Highlights and Praise
Finalist for the 2020 Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction
Publishers Weekly’s Top 10 Books of 2020
One of Time Magazine's 100 Must-Read Books of 2020
Barnes and Noble’s February 2021 Nonfiction Pick of the Month
Porchlight’s Narrative & Biography Book of the Year
Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Best History & Biography (2020)
New York Times Editor’s Choice
An Amazon Best Books of the Month: Nonfiction
Hurston/Wright Foundation Legacy Award Nominee
One of Jasmine Guillory’s book recommendations on The Today Show
The Atlantic’s List of “Books Swallowed by the Black Hole of the Coronavirus”
Audio to Brilliance * UK rights to Profile Books * Arabic to Dar Mintad * Chinese (simple) to Beijing Green Beans Books * Chinese (complex) to The Commercial Press * Italian to Bollati Boringhieri * Japanese to Hara-Shobo * Korean to Minumsa Kitap * Polish to Znak * Spanish to Capitán Swing * Turkish to Turkuvaz
"An entertaining quest to trace the origins and implications of the names of the roads on which we reside.... The Address Book is [Mask's] first book, and she is already a master at shoehorning in fascinating yet barely germane detours just for kicks.... Mask populates her daunting inquiries with a cast of stirring meddlers whose curiosity, outrage and ambition inspire them to confront problems ignored by indifferent bureaucracies."
―Sarah Vowell, The New York Times Book Review
“An impressive examination of the origins of street names around the world…. It’s a damning look at the intersection of place, power and identity, tied together through Mask’s absorbing and thoughtful voice.”
―Time, “100 Must-Read Books of 2020”
“Addresses are sort of like flush toilets, I concluded after reading this wide-ranging exploration of the subject: an assumed part of modern life you only really see once you go somewhere without them…. Charming historical facts abound, including a chapter describing the way ancient Romans likely navigated a city largely without street names. But the book’s most striking point is how passionately people throughout history have felt about the names of their streets, from reunified Berlin to Tehran, South Africa, and Hollywood, Florida.”
—Chelsea Leu, The Atlantic
"Mask’s fascinating study is filled with insights into how addresses affect ordinary people around the world."
―PD Smith, The Guardian (UK)
“A radical treatise on class divisions in a nation that too often insists none exist.”
―Bethanne Patrick, Washington Post
"Read Deirdre Mask’s fascinating deep dive into the world of Mill Lane and Martin Luther King Street and you will begin to realise just how important these geographical markers are, how pregnant with meaning, and what a difference they make to everything from the proper functioning of society to questions of wealth, poverty and democracy... Highly entertaining."
―Andrew Holgate, The Sunday Times (UK)
"This is a fascinating volume revealing the racism and classism behind the street names and house numbers of the places in which we live. Deirdre Mask’s impeccable research and memorable stories make for a compelling history.”
―Karla Strand, Ms. Magazine
“An impressive book-length answer to a question few of us consider: "Why do street addresses matter?" In her first book, Mask combines deep research with skillfully written, memorable anecdotes to illuminate the vast influence of street addresses as well as the negative consequences of not having a fixed address.... Throughout this eye-opening book, the author clearly demonstrates that package deliveries constitute a minuscule part of the significance of addresses―not only today, but throughout human history.”
―Kirkus Review (starred)
“An entertaining and wide-ranging debut.... Mask’s fluid narration and impressive research uncover the importance of an aspect of daily life that most people take for granted, and she profiles a remarkable array of activists, historians, and artists whose work intersects with the evolution and meaning of street addresses. This evocative history casts its subject in a whole new light.”
―Publishers Weekly (starred)
“Engaging, illuminating, and with highly relevant current subject matter, this book is recommended for all readers, especially fans of popular history and politics."
—Library Journal (starred review)
"From her history of the city grid to an on-the-street look at the NGO trying to give every slum in India an address, Mask leaves us with a greater appreciation of our efforts to find each other, and a peek into what the future may hold.”
―Booklist
“Most books this journal reviews showcase the author’s intelligence, but few of those reviews state that the author is genuinely gifted. This one does. She may even be afflicted with genius.”
―Landis MacKellar, Population and Development Review
“Deirdre Mask’s book was just up my Strasse, alley, avenue and boulevard. A classic history of nomenclature—loaded, complex and absorbing.”
―Simon Garfield, author of On the Map
“I had hoped The Address Book would change the way I think about an oft-overlooked, seemingly banal bit of everyday life. I had no idea it would so change the way I think about life itself.”
―Tom Vanderbilt, author of Traffic
“The story of our streets is the history of our cities. Deirdre Mask reveals how the tales secreted within a street name can be as mesmerizing and mystifying as the city itself―and the people who call that place home."
―Janette Sadik-Khan, Bloomberg Associates, former NYC Department of Transportation Commissioner
“The Address Book is a deeply researched dive into the surprising histories and meanings that lie behind the seemingly mundane way we name our streets and number our houses and buildings. Deidre Mask provides powerful insight into the ways these addresses not only structure our lives but function as a tool to classify and track people, reflecting the enduring divides of class, race, and power. A must read for urbanists and all those interested in cities and modern economic and social life.”
―Richard Florida, author of The Rise of the Creative Class
“Adam Gopnik observes that 'cities are their streets. Streets are not a city’s veins but its neurology, its accumulated intelligence.' In this light, street addresses map not just a city’s geography, but its very thoughts, and even its way of thinking. It is no accident that, in suburban sprawl, most people live on streets that go nowhere, or on parking lots with no proper street addresses at all. In this lively and eye-opening book, Deidre Mask unearths the many layers of meaning hiding just below the surface of the ways we place ourselves and others in our communities.”
―Jeff Speck, urban planner and author of Walkable City
