a city reader

I keep this book on a wooden end table right against the couch where I read and sleep. I can't say I reach for it often, but I must must find something important about it to keep it there. It came out in 1970, first as an excerpt in The New Yorker. I was just out of college. It was a huge deal. Even my father read the sections they put in the paper. Part of the reason I keep it close is I like the title and the typeface. It evokes some evolution/revolution, some change, some possibilities. Is there such a book for now? Even any music. Where's Buffalo Springfield?

I read yesterday in the Times that only 7 African-American kids will be part of the freshman class of 895 at Stuyvesant High in lower Manhattan. Admission to that elitist of the elite New York City public high schools is based on a test. You could analyze that one-test method and then analyze it some more. I held the sign today more convinced than ever of the importance of the message.