In the South Bronx of America

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Summary: REVIEW QUOTES
Review: "Not since Eudora Welty photographed rural Mississippi in the 1930s has anyone caught so memorably a people and a place as Mel Rosenthal has done in this unforgettable record of the South Bronx." --Willimam Jay Smith, former Poet Laureate of the United States and author of The Cherokee Lottery

"Rosenthal's disturbing stories and portraits of life in this neighborhood during the 1970s and 1980s are the work of an activist's committed lens, revealing how public money does not always result in public progress." --Doubletake

"Rosenthal's protraits convey the still vibrant life of a community hurtling toward ruin." --Erin Christman, Ruminator Review

"The photographer doesn't just give readers the clichés of burned buildings and homeless people. We see the richness and complexity of life that the South Bronx supported, even during its darkest day, and that may be the book's most significant accomplishment." --Damaso Reyes, The New York Amsterdam News

"Whatever historians may conclude about factors involved in the deterioration of the South Bronx, the juxtaposition of photographs of burned out buildings with vibrant portraits of South Bronx residents makes Rosenthal's book a provocative historical and sociological document." --Leslie Cohen, The Jerusalem Post

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Preservation of The South Bronx
Review: I strongly recommend this book to any one who would like to see what the South Bronx was during the 70's and 80's and how life was around when growing in these areas. I look back and see what I experience and how much different is today than those days when growing up.
Going to bed and thinking if you will wake up alive or if the Fire Department will be rescuing you. It's was hard growing up in the South Bronx in those days, but now that it has been in the redevelopment stage, the South Bronx has been recovering from those years of neglect ion to the people of this area.
Mr. Rosenthal's has done an amazing job in capturing those moments during that time.

Rating:
Summary: Well Done and Long Overdue Treatment of This Topic
Review: I'd strongly recommend Mr. Rosenthal's work to anyone who is interested in the devastation suffered by those in the South Bronx during the 1970's and 1980's as well as those who have an interest in "urbicide."

Based on what was available, I felt for a long time that there was a great gap in books available on the Bronx; either they spoke of the grand old days or focused solely on the destructive elements of the Bronx experience. Or, in other words, there was little on the lives of those who were trying to make a "go" of the place, despite the inexorable forces arrayed against them.

Mr. Rosenthal's work fills that gap in a diligent and eloquent manner.

Rating:
Summary: Well Done and Long Overdue Treatment of This Topic
Review: I'd strongly recommend Mr. Rosenthal's work to anyone who is interested in the devastation suffered by those in the South Bronx during the 1970's and 1980's as well as those who have an interest in "urbicide."

Based on what was available, I felt for a long time that there was a great gap in books available on the Bronx; either they spoke of the grand old days or focused solely on the destructive elements of the Bronx experience. Or, in other words, there was little on the lives of those who were trying to make a "go" of the place, despite the inexorable forces arrayed against them.

Mr. Rosenthal's work fills that gap in a diligent and eloquent manner.

Rating:
Summary: Photographer Mel Rosenthal's intimate documentary
Review: In The South Bronx Of America is photographer Mel Rosenthal's intimate documentary of severe and widespread poverty in New York's South Bronx, a neighborhood of ethnic diversity united chronic conditions of urban distress. Enhanced with informative essays by Grace Paley, Martha Rosler, and Barry Phillips, Rosenthal's photos also provide evidence of human joy, strength, and pride to be found in even the most abject circumstances. In The South Bronx Of America is an impressive contribution to contemporary American studies and will prove to be of intense interest to students of photography, ethnic studies, and urban culture as well.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Photojournalism
Review: Rosenthal has produced an excellent book about one of New York's most troubled neighborhoods.Working in the South Bronx for many years I've witnessed firsthand the struggles of area residents against the tide of arson and crime.Rosenthal's photographs tell the story of the survival of the human spirit in one of the most devastated areas in the country and the efforts to rebuild it.

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Summary: The South Bronx Fights Back
Review: This is a recent discovery. Just the other day I was browsing at a Greenwich Village book store when I saw this joint. At first glance, I said to myself that this is the ONE, the single book I've been looking all over for. Since I was younger I'd been immensely intrigued by the rise and fall of the South Bronx.Most people have no clue as to why or how the South Bronx got to be the infamous ghetto that it is known as today. Much has changed since these pictures were taken and people are starting the rebuild.

The pictures in this book are great. Book on this subject are pretty hard to come by. If you find a book on the Bronx at all, it's probably about how it was in the 50s or earlier. Photos taken during the 70s and 80s are scarce because of the fear people had about going there. So, if you do find a book, chances are it is mostly text about the history of the Bronx and the author skimps on the pictures. NOT THIS BOOK. Every page is full of pictures. What I found especially interesting about this book is that Rosenthal spoke with actual residents there and got their stories rather than just coming up with random theories and opinions about this area. I have researched this area vigarously and can tell you how hard it it to come up with good information. But I can tell you that after hours of painstakingly searching the internet and coming up relatively empty-handed, this book has a lot of quotes and excerpts from different sources that are relevant in understanding the rise and fall of the Bronx and sums it up pretty well.

The other books that are remotely as relevant as this title are Camilo Jose Vergara's "The New American Ghetto", which is excellent and "Bronx Accent", by Lloyd Ultan & Barbara Unger (though the latter of the two has less pictures and is more of a year-by-year history). Nonetheless, Mel Rosenthal has done an excellent job. If you don't have this book, go out and buy it.