Jennifer Toth
Author of The Mole People: Life in the Tunnels Beneath New York City
About the Author
Jennifer Toth graduated from Washington University in St. Louis and went on to receive a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University. She has written pieces for the Atlantic Monthly, The Washington Post, the International Herald Tribune, and Business Week, and she is the author of The show more Mole People and Orphans of the Living. She lives in Maryland show less
Works by Jennifer Toth
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Toth, Jennifer Ninel
- Birthdate
- 1967
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- USA
- Places of residence
- Chevy Chase, Maryland, USA
- Education
- Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Columbia University (MA|Journalism) - Occupations
- journalist
writer
Members
Reviews
One cold winter in an old Victorian house in small town in Western MA I was romanced by this story of sub culture and counter culture: the coolest of the cool, the ultimate outsiders, the ostracized, the mentally ill, the idealists living underneath the streets in the defunct portions of the NYC subway system. Reading like a cross between a sociology study and a fictional account of the Island of Misfit Toys, this book was just right to intrigue my intellect and my imagination.
Further adding to the intrigue, Jennifer Toth apparently wrote the account as part of her graduate studies work. However, when challenged to prove her claims, she would not betray the locations-- and thereby the safety-- of the people she had observed, and in some cases, befriended. Losing academic credibility, the book was published as a novel.
It's rare the book I find that can romance me with descriptions of unused underground 1800s platforms, rococo embellishments and baby grands, and then turn my stomach and repulse me with a description of a dinner of "tunnel chicken": rat meat, and have a cohesive whole. But it works.
And I've never looked at the subway the same.… (more)
Further adding to the intrigue, Jennifer Toth apparently wrote the account as part of her graduate studies work. However, when challenged to prove her claims, she would not betray the locations-- and thereby the safety-- of the people she had observed, and in some cases, befriended. Losing academic credibility, the book was published as a novel.
It's rare the book I find that can romance me with descriptions of unused underground 1800s platforms, rococo embellishments and baby grands, and then turn my stomach and repulse me with a description of a dinner of "tunnel chicken": rat meat, and have a cohesive whole. But it works.
And I've never looked at the subway the same.… (more)
Very interesting, but felt a little incomplete, even with the wrap-up at the end, though I suppose that's how most stories like this would end based on the lives of the subject matter.
The writing's good and the book had an easy flow to it for the most part.
A follow-up on the situation would be cool.
The writing's good and the book had an easy flow to it for the most part.
A follow-up on the situation would be cool.
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Statistics
- Works
- 4
- Members
- 942
- Popularity
- #27,279
- Rating
- 3.6
- Reviews
- 24
- ISBNs
- 17
- Languages
- 3
Quoting one of the articles "Since [Toth] fictionalizes the setting as much as she does, then other facts she claims also should be subject to a re-examination. There are too many exaggerations and inventions in the tunnel descriptions to make it believable that the rest is absolutely straight reporting." While I'm not well enough informed to decide outright whether Joseph Brennan or Jennifer Toth are being more truthful, calling this much of the book into doubt does raise concerns: is this non-fiction, or speculative "non-fiction"?
link: Source 1
link: Source 2… (more)