GIS Tools for Water, Wastewater, and Stormwater Systems

Book Description

Customer Reviews:

Book Review by John Lucey, Exec Vice President, USFilter.......2002-12-23

The back cover of the book has the following book review statement from John Lucey, Executive Vice President & General Manager, USFilter Engineering & Construction.

This book is a "must read" for anyone involved in implementing a GIS for a water or wastewater utility. Being the first published reference book on this topic, it would be a valuable addition to your reference library. I like the "cookbook" style of the book which is quite appropriate for utility professionals. The book is filled with numerous examples of GIS applications in the water industry that are both current and practical. The extensive listings of GIS data, software, and the Internet resources will help you to build the right kind of GIS for your system.

John Lucey, P.E.
Executive Vice President & General Manager, USFilter Engineering & Construction
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Excellent GIS book.......2002-12-11

Arguably, this is the best introductory GIS and water, wastewater, stormwater book around. The material is very readable and well organized, making the book an excellent foundation for additional detailed study. The selection and organization of topics, style of presentation, emphasis and writing are excellent. Examples to reinforce concepts are also provided. For example, GIS data and software examples are presented before their applications and GIS case studies are presented before the methods are explained.

This book provides a wealth of information and resources. In addition to the examples and practical case studies, the book also provides links to web sites that offer articles, tutorials and more samples, as well as organizations that have an interest in all aspects of the GIS and water resources and water distribution networks. The book also includes an introduction to Internet GIS, GeoSpatial database tools for water resources, integration of hydrologic and hydraulic models with GIS, and several other resources. For anyone who wants a solid introduction to these topics, these chapters are a must read.

This book provides exhaustive coverage of everything you need to know in order to master the GIS applications for water related fields. The book is designed for readers of all levels from experienced GIS users to those with little or no GIS experience. It does so by providing beginners with basic underlying GIS topics, while at the same time offering experienced GIS developers detailed and exhaustive coverage of the GIS tools for water, wastewater and stormwater systems.

By simply flipping through the pages of this book, it becomes evident that an enormous amount of time and effort went into it. It offers the same high quality and detailed coverage that you would find in most college level academic books. In fact, this book is written using the recommendations of the Accreditation of the American Board of Engineering and Technology (ABET) and ASCE's Excellence in Civil Engineering program.

The book is so diverse to cover many topics and yet all written comprehensively for each topics. You get real-world experience with the tools and case studies presented in this book, such that you might use in a job somewhere.

I recommend this book to any water professional or civil engineer that deals with everyday GIS. An excellent job of expository writing and worth every nickel you pay for it.

Chapter List.......2002-12-05

Chapter 1. GIS Basics
Chapter 2. GIS Development Software
Chapter 3. GIS Applications Software
Chapter 4. GIS Data
Chapter 5. Internet GIS
Chapter 6. GIS Database Design
Chapter 7. Modeling Integration
Chapter 8. Water System Applications
Chapter 9. Wastewater System Applications
Chapter 10. Stormwater System Applications
Chapter 11. Case Studies
Chapter 12. GIS Resources
Appendix A. Acronyms
Appendix B. Glossary
Appendix C. Conversion Factors
Appendix D. Notations

References
Index

Abstract.......2002-10-25

GIS Tools for Water, Wastewater, and Stormwater Systems
By U.M.Shamsi

Abstract

Book Description

The classic title that started the award-winning series! Join Ms. Frizzle and her students as they follow the trail of water, from its sky-high source to the school bathroom sink on this wet and wild fieldtrip. After parking the school bus on a cloud and shrinking to raindrop size, Ms. Frizzle's class gets to see the waterworks from the water's point of view.

Customer Reviews:

Hayley's outrageous review.......2005-12-14

At the start of school the kids do not like Miss. Frizzle, because Miss. Frizzle is not the type of teacher that will bring you to the zoo, but she takes them on trip to weird places. She made them look up waterworks in the library for a month. Will they go on the trip or not? This book is good for all ages!

good book, bad printing.......2005-07-11

Although the book itself is very interesting, it was mis-printed in a very odd way. The beginning of the book was printed at the end, upside down. So, when you open the front cover, you hit the middle of the story.

A Splashing Debut.......2003-10-10

"The Magic School Bus: At the Waterworks" is the first in a series of science picture books geared towards young ones. Written by Joanna Cole and illustrated by Bruce Degen, it marks the debut of one of the most successful concepts in the history of children's literature.

