---
product_id: 1273700
title: "The Works: Anatomy of a City"
price: "$77"
currency: NZD
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 13
url: https://www.desertcart.nz/products/1273700-the-works-anatomy-of-a-city
store_origin: NZ
region: New Zealand
---

# The Works: Anatomy of a City

**Price:** $77
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

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- **What is this?** The Works: Anatomy of a City
- **How much does it cost?** $77 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.nz](https://www.desertcart.nz/products/1273700-the-works-anatomy-of-a-city)

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## Description

The Works: Anatomy of a City [Ascher, Kate] on desertcart.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Works: Anatomy of a City

Review: Awesome for infrastructure nerds and generally curious people - Awesome book for infrastructure nerds or anyone who wants to know more about how things work around them. Large-format book that reads like equal parts coffee table book, textbook, and illustrated reference book. Great to read in small chunks, or in a longer session. So much interesting information about New York City all in one place. My only recommendation is that Ms. Ascher and Penguin create a 2nd Edition that incorporates recent events, since the book was published in 2005. (For example the section on electricity would be improved by a discussion of the events during Hurricane Sandy). That being said, essentially everything that is in the book is still timely and relevant. Great read.
Review: everyone in every city should read everything in this book - Kate Ascher has made super entertaining and informative book about NYC. She answers the questions you walk around the city and briefly wonder but forget to google later. This book should be a requirement for anyone who lives in a big city, whether it's NYC or not, since a lot of it is applicable to all cities. We should all know what's happening below, around and even above us as we move through the city on a daily basis. It's also fun just to gather facts from the book and use them as convo starters or just to look smart at parties. (Giving Ascher credit of course)

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #76,132 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #9 in City Planning & Urban Development #13 in Urban Planning and Development #34 in Sociology of Urban Areas |
| Customer Reviews | 4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars (291) |
| Dimensions  | 10.78 x 8.46 x 0.6 inches |
| Edition  | Reprint |
| Grade level  | 12 and up |
| ISBN-10  | 0143112708 |
| ISBN-13  | 978-0143112709 |
| Item Weight  | 2.11 pounds |
| Language  | English |
| Print length  | 228 pages |
| Publication date  | November 27, 2007 |
| Publisher  | Penguin Books |
| Reading age  | 18 years and up |

## Images

![The Works: Anatomy of a City - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81PnlD+RO1L.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Awesome for infrastructure nerds and generally curious people
*by B***M on December 20, 2015*

Awesome book for infrastructure nerds or anyone who wants to know more about how things work around them. Large-format book that reads like equal parts coffee table book, textbook, and illustrated reference book. Great to read in small chunks, or in a longer session. So much interesting information about New York City all in one place. My only recommendation is that Ms. Ascher and Penguin create a 2nd Edition that incorporates recent events, since the book was published in 2005. (For example the section on electricity would be improved by a discussion of the events during Hurricane Sandy). That being said, essentially everything that is in the book is still timely and relevant. Great read.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ everyone in every city should read everything in this book
*by P***B on November 17, 2016*

Kate Ascher has made super entertaining and informative book about NYC. She answers the questions you walk around the city and briefly wonder but forget to google later. This book should be a requirement for anyone who lives in a big city, whether it's NYC or not, since a lot of it is applicable to all cities. We should all know what's happening below, around and even above us as we move through the city on a daily basis. It's also fun just to gather facts from the book and use them as convo starters or just to look smart at parties. (Giving Ascher credit of course)

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Fantastic work
*by G***E on January 11, 2006*

Imagine: *an illustration of the special machinery used just to clean the ceiling of the Holland Tunnel. *a sidebar on the "Poo-Poo Choo-Choo" that for years transported waste 2,000 miles (!) from NYC to a dump in Texas. *a graphic showing payphone distribution density in all 5 boroughs. *a drawing of the simple but effective interlocking bolts and cross-tie latching that keep the corrugated metal containers on barges connected to each other so upper containers don't slide off lower ones and fall into the water. *a key to reading construction markings that crews spray paint on the streets. Such drawings, historical tidbits, and facts are more abundant in this book than leaves in Central Park. This book is exceptional. As the former Vice-chair of Manhattan Community Board 5 (greater midtown Manhattan), chair of its parks committee, and member of its land use and zoning committee, I can attest to the great value of Kate Ascher's remarkable accomplishment, "The Works." New York City's infrastructure--from garbage collection to traffic control; subway signaling to cable TV distribution among franchise-controlled territories--is one of the world's most multifaceted, and at times a curious mix of the high-tech and the antiquated. Reviews suggesting that the text is for teenagers may be accidentally misleading. "The Works" by no means is for teenagers either *primarily* or *at the exclusion of* adults. Yes, the book--especially its more heavily-illustrated sections--will no doubt fire the imagination of many teens who have engineering, design, line drawing, architectural, historical analysis, or problem-solving aptitudes. (Have a teenager who loved Legos as a kid but has outgrown them? This book will probably make a good gift.) Just because the book is broad in scope and doesn't examine each urban work it covers with the detail of a textbook for electrical engineering students at M.I.T. doesn't make it merely for adolescents. If you enjoy TV shows on The Science Channel or Discovery, shows like "Building the Ultimate," if you are a history trivia buff, if you just like looking at diagrams or line drawings of machinery and equipment, of you're fascinated by cities, or if it is simply the cast that you love New York City, this is a great book, and I highly recommend it.

## Frequently Bought Together

- The Works: Anatomy of a City
- Engineering in Plain Sight: An Illustrated Field Guide to the Constructed Environment
- The Heights: Anatomy of a Skyscraper

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*Product available on Desertcart New Zealand*
*Store origin: NZ*
*Last updated: 2026-02-12*