Harvard Square

Reviews / Votes

Turco brings a novelist's subtle sense of character, place, and pacing to an incisive, truly new consideration of a universal, though often invisible, fact of life: how we relate to where we live. And, on a deeper level, how we relate to change. A twenty-first-century Jane Jacobs, Turco's intellect, compassion, and commitment come through each page. -- Lea Carpenter, author of <i>Eleven Days</i> and <i>Red, White, Blue: A Novel</i> A lovely, well-told story that will change how you think about markets, marketplaces, and perhaps even your own shopping. -- Joseph L. Badaracco, author of <i>Step Back: How to Bring the Art of Reflection into Your Busy Life</i> Turco's history will forever change my daily commute of walking through Harvard Square. She provides amazing insight into the changes that have happened and will continue to happen, and clarifies that those who observe that the Square is changing are repeating an observation that has existed for centuries. -- Max H. Bazerman, Jesse Isidor Straus Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School Harvard Square is an emotionally gripping historical ethnography, powerfully connected to both the archive and to the lived experience of our attachments to a real street-level market and the people within it. -- Peter Bearman, coauthor of <i>Working for Respect: Community and Conflict at Walmart</i> This book is an intellectual and emotional revelation about why street-level marketplaces-the places where people dine and shop, meet others, and feel part of the scene-mean so much to them and why this 'love story' is inherently fraught. It is original and insightful about both markets and people. -- Cecilia L. Ridgeway, author of <i>Status: Why Is It Everywhere? Why Does It Matter?</i> Turco uses the example of Harvard Square, a neighborhood she knows well and loves dearly, to examine the role of marketplaces in our lives. She shows how we develop affective ties to these dynamic markets, and then deplore the changes that market forces bring about. This book raises important questions about the tensions between markets and communities, and the extent to which we both crave and resist change. -- Mary Waters, Harvard University You will simply fall in love with how Turco draws you in and how she guides you to appreciate the paradox that markets are both source for, and threat to, what is sacred and intimate in our lives. -- Ezra W. Zuckerman Sivan, MIT Sloan I think everyone should read this absorbing, deeply reported love story. * Cambridge Day * We are upset when market forces threaten the things we think are sacred. Turco hammers the point home: "That which gives us a sense of ontological security also takes it away. Who wouldn't get upset by that?" * Arts Fuse * This is what Turco calls a 'crazy love' for the local marketplace - a feeling so strong it can stir a socialist. And her project is to understand its power. * Boston Globe * Turco takes a deep dive into what it is that makes a Main Street or community center special to its denizens. Her historically informed account will certainly resonate with those with fond memories of the Square's past iterations. * Harvard Magazine * I highly recommend this book for its important substantive focus, wealth of historical data, and insightful discussion of the factors that make street-level markets unique. * Administrative Science Quarterly *