Cole and Degen successfully blend fun and learning into their stories, striking a resonant chord with kids and parents alike. Because, let's face it, education - no matter what subject you're delving into - can be a tad boring at times. But anyone who's ever worked with children knows that adding a pinch of excitement and a smidgeon of enjoyment into the knowledge pot takes an otherwise bland topic and transforms it into something delectable.

"At the Waterworks" introduces us to Ms. Frizzle, a one-of-a-kind instructor who knows how to take seemingly uninspiring themes and metamorphose them into action-packed adventures. The kids in her class consider Ms. Frizzle "the strangest teacher in school." And they are less than enthused when they find out their first class trip is the local waterworks; it seems to pale in comparison to field trips other classes are taking, such as to the circus or to the zoo. But these students have obviously never gone on a class trip with Ms. Frizzle; nor have they ever taken a ride in her magic school bus.

Before they know it, Ms. Frizzle has sent them on a splashing journey. They learn all about the wonders of water; how it is the only substance in nature that can form into a solid, liquid or gas. They come to understand the water cycle; how water evaporates into a gas to form clouds and liquefies as it falls to the ground as rain. They even take a tour of the local waterworks; how water is filtered and purified for people to drink, and how it is distributed throughout the city in underground pipes to businesses and homes.

Needless to say, the children in Ms. Frizzle's class experience a once-in-a-lifetime voyage, one they won't ever forget! And for those "serious students who do not like any kidding around when it comes to science facts," the final pages distinguish what things were true in the story and what things were made up.

Cole and Degen hit the children's literacy jackpot with this series, and it all started with "At the Waterworks." This book was written in 1986, and the "Magic School Bus" is still riding strong - it has spawned numerous picture books, chapter books, a cartoon show, television tie-in books, computer games, etc. The key to its success lies in the fact that it mixes education with a hearty dose of humor and fun. And when you stir those ingredients together, you have a winning formula.

You cannot go wrong with Ms. Frizzle and her magic school bus. These books are so enjoyable, children and parents alike delight in them. I don't know why it took me so long to discover this series, but I'm glad it happened! I cannot say enough great things about it! Do yourself a favor and read a few of these stories; you will not regret it.

As Ms. Frizzle herself would say, "It's time to take chances! Make mistakes! And get messy!"

Many layers of detail.......2003-01-19

This is one of the older Magic School Bus books which has layers of detail in it. You can chose how many layers to read, depending on the child's interest and on the time you have available for reading.

The obvious layer is the text. There is plenty of information from just reading the text. If you want to add more, read the dialogue between the characters, written cartoon style in balloons. The most detail would come from the children's sketches and notes that are in the (very wide) margins.

I like the scheme of taking the children through the system and coming out the other end. Children usually find the fantasy of changing size to be fascinating as well. To my knowledge, the book is factual and fairly well up to date.

As a seamstress, I love Ms Frizzle's clothing and accessories.

The Magic School Bus: At the Waterworks.......2000-03-26

I taught a unit on water to three second grade classes this year and this book helped the students understand where our city drinking water comes from, how it is treated for impurities and how it gets moved through the system and into our homes. The pictures and text are informative as well as humorous and entertaining. This book kept the students' attention and promoted discussiom. I highly reccommend it!

Average customer rating:

A great addition to your decorating library
The best bath book

Waterworks: Inventing Bath Style
Barbara Sallick , and Lisa Light
Manufacturer: Clarkson Potter
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 060960421X
Release Date: 2001-05-01

Amazon.com

Waterworks is not a guide for the do-it-yourselfer. Rather, Waterworks is a love letter to what is presumably the author's favorite room--a justification of that peculiar but widespread obsession that provokes the purchase of fancy lotions and potions, rich terry-cloth towels, and scented candles, and that stimulates dreams of oversized bathtubs and vintage-tile back splashes. According to Barbara Sallick, the mechanics of the bathroom are best left in the hands of experienced contractors--and, herself a professional bath designer and supplier, that approach is only to be expected. In no other room in the house, to be sure, is one in such close physical contact with permanent, immovable, functional fixtures and fittings: sink (called lavatory here), toilet (water closet), and bath (well, just bath). While those elements must be chosen with great care by the people who are to use them every day, they must be installed flawlessly, and professionals are the ones to do that.

