New York is one of the most ever-changing and photogenic places in the world. Featuring full-color photographs of well-known landmarks from all five boroughs—from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden to South Street Seaport, as well as secret treasures throughout the city—this visual celebration of New York in all of its seasonal splendor is a perfect take-home souvenir for a tourist or a treasured gift for a resident New Yorker. The year begins and ends in winter—ice skaters enjoy Central Park’s Wollman Rink, the Christmas tree arrives at Rockefeller Center, pedestrians walk across a snow-covered Brooklyn Bridge. Springtime brings cherry blossoms in Washington Square and a field of tulips in Central Park. In the summer, the paths through Central Park are a popular stroll, and farmers’ markets and other outdoor events, such as the Independence Day fireworks over the Statue of Liberty, draw people outside during the warmer months. Autumn brings leaves in vibrant shades of red and orange and makes a carriage ride through Central Park especially beautiful.

Michael Storrings, the illustrator and creator of widely collected city-themed Christmas tree ornaments, brings to life only-in-New-York events that mark the four seasons, as well as the subtle changes in textures and colors, that each different season brings to favorite spots in the city. Storrings's delightful watercolors capture the energy and excitement of unique New York City events, including the Easter Parade, the Macy's Fourth of July Fireworks, the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade, and New Year's Eve in Times Square. He also turns his attention to beloved and well-visited spots such as Central Park, the High Line, Museum Mile, and the beach at Coney Island, presenting these and other landmarks as they change with the seasons. And, each gorgeous illustration is accompanied by a richly entertaining description of the place or the event. An elegant and delightful keepsake, New York in Four Seasons is sure to please fans of Michael Storrings and makes a perfect gift for anyone who's fallen in love with New York City.

Journey through the splendor and the excesses of the Gilded Age "Every aspect of life in the Gilded Age took on deeper, transcendent meaning intended to prove the greatness of America: residences beautified their surroundings; works of art uplifted and were shared with the public; clothing exhibited evidence of breeding; jewelry testified to cultured taste and wealth; dinners demonstrated sophisticated palates; and balls rivaled those of European courts in their refinement. The message was unmistakable: the United States had arrived culturally, and Caroline Astor and her circle were intent on leading the nation to unimagined heights of glory."—From A Season of Splendor Take a dazzling journey through the Gilded Age, the period from roughly the 1870s to 1914, when bluebloods from older, established families met the nouveau riche headlong—railway barons, steel magnates, and Wall Street speculators—and forged an uneasy and glittering new society in New York City. The best of the best were Caroline Astor's 400 families, and she shaped and ruled this high society with steel. A Season of Splendor is a panoramic sweep across this sumptuous landscape, presenting the families, the wealth, the balls, the clothing, and the mansions in vivid detail—as well as the shocking end of the era with the sinking of the Titanic.

Although the seasons have been a perennial theme in literature and art, their significance for philosophy and environmental theory has remained largely unexplored. This pioneering book demonstrates the ways in which inquiry into the seasons reveals new and illuminating perspectives for philosophy, environmental thought, anthropology, cultural studies, aesthetics, poetics, and literary criticism. The Seasons opens up new avenues for research in these fields and provides a valuable resource for teachers and students of the environmental humanities. The innovative essays herein address a wide range of seasonal cultures and geographies, from the traditional Western model of the four seasons––spring, summer, fall, and winter––to the Indigenous seasons of Australia and the Arctic. Exemplifying the crucial importance of interdisciplinary research, The Seasons makes a compelling case for the relevance of the seasons to our daily lives, scientific understanding, diverse cultural practices, and politics.

Michael Storrings’s charming illustrations capture the energy and excitement of iconic New York City events like the Easter Parade, the Macy’s Fourth of July fireworks, the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade, and New Year’s Eve in Times Square. He also turns his attention to Central Park, the High Line, Museum Mile, and the beach at Coney Island, showing these and other landmarks as they change with the seasons. In addition to each stunning illustration, this book offers helpful and entertaining context for each event and place. Seasons of New York is sure to please Storrings’s legion of fans. It’s the perfect gift for any lover of New York City.

A beautifully atmospheric look at the world through simple words and illustrations which slowly build a poignant picture of the way we live. Through objects, places and actions, the world is revealed as both permanent and ever-changing. Seasons will appeal to children, adults, designers, art-lovers... 'At first glance, this is a beautiful art book reminiscent of the children's book illustration of the 1960s. 'The most striking thing about it for me is that it forces you to slow down and to reflect on the associations within, which are not always immediately obvious. When you read the book as a whole, you really do get the sense that the world is both changing and unchanging. It's a meditation. The more times you read this book, the more you get out of it.' - Julia Marshall, publisher

A wise, passionate account of the pleasures of traveling solo In our hectic, hyperconnected lives, many people are uncomfortable with the prospect of solitude. Yet a little time to ourselves can be an opportunity to slow down, savor, and try new things, especially when traveling. Through on-the-ground reporting, insights from social science, and recounting the experiences of artists, writers, and innovators who cherished solitude, Stephanie Rosenbloom considers how traveling alone deepens appreciation for everyday beauty, bringing into sharp relief the sights, sounds, and smells that one isn't necessarily attuned to in the presence of company. Walking through four cities--Paris, Florence, Istanbul, and New York--and four seasons, Alone Time gives us permission to pause, to relish the sensual details of the world rather than hurtling through museums and uploading photos to Instagram. In chapters about dining out, visiting museums, and pursuing knowledge, we begin to see how the moments we have to ourselves--on the road or at home--can be used to enrich our lives. Rosenbloom's engaging and elegant prose makes Alone Time as warmly intimate an account as the details of a trip shared by a beloved friend--and will have its many readers eager to set off on their own solo adventures.