The Mole People : Life in the Tunnels Beneath New York City

Registered by teddybear of Beverly, Massachusetts USA on 7/12/2002
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14 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by teddybear from Beverly, Massachusetts USA on Friday, July 12, 2002
Riveting. The author delicately and compassionately chronicles the lives of people "forgotten" under the streets of NYC. Many officials still deny their existence. Homelessness' darker side.

Journal Entry 2 by lavale from Milano, Lombardia Italy on Monday, August 25, 2003
I just received it. I'm very curious to read it!

Journal Entry 3 by lavale from Milano, Lombardia Italy on Tuesday, July 10, 2007
It took me ages, but I read it. It was very interesting, although the English was sometimes a bit difficult for me.
Now I'm going to make a ring.

Journal Entry 4 by lavale from Milano, Lombardia Italy on Friday, July 20, 2007
The RAY will start soon, the list of partecipants is:
it will stay open until the last person will release it in the wild

Tipperary, Italy
Tilly77, Italy
Etnagigante, Italy
kizmiaz (Portugal)
Gothmarcus (UK)
Gwiwenneth (France)
sejent (USA)
katintheboots (USA)
nynjagrrrl (USA)
lauraloo29 (Canada)
klaradyn (South Africa)
dolphin-au (Australia)
Bug2004 (USA)
missgyder (USA)
Mikime (Roma)
...
in the wild

Journal Entry 5 by Tipperary from Chiari, Lombardia Italy on Sunday, July 29, 2007
Arrivato qualche giorno fa.. ero a letto con l'influenza e non mi sono avvicinata al pc.. ora lo leggo :)

The book arrived a couple of days ago, so sorry I didn't journal it but I've got a flu and I had to stay in bed.. I'm currently reading it..

Journal Entry 6 by Tipperary at Per posta in -- via posta o passaggio a mano --, Lombardia Italy on Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Released 16 yrs ago (8/30/2007 UTC) at Per posta in -- via posta o passaggio a mano --, Lombardia Italy

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I rate it a eight.. this book is great!! Some terms are a bit hard for me to understand but I have a very positive opinion on this book.. but now it's leaving...
I added a postcard for the next bxers willing to write where they bring the book during the reading.. :D

Journal Entry 7 by tilly77 from Cesena, Emilia Romagna Italy on Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Arrived today!

Journal Entry 8 by tilly77 from Cesena, Emilia Romagna Italy on Monday, February 18, 2008
First of all sorry for the delay, this was a difficult reading not because I considered it boring but, on the contrary, because it is striking and not always easy to emotionally bear.
I think the author was great, sensitive and very brave, this is an amazing and dangerous work of research, what journalism should dare to be!
During the reading I thought several times: "maybe they are right" and I felt sympathy, anger, confusion and a lot of other contrasting emotions...

Thank you so much for this interesting book, it will leave very soon!

Journal Entry 9 by etnagigante from Catania, Sicilia Italy on Tuesday, March 11, 2008
The book is here with me.

Journal Entry 10 by etnagigante from Catania, Sicilia Italy on Wednesday, April 2, 2008
A rough book, whose pages make you bleed. All of us know something about homeless for having see them on our cities but reading this book allow you to see the whole system. A huge amount of people living under the surface of our cities is a problem that this world should not have, nor people living above the surface but without food or water in other part of the world.
This is a really powerful book, all the people described in it are more human that they could appear. I red about underground societies such as “hypotetical society” in fictional works, but the underground I red about in a real thing.
Thanks a lot for the opportunity.

Journal Entry 11 by kizmiaz from Belém , Lisboa (cidade) Portugal on Monday, April 7, 2008
Just got it, thanks.
I still have a couple to finish before I start this one but it shouldn't take long.

Journal Entry 12 by kizmiaz from Belém , Lisboa (cidade) Portugal on Friday, April 18, 2008
This is one impressively good piece of journalism! An amazing look into a whole different sort of homelessness, one that is ignored by most of the people that walk the streets of the Big Apple, or should I call it the Rotten Apple?
The way the author writes is clear and it gets to you emotionally (at least it got to me), there’s a lot of despair and tragedy in this book but there’s also hope and happiness, some of the underground residents are content with their life and feel that those above ground have it much worse that they do, and to read about some of the communities you can’t help but wonder if they don’t have a good point.
After I read this book I kept picturing some of the episodes it relates, it is a powerful narrative, the runaways and the Blade misunderstanding are just two of the chapters that got me hooked on the clearness of her writing, but really to me this book is a lot more than the stories it tells, there’s a whole untold story behind it and that deserves a few thoughts and comments, I mean this is the American Dream (of which Americans are so proud and boastful) gone south, turned into a nightmare of huge proportions and right in their front yard. How can this be? How can a country that seems so intent in exporting their “damnocracy” to countries half a world away, wasting a trillion dollars in the process, let something like this go by without a thought? How can this happen in one of the biggest and richest cities in the world?
The book tells us that something between 5.000 and 25.000 people were living in the tunnels in the early 90’s I can only guess those numbers have risen largely in the past decade and still little or nothing is being done to prevent this awful situation.
A good reading companion to this book would be Living at the Edge of the World : How I Survived in the Tunnels of Grand Central Station by Tina S.
I’ll be sending it along today (April, 21st)

Journal Entry 13 by Vroomfondel from Shipley, West Yorkshire United Kingdom on Saturday, April 26, 2008
Arrived safely here today, thanks!

Journal Entry 14 by Vroomfondel from Shipley, West Yorkshire United Kingdom on Tuesday, April 29, 2008
An interesting tale of a world I knew nothing about. As nearly always with stories about people who have fallen on hard times, their stories are be sad and, at times, tragic. Even though, as their time underground goes on, some of the inhabitants don't want to live above ground again, very few of them chose the lives that have led them to where they are today, and the writer has done a good job of telling their stories, at a major cost to herself. For me, the most tragic stories are those of the children and young people who find themselves under the Big Apple.