Sallick's book won't help you lay out a bathroom floor plan, install a shower, or choose tiles (though her brief glossary of terms provides the language one might need in order to communicate with a subcontractor). It will, however, help you figure out exactly what you want, organizing those grandiose dreams into something a contractor will understand. Here are some things you'll want, after reading the Waterworks bath supplier co-owner's book: handcrafted (most definitely handcrafted) faucet handles, an antique enameled medicine cabinet, creamy bone hair comb and blond-wood shaving brush, glass canisters for cotton balls and swabs, marble and lots of it, exposed plumbing under a vintage lavatory basin, and perhaps a towel warmer. The bathrooms featured here, whether that be the large ones or the small, glorious, luxurious, or austere, are not for the faint of budget. --Liana Fredley

Book Description

The perfect bathroom is a stylish, inviting space that is both functional and appealing. It is a place of tranquillity, refreshment, and renewal -- a refuge from the busy world.

Waterworks: Inventing Bath Style offers all the inspiration and practical advice needed to create this perfect bathroom, no matter what the budget or space.

Drawing upon more than twenty years of experience in bath design, author Barbara Sallick explores the essential requirements of every bathroom -- its fixtures, fittings, and surfaces -- and provides hands-on advice in selecting tile; placing fixtures; introducing lighting; choosing faucets; finding storage space; working with ceramic, stone, glass, metal, and mosaic; adding accessories; and creating a beautiful space that meets your needs. Stunning color photographs showcase a number of exquisite bathrooms that range in style from romantic to streamlined,
utilitarian to indulgent.

Waterworks: Inventing Bath Style explains and celebrates the simple luxuries of a well-designed bathroom, from the floor on up. Filled with tips for working successfully with designers, architects, and suppliers, this invaluable guide ensures that a new or renovated bathroom adds comfort, style, and value to any home.

Customer Reviews:

A great addition to your decorating library.......2002-04-27

This book gets into the nooks and crannies of bathroom decorating. Details are abound and you end up learning more than you ever thought you would about the bathroom. From tiles to apothecary, nothing is overlooked. The rooms pictured are flawless. This will not disappoint! A+++

The best bath book.......2001-06-06

Waterworks is one of the best bath books I have ever seen from a teaching standpoint. The book offers great advice about selecting fixtures, a variety of surfaces and adding accessories among others. Every aspect of designing the perfect bathroom is covered in the right amount of detail. I especially loved the section, "finding creative storage solutions" in a bathroom and the images complement each section to truly bring the bathroom descriptions alive. A must have for anyone trying to remodel a bathroom. Also makes for a great "coffee table" book, sure to start an evening of fun conversations.

Water-Works: The Architecture and Engineering of the New York City Water Supply

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Water-Works: The Architecture and Engineering of the New York City Water Supply

Manufacturer: Monacelli
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1580931766
Release Date: 2007-12-28

Book Description

New York's water is legendary for its fresh, clean taste, but its purity has been achieved at a cost, through a massive program of exploration and construction that is still ongoing. The story of that monumental undertaking is told in Water-Works and illustrated with an astonishing archive of drawings and photographs documenting the design and construction of dams, reservoirs, aqueducts, and tunnels. This complex system brings millions of gallons of water to the city every day from rivers many hundreds of miles away.

Book Description

The Second Edition of the"Practical Hydraulics Handbook" is a must for all those who work with water utility systems. Presented in workbook format and emphasizing practical applications, this Handbook is perfect for hydraulic engineers, technicians, operating personnel, supervisors, managers, consultants, and students. The exceptionally well-organized chapters include information on pressurized systems and open channel flow, principles of energy and force, flow calculations and measurement, pumps, and pumping applications. This latest edition of the"Practical Hydraulics Handbook" includes new exercises at the end of each chapter and detailed solutions to selected exercises. The well-chosen exercises allow readers to practice applications of the theory and to test their knowledge of the material. The solutions provide guidance and problem-solving techniques that can be used both in the field and in the lab. Reference tables are also provided for calculations of friction loss, velocity, pipe fullness, well drawdown, English/metric conversions, power, and metered flow. These tables make calculations easier and minimize the chance for error. In this new edition of "Practical Hydraulics Handbook", all of the major principles and calculations dealing with the hydraulics of water systems are covered, and new and expanded material has been added.

