Forgotten Delights: The Producers

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Summary: Sylvia Bokor Reviews *Forgotten Delights*
Review: *Forgotten Delights* combines the sensual with the informative to offer fascinating commentary on some of this nation's greatest producers, their work and the statues in New York City that commemorate them and their achievements.

Dr. Durante's sometimes breezy style frequently evaporates into solemn admiration revealing enraptured enjoyment with her subject. She charms the reader with elegant although brief descriptions of the sitter, his product and the artwork itself. The book is punctuated with poetry, quotes by famous individuals (Ayn Rand, Henry Hazlitt, Patrick Henry, Booker T. Washington), passages from articles published at the time of commemoration ("Ericsson and the Bureaucrats," *The Century Magazine*--1879). Throughout, Dr. Durante expertly holds the reader's attention, informing and amusing him simultaneously.

For the visitor, Dianne tells the reader the whereabouts of the artwork, the best time of day/year for viewing it, its date of dedication, medium and size, and provides a map for easy discovery. For the man-worshipper, she offers moving tributes: from Columbus' courage to Samuel F. B. Morse's extraordinary achievement. For both, she discusses pieces that range in style from the standard neo-classicism of the *Cornelius Vanderbilt* to the uniquely exaggerated *Marteleur* (metalsmith).

For the visitor, Dianne tells the reader the whereabouts of the artwork, the best time of day/year for viewing it, its date of dedication, medium and size, and provides a map for easy discovery. For the man-worshipper, she offers moving tributes: from Columbus' courage to Samuel F. B. Morse's extraordinary achievement. For both, she discusses pieces that range in style from the standard neo-classicism of the *Cornelius Vanderbilt* to the uniquely exaggerated *Marteleur* (metalsmith).

This book will not only please visitors to New York but also those who've lived there many years. It will also be an exhilarating experience for those who've never visited, never plan to, never have had any interest whatsoever in Manhattan. This is so because *Forgotten Delights: The Producers* is a glorification of the best in man, his productive ability and his triumphs. Highly recommended.

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Summary: Treasures in Plain Sight
Review: Dianne Durante displays a remarkable skill at a difficult task: writing short essays about important topics. Each of the 19 essays in this delightful book treats a different publicly viewable sculpture in New York City. The theme of the volume is "The Producers" (people of distinguished productive ability, such as explorers, physicians, and industrialists). Each essay is divided into two main parts: "About the Statue," which is an engaging esthetic evaluation, couched in terms easily understood by laymen with no knowledge of fine art, and "About the Subject," which is a mini-historical essay on why the statue's subject is important.

These essays are little jewels. Do you know how difficult it is to find the essentials in the story of the telegraph and Morse Code, the building of a railroad, or the production of steel through the Bessemer process? Again and again, she hits the high points and resists the temptation to go on ad nauseam. I don't even live in New York City, and I'll probably never see most of the statues. Doesn't matter. This is armchair tourism at its best.

But for those who do want to visit, complete walking tour instructions are given, including how to get to the statue (which is sometimes a real trick in itself) and what time of day the sun shows off the piece to its best advantage. And there's more: well-chosen excerpts from sources contemporary to the sculptures' subjects, useful black-and-white photographs (supplemented on CD with full-color photos for an extra charge), and recommendations for further reading.

Ms. Durante promises a whole series of these books, and I intend to buy every one. (The current book considers sculptures of productive people. Later volumes are planned for Defenders, Politicians and Media Moguls, Artists, Allegorical and Mythological Figures, and Children and Animals.

I recommend "Forgotten Delights: The Producers" with enthusiasm.

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Summary: Ms. Durante's Forgotten Delights is a total delight.
Review: Dianne Durante's Forgotten Delights is a wonderful, easy and intellectual read. I've seen some of the sites mentioned and, in my rush, never stopped to notice them. That's all changed. I would recommend anyone interested in seeing New York's city's forgotten treasures to read Ms. Durante's book. With the attached CD, you may start your tour any time, any place.

Rating:
Summary: Ms. Durante's Forgotten Delights is a total delight.
Review: Dianne Durante's Forgotten Delights is a wonderful, easy and intellectual read. I've seen some of the sites mentioned and, in my rush, never stopped to notice them. That's all changed. I would recommend anyone interested in seeing New York's city's forgotten treasures to read Ms. Durante's book. With the attached CD, you may start your tour any time, any place.

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Summary: Outdoor Art Gallery
Review: We recommend "Forgotten Delights:The Producers, a Selection of Manhattan's Outdoor Sculpture, by Dianne L. Durante.

Forgotten Delights: The Producers is at once a guide book, an introduction and a refurbishing kit. The guide book is to an outdoor art gallery, the introductions are to notable but neglected persons and the refurbishing kit is more for the spirit than the body. Dianne Durante does not literally climb statues with a scrub brush and spray nozzle but she does carry a flashlight, magnifying glass and tracks down missing pieces and settings.

Ms. Durante's descriptions are long enough to lead to a whole winters worth of reading, yet short enouth to be read over coffee and croissants on the way to visit each piece.

Forgotten Delights: The Producers looks good on a coffee table and fits easily into a handbag for an afternoon tour.

Rating:
Summary: Outdoor Art Gallery
Review: We recommend "Forgotten Delights:The Producers, a Selection of Manhattan's Outdoor Sculpture, by Dianne L. Durante.

Forgotten Delights: The Producers is at once a guide book, an introduction and a refurbishing kit. The guide book is to an outdoor art gallery, the introductions are to notable but neglected persons and the refurbishing kit is more for the spirit than the body. Dianne Durante does not literally climb statues with a scrub brush and spray nozzle but she does carry a flashlight, magnifying glass and tracks down missing pieces and settings.

Ms. Durante's descriptions are long enough to lead to a whole winters worth of reading, yet short enouth to be read over coffee and croissants on the way to visit each piece.

Forgotten Delights: The Producers looks good on a coffee table and fits easily into a handbag for an afternoon tour.