The book is also interesting in that it gives the history of some of the 'underground' underground movements, such as the graffiti artists, and how the insides of the planet have been portrayed in history, literature and culture - even showing us how the word 'underground', in the clandestine sense, is used.


Updated 10 May: I sent two PMs to Gwiwenneth, but didn't hear anything back, so the book is now on its way to sejent.

Journal Entry 15 by sejent from Louisville, Kentucky USA on Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Received in today's mail. I have a few other bookring books to read before this one, but I'm looking forward to getting to it soon.

Journal Entry 16 by sejent from Louisville, Kentucky USA on Thursday, July 10, 2008
Very difficult to read, but I'm glad the author wrote this, as these stories needed to be told.

Sending to katintheboots in CA.

Journal Entry 17 by katintheboots on Monday, July 14, 2008
I found this in the mail when I got home from my monthly BC meet-up. I'll start on it immediately.

Journal Entry 18 by katintheboots on Thursday, July 24, 2008
This is a gripping book that took a lot of courage, naiveté, and dedication to investigate. Courage, because the writer put herself in fairly dangerous situations on a regular basis in order to investigate one of the many sad truths about homelessness in this country. Naiveté, because the writer clearly had no clue exactly how much danger she was placing herself in until she was reaching the end of her investigation. Dedication, because the writer truly did put her life on the line in pursuit of the truth and the story.

This book was published in 1993...I'd guess that during our current wars and recession (which is a recession, whether the government admits it or not), the NYC tunnel population is even larger than it was 15 years ago.

I'll PM nynjagrrrl for an address as soon as I post this.

Journal Entry 19 by katintheboots on Monday, July 28, 2008
I put this in the mail to nynjagrrrl yesterday afternoon.

Journal Entry 20 by nynjagrrrl from Elkhorn, Wisconsin USA on Wednesday, August 6, 2008
This book came in the mail today. I will start reading it today. Thanks!

Journal Entry 21 by nynjagrrrl from Elkhorn, Wisconsin USA on Wednesday, August 13, 2008
This was a facinating look at an unknown world. I am interested in learning more about this topic. Reading this book makes you realize how fortunate we are. This is going out in the mail today.

Journal Entry 22 by winglauraloo29wing from Edmonton, Alberta Canada on Thursday, August 28, 2008
Arrived safe and sound today. I have a couple of short rings before it, but I will keep it moving.

Journal Entry 23 by winglauraloo29wing from Edmonton, Alberta Canada on Thursday, September 11, 2008
I'm not able to get into this book. Not to worry. It will be on its way to South Africa next week. Thank you for sharing!

Journal Entry 24 by klaradyn from Praha, Praha Czech Republic on Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Arrived safely today. Thanks for sending on, lauraloo29, and for sharing, lavale. I look forward to reading this one.

Journal Entry 25 by klaradyn from Praha, Praha Czech Republic on Monday, January 5, 2009
Toth's book is well-written, and it serves to portray the plight of homeless people for her readers. Something that made an impression on me was how "easily" or quickly people can slip into difficulties (even those with an advanced education or those who come from a stable home life), and how difficult it is for them to get back into mainstream society.
However, I found a few pieces of criticism on the Internet, according to which the book is not entirely factually accurate. Here are some links:
Fantasy in The Mole People
The Mole People Revisited

Journal Entry 26 by klaradyn at Cape Town, Western Cape South Africa on Monday, January 5, 2009

Released 15 yrs ago (1/5/2009 UTC) at Cape Town, Western Cape South Africa

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Will send to dolphin-au in Australia later today to continue the ray. After I packaged the book, I noticed that some of the loose pages in the back (the bibliography and part of the index) had fallen out. I'll send these pages to dolphin-au in a separate envelope.

My book #5 for guinaveve's Keep Them Moving challenge 2009.

Journal Entry 27 by dolphin-au from Lake Macquarie, New South Wales Australia on Thursday, March 26, 2009
Arrived safely today. That certainly was a slow boat! I received a few loose pages separately a couple of months ago and I'll reunite those with the rest of the book again. Looks like a fascinating read.

Journal Entry 28 by dolphin-au from Lake Macquarie, New South Wales Australia on Sunday, April 19, 2009
I've had this book on my wishlist for a number of years, after reading an article about it, so I was quite keen to finally read it. Unfortunately I've been left quite disappointed, as the book seemed to center too much on the author and her feelings, and remaining amazingly superficial and distant from the subject of the book, the homeless people in New York. Some of these were clearly delusional, and most heavily dependent on substance abuse, but all seems to be taken in without any doubts raised by Toth.
I was not too surprised reading the articles referenced above by klaradyn, exposing most of the book as fantasy.
It's a shame, as it would have been good to read about these people's plight. I guess the truth is just not ínteresting' enough', so we'll have to do with this version. I'll send it on to the next person on the list.

Journal Entry 29 by dolphin-au at By Mail, Book Ring -- Controlled Releases on Sunday, August 9, 2009

Released 14 yrs ago (8/9/2009 UTC) at By Mail, Book Ring -- Controlled Releases

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Sorry, I found this book still in a pile in my room. I thought I had sent it ages ago. It's on its way to Bog2004 now.

Journal Entry 30 by Bug2004 from Omaha, Nebraska USA on Monday, August 17, 2009
Re'cvd today. Thanks for sharing!! :)

Journal Entry 31 by Bug2004 at Omaha, Nebraska USA on Thursday, June 3, 2010
Fascinating read. Very enjoyable! Sorry for keeping it way too long. Mailed off today.

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