Civil Engineering Formulas (Pocket Guide)

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Not bad

Civil Engineering Formulas (Pocket Guide)
Tyler G. Hicks
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Professional
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0071356126

Book Description

Indispensable portable reference for all practicing civil engineers and students

Now you can get a single compilation of all essential civil engineering formulas and equations in one easy-to-use portable reference. More than three-quarters of the material in Tyler Hicks Civil Engineering Formulas Pocket Guide is in the form of formulas, tables, and graphs, presented in SI and USCS formats. Each chapter, offering collections of problems and calculations, gives you quick reference to a well-defined topic:

Conversion Factors for Civil Engineering Practice
Beam Formulas
Column Formulas
Piles and Piling Formulas
Concrete Formulas
Timber Engineering Formulas
Surveying Formulas
Soil and Earthwork Formulas
Building and Structures Formulas
Bridge and Suspension-Cable Formulas
Highway and Road Formulas
Hydraulics and Waterworks Formulas

Download Description

An indispensable pocket reference for all practicing civil engineers and students.

Customer Reviews:

Not bad.......2004-07-19

The book gives large ammount of formulas to work with. However, users that are working with SI units must be aware that not all formulas are accurate. It is advisable to crossreference with other literature.

Water Technology in the Middle Ages: Cities, Monasteries, and Waterworks after the Roman Empire (Johns Hopkins Studies in the History of Technology)

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Water Technology in the Middle Ages: Cities, Monasteries, and Waterworks after the Roman Empire (Johns Hopkins Studies in the History of Technology)
Roberta J. Magnusson
Manufacturer: The Johns Hopkins University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Stronger than a Hundred Men: A History of the Vertical Water Wheel (Johns Hopkins Studies in the History of Technology)

ASIN: 080186626X

Book Description

Focusing attention on gravity-fed water-flow systems in medieval cities and monasteries, Water Technology in the Middle Ages: Cities, Monasteries, and Waterworks after the Roman Empire challenges the view that hydraulic engineering died with the Romans and remained moribund until the Renaissance. Roberta Magnusson explores the systems' technologies -- how they worked, what uses the water served -- and also the social rifts that created struggles over access to this basic necessity.

Mindful of theoretical questions about what hastens technological change and how society and technology mutually influence one another, the author supplies a thoughtful and instructive study. Archeological, historical, and literary evidence vividly depicts those who designed, constructed, and used medieval water systems and demonstrates a shift from a public-administrative to a private-innovative framework--one that argues for the importance of local initiatives.

"The following chapters attempt to chart a course between the Scylla and Charybdis of technological and social determinism. While writing them, I have tried to strike a balance between the technical and human aspects of medieval hydraulic systems, and to remember that beneath the welter of documents and diffusion patterns, configurations and components, ordinances and expenditures, lie the perceptions, the choices, and often the plain hard work of individual men and women." -- from the Preface

Waterworks: A Photographic Journey through New York's Hidden Water System

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water is important

Waterworks: A Photographic Journey through New York's Hidden Water System
Stanley Greenberg
Manufacturer: Princeton Architectural Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1568983883

Book Description

New York’s water system is staggering – it provides 1.3 billion gallons of water a day to over 9 million people from 200 square miles of watershed. its aqueducts, reservoirs, tunnels, gatehouses, and tanks have been continually under construction since the 1830s, and its current – and largest – tunnel project will not be completed until 2020. But more significantly, New York’s water system is also sublime – from its acres of bucolic land to its glimmering steel mechanizations, Waterworks captures the beauty and mystery of the system that is so essential to so many.
Photographer Stanley Greenberg began photographing these spectacular sites in 1992 after years of petitioning the authorities to gain access to them. Since then he has traveled to places as varied as dams in remote regions of upstate New York and tunnels 800 feet below the streets of Brooklyn. He finished his shooting in the spring of 2001, just before the events of 9/11 closed most of these sites to all access. In Waterworks, Greenberg reveals the now hidden liquid city in stunning duotones. An introduction by Matthew Gandy covers the history, technology, and culture of the system.

Customer Reviews:

water is important.......2005-01-05

This album of photos portrays New York City's far-flung water collection and distribution network. Greenberg provides a catalog of the images that conveys some of the structures' history and stories about how he photographed them. A long, footnoted introduction by Matthew Gandy, also author of an environmental history of New York City called , adds historical context that I found very helpful.

The elements of the water network pictured vary from natural-looking reservoirs in the Catskills catchment in upstate New York to City Tunnel No. 3, now being built 800 feet below several boroughs. As the Preface and Catalog note, Greenberg learned how this system was built incrementally over a long period of time, beginning with the Croton Aqueduct system's construction in the 1830s. His interest extended over the vast geographic extent of New York City's water supply, more than 2000 square miles of surface water catchment that today funnel 1.3 billion gallons daily to 9 million city residents.

