You Are Here 1st (first) edition Text Only

by Katharine Harmon

Mapmaking fulfills one of our most ancient and deepseated understanding the world around us and our place in it. But maps need not just show continents and there are maps to heaven and hell; to happiness and despair; maps of moods, matrimony, and mythological places. There are maps to popular culture, from Gulliver's Island to Gilligan's Island. There are speculative maps of the world before it was known, and maps to secret places known only to the mapmaker. Artists' maps show another kind of uncharted the imagination. What all these maps have in common is their creators' willingness to venture beyond the boundaries of geography or convention.You Are Here is a wide-ranging collection of such superbly inventive maps. These are charts of places you're not expected to find, but a voyage you take in your an exploration of the ideal country estate from a dog's perspective; a guide to buried treasure on Skeleton Island; a trip down the road to success; or the world as imagined by an inmate of a mental institution. With over 100 maps from artists, cartographers, and explorers, You are Here gives the reader a breath-taking view of worlds, both real and imaginary.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Maps, Geography, Cartography, Design, Travel

Paperback

First published October 1, 2003

About the author

Katharine Harmon is a Seattle-based writer, editor, and book producer. She is a frequent speaker on the intersection of creativity and cartography, and has curated gallery exhibitions in New York and London, and at the Kemper Museum in Kansas City.

Reviews

[Kristina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve always been fascinated by maps and cartography, and the ability of some humans to translate topography, landmarks, and the life of nature onto paper. This collection gathered artistic interpretations of maps in a vast array of forms. As with all art, the degree of “successful interpretation” is completely subjective so my 3 stars are as well. I found some of the works here outstandingly poignant and remarkable, others not nearly so. Overall the historical significance of many of these maps was excellent, although not always exciting.

[Powells.com · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a chaotic and uncertain world there is something very calming about maps. Across all cultures, mapmaking is a commonality. Harmon's collection beautifully documents humanity's obsession with knowing who, where, why, when and how we as explorers fit in.
Recommended by Amy



Maps are magical pieces of paper. Who doesn't love to pore over them and imagine traveling to New York, Paris, Amsterdam or even Weed, California? Maps are reassuring when you are lost, and they inspire you to dream when you're stagnant. Author Katherine Harmon collects maps of a different sort in her new book, You are Here. There is a map for every human emotion, and the artists in this book map the ways of the heart, the way to God, the way to Success, and the Way to the Deep Woods. Artists map their dreams and fears and inner selves in these pages.

But not all of the maps in here are traditional ones. One artist, Ronald White, documents his long walks with photographs. There's a photo of his bare feet cooling off in a river, and next we see an artfully abstract photo of some bird excrement. His maps are more gritty than most, but also amusing.

What else is inside? Lots. There's a dense poem in the shape of the island of Manhattan as well as a map of "Loveland." A lifetime's worth of scars on a woman's body is another kind of map, both physical and mental. "Imagined maps" feature the work of Edward Gorey, Quentin Blake, folk artist Howard Finster and William Wegman's geographical paintings. You Are Here is a lovely book to lose yourself in, whether you're a cartographer, an avid traveler, or an artist looking for whimsical inspiration. C. Reichstein, Powells.com

http://www.powells.com/biblio?isbn=15...

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[Lisa Vegan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love maps, all kinds of maps. I love street maps, wall maps, globes, and I especially love maps in books, of both real and imaginary places. (The one in the book The Phantom Tollbooth has always given me great joy.) Whenever I start a book and see included maps, I am very happy. I was very excited to find and read this book.

The premise gets a 5 from me, the art (because that’s what these maps are) and creativity I give a full range of stars but overall I can give it a 4, but overall the maps in this book were somewhat disappointing to me; they were just ok = 2 stars. The range of how I’d rate each map goes from 5 to 1, but I didn’t enjoy them as much as I’d anticipated.

The book was divided into sections of personal geography, at home in the world, and fantasy, but those lines were blurred. Some introductory text is given per section and some descriptive text is given for each map.

Most of the maps in this book are so intricate and detailed, and many have tiny print, so many are difficult to read/view. I actually used a magnifying glass to look at many of them.

Most of the maps are more works of art than maps as I had thought of them, but most are interesting and very creative, and there are also many more traditional maps that are creatively altered.

My favorite “map” was on pages 36-37: Body Map of My Life, which was all in writing and very, very funny. I was going to list several other personal favorites but there ended up being too many, and I assume each reader will have different taste as to which maps they enjoy the most.

One thing this book did was get me thinking about various kinds of maps and the possibility of using graphic means of journaling or using map making as a personal project, for myself and as projects to do with children or adults.

[Quinn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am an admitted map freak. I make maps of places I've been, house- and room layouts, even maps of time rather than space. This 192-page, hefty book satisfies on every level. In full color, the book shows maps of ancient ideas, spaces, time periods and thoughts.

The maps may have been explanations or guides, but they are also art expressed in rugs, mixed media, true cartography, and much more.

There are also pages of explanations of big ideas and descriptions of individual maps. It's not an art-how-to book in the traditional sense, but if you love maps and want to start bringing them into your writing or art, you will get page after page of inspiration and great ideas.

[Alexandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maps are so cool

[Eleanor · Rating 5 out of 5]

This made my geography brain so damn happy. Also Denis Wood is a legend, I would read about his Boylan Heights project 10 times over (and I kind of have). I thought all the text was really interesting and sparked a lot of fun ideas. The maps were all paired really well to create interesting links and comparisons. Overall this book was a good time.

