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Rating: 
Summary: Review for the generalist reader
Review: As mentioned in another review, this book has been set as a college textbook. I am sure it fulfils that roile admirably. However, from the point of view of the generalist reader looking for something 'meaty' on the subject of American cities, I can't really recommend it.
It is full of rather dry statistics and facts. I was particularly interested in Los Angeles, and the book did provide some very useful background information, but it left me unsatisfied - I didn't come away with a 'feel' for the city in any human sense. For a more passionate account of Los Angeles, still in a scholarly work, I can recommend 'The History of Forgetting' by Norman Klein. Please don't feel I don't think this book isn't useful within its context, but if you are looking for something scholarly yet with some passion, you may well be disappointed in this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant Book
Review: I assigned this book for a graduate seminar last year (2002) and it went down very well with a range of social sciences and humanities students. They loved Abu-Lughod's geographically- and historically-specific approach to understanding globalization and urban change. In contrast to some of the universalizing bombast out there in, Janet Abu-Lughod's book helps us to make sense of urban change in these three cities via the astute integration of social, economic and political dynamics at a range of scales. Abu-Lughod was able to take them down into the streets at some points, and then back up to the national and global scales at other points. To be sure there is a mass of detail in the text, but it is knitted together as well as can be given the research questions. My students also appreciated the lack of jargon in the book; a rarity these days in the urban studies field. In short, this is a fine book for students, academics, and laypersons with interests in global urbanization, the history of American cities, the role of cities in the historical development of America, and historically-oriented research methodologies.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant Book
Review: I assigned this book for a graduate seminar last year (2002) and it went down very well with a range of social sciences and humanities students. They loved Abu-Lughod's geographically- and historically-specific approach to understanding globalization and urban change. In contrast to some of the universalizing bombast out there in, Janet Abu-Lughod's book helps us to make sense of urban change in these three cities via the astute integration of social, economic and political dynamics at a range of scales. Abu-Lughod was able to take them down into the streets at some points, and then back up to the national and global scales at other points. To be sure there is a mass of detail in the text, but it is knitted together as well as can be given the research questions. My students also appreciated the lack of jargon in the book; a rarity these days in the urban studies field. In short, this is a fine book for students, academics, and laypersons with interests in global urbanization, the history of American cities, the role of cities in the historical development of America, and historically-oriented research methodologies.
Rating: 
Summary: A Highly Detailed Account
Review: I enjoyed America's Global Cities and found it relatively readable and engaging. However, I have second those reviewers who described it as extremely detailed and occasionally dry. This is a scholarly and historically cogent account of New York, Chicago, and LA and their place in the context of globalization; however, it is not at all summer beach reading, even for those people who enjoy scholarly non-fiction. That said, if you have any interest in urban history and social policy, your patience will be well rewarded in reading this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Annoying
Review: I find it annoying that the author includes Chicago in the same tier as NY and LA. How can the buckle of the midwest rustbelt be in the same league as the premier coastal cities? It's absurd I tell you.
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