The photos are monochrome, printed medium-dark, which makes them moody; there are no people in them, but doorways and other occasional elements imply scale. Greenberg and Gandy both comment on the integration of these water systems into populated areas where systems of laws regulate how people interact with the water. The laws basically forbid interaction, so it's actually fitting that the images are depopulated. There are not even people shown working on elements under construction, such as Water Tunnel No. 3. In general, the engineers who designed the system and the people who labored physically to build it are absent from the book in image and text.

Portraits of the system's elements, however, are very interesting even without people. Reservoir spillways paved in large blocks of smooth stone, irregularly curved, really do naturalize these enormous, human-made structures into the forested edges of upstate reservoirs. The chunky, stone gate houses look like appropriate wardens, even if the real caretakers are the invisible people who climb out of white pick-up trucks to maintain the equipment inside. Greenberg notes that he completed photography in 2001, months before the terrorist attacks of 9-11 closed off water systems from him.

Gandy's introduction interests me as an historian who's studied Chicago's water supply. Gandy clearly traces the design and construction of the waterworks to politics and social change. His introduction is a big-picture history that refers to the major 20th century histories of water and cities, placing New York City into historical and theoretical context. There is a clear and helpful STS-style analysis that relates disease, politics, financing, ownership, urbanization, sanitation, and culture to the development of the waterworks. Practically absent are what you might call traditional history of science and technology factors in waterworks development, such as advances in the study of hydrology, the size of earth-moving equipment, and eventual computer monitoring that enabled the control of water on ever-increasing scales of volume and geography. A broad array of important factors are described very satisfyingly, just look elsewhere for descriptions of the material basis for creating the science and technology of water control (such as engineers measuring water flow or CCC guys with shovels).

I like this book and am very happy to own it. I look forward very much to reading Gandy's monograph on New York City. I think the maps on page 5 are essential to placing the waterworks into geographic context. An important complement could be schematic diagrams that explain the functional elements of reservoirs and various tunnels so that the reader understands what a spillway is for, a calming basin, gates, etc. I think the strong masses present in the images would be of even greater interest to a reader who understands the physical things that they're meant to accomplish.

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Water Supply Systems Security
Larry W Mays
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Professional
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0071425314

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Once Again Doctorow Delivers
Aqua Adventure
Dragtime
New York in the Days of Boss Tweed
an excellent example of literature

The Waterworks
E. L. Doctorow
Manufacturer: Plume
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0452275490

Book Description

Set in 1871, in New York City, Doctorow's astounding new novel is rich with characters from every walk of life. 4 cassettes.

Customer Reviews:

Once Again Doctorow Delivers.......2005-09-26

In this novel set in New York City early in the 1870's, the Civil War has left its scar on society, even in the north. The city is filled with limbless ex-soldiers, begging on the streets, shooting morphine into their veins to satisfy the dead-end addiction they picked up in hospitals. In this society gripped by maliase, with its corrupt Grant Administration, the city-wide stranglehold of Boss Tweed, and looming bank collapses, a young newspaperman is confronted with a story too fantastic to be true. His friend has seen his evil tycoon father--a man months in the grave--riding through Manhattan's streets in broad daylight along with other old men, each supposedly long dead, all among the wealthiest individuals in America! The story unwraps from there to take us into the secret laboratory of a brilliant (though deliciously mad) scientist, a man of so far ahead of his time he accomplished feats of medical science unknown to us today in the 21st century. This novel of kidnapping, of faked demises, of medicine wedding science and of amoral genius squandered, is an atmospheric period thriller such as only E.L. Doctorow, New York's greatest living storyteller, could create.

Aqua Adventure.......2005-08-03

Certainly, we know there was a Boss Tweed. We know about the corrupt world he lived in. And, we know there was a waterworks. But, what about the rest? Does it add up? Is it the "immense, extraordinary achievement" that the San Francisco Chronicle says it is?
Because we are dealing with E.L. Doctorow, the novel at first has the ring of real history. From the very first page, the author gives you that "You are there" style he made famous in Ragtime. It's a technique that can put you smack on the rough streets of old New York, where homeless newsboys fight each other for the "rights" to a corner, where dangerous horse carriages careen wildly down cobbled stoned streets, and where evil men, protected by Boss Tweed himself, ply their villainy with paid for impunity.
But, alas, the characters in The Waterworks are not nearly as interesting or believable as those in Ragtime. Perhaps it's the fact that Ragtime is peopled with real historical characters, that makes it a compelling work. Then again, perhaps, Doctorow is not really the mastermind of fiction the Chronicle claims he is. Or perhaps, he just blew this one.
In our view, The Waterworks is definitely not "Doctorow at his best" as proclaimed by the Philadelphia Enquirer, nor is it the "gem of a novel" heralded by the Boston Globe.

