Johanna Kelly-Book Review

Johanna Kelly
Book Review

The book Sidewalk by Mitchell Duneier is a book about the life that takes place on the streets of mostly Greenwich and Sixth Avenue. In this book, Duneier discusses the role of street vendors and how they play a significant role in urban life. He speaks about the different street vendors who make a living in New York City by selling things such as books, magazines, and secondhand goods. In this novel, readers will encounter street vendors and the interactions that Mitchell Duneier makes with them on the sidewalks. In this book are recorded the real conversations and discussions and that he had with these people.
Duneier introduces the reader to an important character, Hakim Hasan, who is a book vendor and a street intellectual. Hakim’s role on the street is very unique because he is a public character. This indicates that he doesn’t only sell books to the public; however, he is a watch guard to the street. This evidently links to Jane Jacob’s The Death and Life of Great American Cities. Hakim’s intellectual insight on Jane Jacob’s writing truly does justify that he is a public character to the street. “A public character is anyone who is in frequent contact with a wide circle of people and who is sufficiently interested to make himself a public character. A public character need have no special talents or wisdom to fulfill his function-although he often does” (Duneier, 6). As Duneier describes Hakim’s role on the street, he is clearly perceived as a public character. He is very aware of what goes around on the street and is always able to assist someone in need of help. This connects back to the concept of Jane Jacobs that the sidewalk doesn’t necessarily need an authoritative figure in order to make the people feel safe. People like Hakim are the public characters whom the public can turn to. The regular people on the street guard each other; we are able to maintain safety within each other.
This book successfully shows the connection between Jane Jacobs and one of the elements of urban life. Hakim is an important role model in the story who brings the public on the sidewalk together. His table of books brings an amalgam of people from all over the public. This book therefore brings attention the readers in not to underestimate the street vendors and what they offer to the public. A character such as Hakim is someone who could be also misunderstood. He is an intellectual and educated man who has the ability to communicate with a variety of people, educated or not. He sells books and has a immense amount of knowledge on different books and authors.
Mitchell Duneier does a very successful job with bringing the street vendors to life. I as a reader attained an appreciation for these street vendors and that they are a contribution to our city. Readers will gain respect for these kinds of people who are part of our community. People like Hakim are the ones who create diversity to our New York City sidewalks. It breaks away from stereotypes that we may have about people like Hakim and thus, Duneier allows us to see the real thing.