Title: The Address Book: What Street Addressed Reveal About Identity, Race, Wealth, and Power

Author: Deirdre Mask

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press 2020

Genre: Nonfiction

Pages: 336

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Monthly Theme

When most people think about street addresses, if they think of them at all, it is in their capacity to ensure that the postman can deliver mail or a traveler won’t get lost. But street addresses were not invented to help you find your way; they were created to find you. In many parts of the world, your address can reveal your race and class.

In this wide-ranging and remarkable book, Deirdre Mask looks at the fate of streets named after Martin Luther King Jr., the wayfinding means of ancient Romans, and how Nazis haunt the streets of modern Germany. The flipside of having an address is not having one, and we also see what that means for millions of people today, including those who live in the slums of Kolkata and on the streets of London.

Filled with fascinating people and histories, The Address Book illuminates the complex and sometimes hidden stories behind street names and their power to name, to hide, to decide who counts, who doesn’t―and why.

Fascinating book about the history, future, and meaning of addresses. I loved the look at the importance of addresses around the world. I loved seeing how addresses affect daily life for people. At times this was a difficult book to read given the negative impact of not having an address, but it was a great examination of the topic.

Next up on the TBR pile: