Big city
If there is a trace of vulgarity in the fourth of Mr. Sasek's picture-guides to capital cities, this may perhaps be attributed to his subject. This is New York is informal, gay and authentic. In a series of swift glimpses he gives an impression of a great city as it appears to a sharp eyed, intelligent and irreverent visitor. In this, as in the earlier books, the text is a discreet, unemphatic accompaniment of the pictures.
Parents of very small children who are attracted by the large page and the bold colourful drawing should be warned that this is a subtle book, essentially sophisticated in its humour and its social comment. It is likely to appeal most strongly to intelligent readers in their teens who have a feeling for design and a developed sense of humour.
Text from Big city, in The Times Literary Supplement, No. 3065, November 25, 1960, p. xii.