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great collection of artistic maps. The short-essays were fine but not the draw for me.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maps r cool!!!!

[Henry Sturcke · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are aspects to map-making Rand McNally never told us. An objective rendering in two dimensions of the real world? There are so many other ways to map. What about subjective renderings? And imaginary worlds? This book offers a generous selection of both, although one has the impression that this is only scratching the surface of the territory where cartography and art intersect. The essays and maps brought many insights, among them, the consideration that maps not only tell us about the space they depict, but also about the map-maker and his or her intended audience. Recommended

[Alex Sarll]

A handsome collection of imaginings and reimaginings - from old allegorical maps of sin and redemption as landscapes, or the human body, through to landscapes delineated in unusual manners by artists and children, those evocative opening maps found in the better sort of novel, prospectuses for dream towns and visions of the world as the deranged thought it. Like all the best maps, it's an atlas of possibilities and a spur to daydreams.

[Jim Collett · Rating 4 out of 5]

This colorful and clever creation is filled with a diverse assortment of "maps" though not the regular ones used for normal navigation. These are group into several categories: Personal Geography, At Home in the World, and Realms of Fantasy, all filled with unique takes on our bodies, how we record our travels, both real and literary, and how maps can add depth to tales of fiction. My only negative was that the detail is often quite small and may require a magnifying glass to fully explore them. This is a book that invites return browsing. A nice addition to those who enjoy maps of all kinds.

[Linnea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Assigned in college but didn’t bother to read until 13 years later. This picture book of maps has would’ve been better if the image quality wasn’t so poor, and if the book itself were larger, hard-bound, and maybe a different shape. The intermittent essays were boring, and read like they were solicited by an ad that said, “Words needed to break up a grainy map book. Submit your grainy brainy bla bla today!” Skip.

[BookChampions · Rating 3 out of 5]

An odd book—more of an art book than simply "nonfiction." There are a few essays of varying quality and a couple excerpts from stories and poems.

I read this to inspire some further thinking around a mapmaking concept I'm working on included in my high school English classroom. I would say it met my needs, but I would have liked a little more text, especially more from the author/compiler. A closing essay from the author would have been awesome.

[Kasandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really fascinating compendium of all sorts of maps and map-adjacent artwork, from fantasy maps in books to actual maps, political cartoons to advertisements. This will get you thinking about what maps can be and encompass. Inspiring and colorful. My one complaint is that many illustrations have such small print; the size of the book really constrains how much detail an average reader can make out (never mind one with bifocals!).

[Robert Bagnall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Looks wonderful, great to dip into, but you start to realise that the bar for inclusion (is it a map? no, okay, but is it eclectic, eccentric, but still a bit diagrammy? yes? then, it’s in!) is set quite low. Plus, for many, the pages are too small for the level of detail on the map (maybe this is a smaller version of a coffee table edition? or maybe a FTSE100 boardroom table edition?). A three star collection of four star infographics.

[Anne Bennett · Rating 4 out of 5]

A surprisingly interesting book about personal maps. I found a few gems to share with teachers about the power that maps give to literature. I really enjoyed this highly illustrated book.

(Catching up on reviews for books read before blogging/Goodreads days, made from notes made at the time the book was read. Written on 7/27/21.)

[Bryan Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating collection of maps over the centuries, of worlds real and imagined. A great coffee table book, something to leaf through at random and smile and the creative depictions of spaces and ideas. My only complaint is that many of the maps are reproduced at sizes which are far too small to enjoy (or even read) them. At twice the size, this book would have been four times as enjoyable.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this thinking the illustrations would be inspiring for my own art practice, and they were.
Ed Ruscha was one of the first big name American artists to focus on maps and places--
he's here plus artists that were new to me.

[Bryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful book of art that are maps and maps that are art, all centred in New York City. There is enough text to provide context and perspectives, but mostly it is images, and the ones Harmon chose are universally fascinating -- I cannot think of a single boring page.

[Hannah (auri.winter) · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of a few books about maps that do not contain only maps from a eurocentristic perspective. The book also talks a bot about mental maps, a subject which I find interesting. Besides, there are also maps from different perspectives, like how a dog would plan an ideal country estate.

[Melissa Killian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great examples of creative and interesting maps. There are so many different ways of looking at the world and also different ways of mapping your journey. It was so fun to look at the fine details of each map and see what was significant to each artist.

[Serenity · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely a coffee table book. Not many words, mostly maps. I enjoyed all of the written pieces in the book. Some of the maps had text on them, but the text was too small/blurry to read which was a little disappointing.

[Julius · Rating 1 out of 5]

Eigentlich ist es eine gute Idee, unter dem Thema "Orientierung" diverse Karten zusammen zu stellen. Leider sind sie inhaltlich sehr wiederholend, häufig USA-zentriert und eine Einordnung oder einen roten Faden um das Sammelsurium herum gibt es auch nicht.

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a cool book - it's had me constantly thinking about my environment and paths and landmarks; fact, creativity, and the bigger and simpler picture.

[M2t2 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting coffee table book. Beautiful maps. I learned and reflected a lot about a topic I don't normally think about!

[Noah Brewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful collection of maps, real and imaginary, and essays about maps, collecting maps, and and mapping imagination.

[Sherri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous inspiration of map making of all kinds.

[Halit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maps of ourselves, the world around us and worlds of our own creation. Lovely read.

[Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

I <3 maps but I wanted to be able to zoom in so hard!!

[Evelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved that the entire novel was really a letter, in a way. There’s a mystery at the center so I can’t say too much more. But this YA book was short and sweet. I really liked it.