Reckoning Boulevard [The Address Book by Deirdre Mask]

An exuberant and insightful work of popular history of how streets got their names, houses their numbers, and what it reveals about class, race, power, and identity.

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. 

Growing up in a city ones goes through life taking many things for granted. When I went to New England for my college studies my dependence on the public transportation system became glaringly obvious. The degree to which I relied on and expected the frequent modes of travel available to me any time of day drastically shaped my approach to life. Never had I thought about how much I take my address for granted. Never would I have ever thought that a thing to be taken for granted.

In The Address Book: What Street Addresses Reveal About Identity, Race, Wealth, and Power, author Deirdre Mask explores how the history of addresses, the social and economic impacts of streets addressing, and what the future holds for systems of naming locations. Let's start here, this book is great. Every chapter had me critically thinking about and learning how street addresses simultaneously empower and disenfranchise. The correlations of having a street address to civic participation, that stress address have a morbid historical link to war drafts, and many more enlightening facts were learned.

I've nothing to say but good things about this book. I now know and understand much more about street addressing than I would have ever imagined. The flow of the chapters, the writing style, the history and arguments explored - all superbly done. This is a book that needs to be suggested or required reading for a majority of courses. 5 stars from me.

The Address Book has an expected publication date of April 14, 2020.