds seem to come alive as you look at their photos. It is the best bird book I have ever seen!

wonderful mix of art and description.......2005-09-13

Stunning photos peppered with accurate, down to earth descriptions of bird behavior and its significance. An exquisite book that moves freely from the coffee table to the desk

A must have for good and bad days.......2005-09-13

Prof. Martin Wikelski, Princeton University

Marie Read is one of the best nature photographers of birds. But she is also a most gifted observer of bird behavior.
Her new book highlights - in breathtaking photography - what we all should know about the behavior of our most common and beloved feathered companions.
This book is a winner for keeping kids entertained for hours, and a pleasure to read on a porch while observing a plain old American Robin.
Everybody should have this book! Its refreshing, entertaining, educative and fun.

Lives of Our Own: Secrets of Salty Old Women

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Lives of Our Own: Secrets of Salty Old Women
Caroline Bird
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin (T)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Women | Specific Groups | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Gerontology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Women's Studies | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0395652340

Discovering the remarkable birds of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic: Their lives and secret behaviors

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Discovering the remarkable birds of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic: Their lives and secret behaviors
David Rosane
Manufacturer: Carriage House Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Birdwatching | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0971974500

Average customer rating:

Fun, information-packed and succinct read!

The Secret Lives of Birds
Pierre Gingras
Manufacturer: Firefly Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Birdwatching | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Book Description

In The Secret Lives of Birds, the author has toured the world tracking the secret characteristics of birds on five continents. By the time you finish this book, you will never again be able to look at birds in the same manner.

Customer Reviews:

Fun, information-packed and succinct read!.......2006-06-27

With punny chapters and subchapters such as Stop Repeating Everything I Say (imitators), Finding a Full Time Babysitter (brood parasitism) and Wowing the Women (singing to attract a mate), Gingras succeeds at presenting pertinent, interesting and sometimes grim information in a wholly pleasant and succinct way. If you're a birding beginner, this is a decent place to start.

While accessible to those of all ages, it's not a vocabulary type of book. For instance, 'brooding' could be more readily defined for the beginner.

Bird information sometimes varies from book to book, and this is typical, since enough bird behavior is theorized rather than defined (known for sure). For example, Gingras states that the egg tooth "falls off after serving its purpose," but others state that the egg tooth is eventually absorbed.

Average customer rating:

The Secret Lives of Garden Birds
Dominic Couzens
Manufacturer: Christopher Helm Publishers Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Average customer rating:

Secret Lives of British Birds
Dominic Couzens
Manufacturer: Christopher Helm Publishers Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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