Dragtime.......2005-04-07

E.L. Doctorow's "The Waterworks" is a fictional portrait of the novelist's favorite locale, Manhattan, this time in the early 1870s. Limbless Civil War veterans beg for coins, poor children press wilted flowers in the hands of passersby, and on streets filled with broughams and drays, an omnibus carries a stiff-looking seated man recognized by a brooding freelance writer as his supposedly dead father.

I almost wanted to write this review in the spirit of the great Count Floyd from "SCTV," who always had to introduce these stinker horror films by pretending they were frightening beyond belief. "How about that scene where he sees his father with all the other zombies in that carriage? Wasn't that scary, kids? Or the part when the mad doctor is there in the lab cutting open that dead body. Oohhhh. I get shivers just thinking about it, kids, don't you?"

Doctorow deserves more respect. He's stepping out here, playing with a horror element in his usual realistic historical fiction. Since belief in the supernatural is not a Doctorow hallmark, he has to find some alternate means of creating that same kind of mood, and so presents us with a man, one Dr. Sartorius, who believes science affords all the answers to life's mysteries, a belief he pursues with amoral gusto.

"Philosophy poses the right questions," he explains. "But it lacks the requisite diction for the answers. Only Science can find the diction for the answers."

I especially like that last passage because there are no ellipses in it. There are a lot of these ...-style punctuations running through the narrative, I think as a nod to the period's newspaper style (the narrator is an editor) as well as Walt Whitman, New York City's great bard of the time. But it is repeated well past the point of tolerance.

More fatal is a story that never really gels. A good set-up is presented, the writer seeing his father on the omnibus and then disappearing himself, but the narrator seems to treat the mystery's unraveling with obscure detachment, something a policeman friend of his takes on and leaves him out of while he ponders what it all means from the sidelines. Most damagingly, Dr. Sartorius and his great scheme, when we finally come face-to-face with both, are disappointing and half-baked.

More interesting to Doctorow is the metaphysical significance of the story, the delineation of the epistemological limits of a time when Darwin had just come on the scene and conventional religion was scurrying to retrench. It's interesting the son and the father both have the same last name as the protagonist of Doctorow's later, more religion-focused "City of God," set in New York in the present day. But the religious and philosophical ideas presented here carry no weight, because Dr. Sartorius, the modern man of science who seeks to replace both, is confusingly presented.

It's also a dry, largely humorless book, odd given how vigorously and enjoyably Doctorow presented history in "Billy Bathgate" and "Ragtime," two books everyone should try to read once. Doctorow's abilities are enough to generate some interest with every new chapter, but "The Waterworks" lacks the kind of passion and engagement one expects from this brilliant creator.

I would have liked this book had Doctorow let himself go more, created a more purposely spinechilling account that laid off the Henry James in favor of the more ghoulish Poe. Instead we get a very draggy book, relieved only occasionally by Doctorow's eye for detail. But had he made "The Waterworks" more of a departure from straight history, even worked in the kind of "Creature Feature" vibe Count Floyd would have liked, this could well have been a much better book.

New York in the Days of Boss Tweed.......2004-09-15

Doctorow's novel The Waterworks is an impressive historical novel that I would recommend to anyone interested in reading about New York in the latter part of the 19th century. The imagining of post-Civil War New York is quite striking. Other readers have stated that the characters are not quite as mesmerizing as others in period crime fiction like those in Caleb Carr's The Alienist, but the narrator of Doctorow's book eloquently conveys the cultural sensibilities of an era when Boss Tweed was king and New York was a work in progress. Obviously, comparisons between The Waterworks and The Alienist are logical and while I would recommend Caleb Carr's novel about a slightly later period to anyone who likes a great story, I would argue that Doctorow crafts a stylistic gem that will attract less of the same readers but the book merits praise and showcases the underbelly of a city in transformation. To understand the legacies of Lincoln and Tweed and chart the rise of the daily newspaper, the novel admirably succeeds.

an excellent example of literature.......2004-07-10

This is one of the few books that I had to read twice to fully understand. The plot is complex and builds upon itself really well. The characters are admirable, and the story is well plotted with the history of New York. An excellent book, I do not think it gets the recognition it deserves. I recommend it to any intellectual fiction reader

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