Every Person in New York

by Jason Polan, Kristen Wiig (Foreword)

From the late artist’s unfinished project, a compendium of drawings capturing the characters, and character, of New York City.Jason Polan was on a mission to draw every person in New York, from cab drivers to celebrities. He drew people eating at Taco Bell, admiring paintings at the Museum of Modern Art, and sleeping on the subway. With a foreword by Kristen Wiig, Every Person in New York, Volume 1 collects thousands of Polan’s energetic drawings in one chunky book. As full as a phone book and as invigorating as a walk down a bustling New York street, this is a love letter of sorts to a beloved city and the people who live there.“In 2008, illustrator Jason Polan set out to capture the enormous human poetics compressed in Gotham’s geographic smallness by drawing every person in the city. The first seven years of this ongoing project, totaling drawings of 30,000 people, are now collected in Every Person in New York—a marvelous tome of Polan’s black-and-white line drawings, colored in with the intense aliveness of a city where, as E.B. White wrote more than half a century earlier, “wonderful events are taking place every minute.” What emerges is a kind of poetry—fragmentary glimpses of ideas and images, commanded by an internal rhythm to paint a complete whole of this human hive.” —Brain Pickings“This digest of sketches brings to life the everyday moments of New Yorkers and finds a spark of excitement in the sometimes-banal shuffle of city living.” —Monocle magazine“Polan’s drawings exude, in unbroken but flexible lines, the momentum of a Manhattan streetscape with only brief moments of stillness. Those pauses can last minutes or over an hour, enough time for fully textured, impressionistic portraits. But more often Mr. Polan’s drawings are of scenes that pass in a father ordering hot dogs for his stubborn children, or Diane Keaton trying to hail a cab.” —The New York Times

Genres: Art, Graphic Novels, Nonfiction, New York, Coffee Table Books

409 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 27, 2021

Reviews

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 3 out of 5]

408 pages of a particular, focused project that Jason Polan has made for himself. People do sketchbooks but Polan does them with a purpose: One he did was to sketch a bag of individual popped microwave popcorn. Another project focused on his drawing every single person connected to his art school, like 800 people. But this one, drawing every person in New York, is a tad more ambitious, right? This book, published in 2015, draws on several years of drawing and what he claims are more than 30K New Yorkers. Based on current population data, he has several million more to go. Though I see there is already a second book out, so never say never, I always say.

The sketching in the later years is better than the early stuff, so there's that. And he rides a lot of trains and buses to sketch people, some of them famous, most not.

As I said, this is a sketchbook with a mission, or at least a hook. Most artists have sketchbooks, and many sketch people as Polan does. I have seen Emil Ferris in her witch's hat drawing people on trains and buses all over Chicago. She used some of these sketches in her book, My Favorite Thing Is Monsters. Carl Sandburg wrote poems riding Chicago buses and trains. I have sent out students to write (and/or draw) on buses and trains and boats here in Chicago. So I get the attraction, and the sketches of people are sometimes/often interesting.

Polan is a listmaker, a collector, an artist with a kind of amusingly obsessive project. Has a little bit of Saul Steinberg about it, quick sketching. Yeah, I looked at every page, so I wasn't exactly bored by it. I kinda like the hook for the book.

[Elizabeth A · Rating 3 out of 5]

This large book is a compilation of the black and white drawings from the author's sketchbooks. Per the title, he sketches people he sees, but stops sketching them when they move or are out of sight. That makes for dynamic loose lines, and I appreciated that some people were mere squiggles - as if they had just whizzed past him. NYC has lots of famous people, and he sketches many of them - though almost none recognizable if not for his annotations. I liked browsing through this collection - it was almost like flipping through someone's sketchbook.

[reilly · Rating 5 out of 5]

lovely

[Cayla Gao · Rating 4 out of 5]

Main takeaways:
- Surprised he recognized and saw so many celebrities in a pretty short span of time, including multiple sightings of the same celebs
- A lot of people cutting their nails on subways ew
- He went to Taco Bell, MOMA, and Housing Works Bookstore a lot
- Many endearing, strange "only in nyc" moments sprinkled throughout the book

Also so sad that he passed, can tell that he was a curious, kind, hard-working person.

[Jaime · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have enjoyed this book so much. I try to develop a backstory for each person in the book.
I try to picture Polan drawing each one. I literally laughed out loud with some of the captions. I think all ages and all people will love this book.

[Weng Cahiles · Rating 4 out of 5]

i felt sad while looking at jason polan's illustration of anthony bourdain, capturing him living alive and in new york. and now they're both gone.

[ally · Rating 5 out of 5]

lol
not like a novel to read
but this was epic
the dedication is real
it was honestly just really fun to read
and could be really fun to flip through at random times
creds to arfa for giving this to me :)

[Felix Gomez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was so earnest it made me feel all warm and fuzzy.

[Kristen Kelleher · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly I cannot say I enjoyed this book too much. When I first learned of it I thought it sounded super interesting and was excited to read it. It turned out for me to be super boring. Many of the drawings are literally just lines, you cannot even tell it's supposed to be a person. There were very few sketches that actually looked somewhat realistic to me. Most of the "celebrity sightings" are just squiggles, honestly I don't even believe it was them due to almost none of them looking like a person.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not so much a narrative but more a look into Polan's work and evolution over time. That said, I'm biased because I really like Jason Polan's work.
Also, his drawings of Reggie Watts made me laugh.

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

In how few (drawing) lines can you tell a story? With what short squiggles can you capture a person? Neat project.

[Billy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read similar concept books before, where someone draws a comic strip of each day of their life or just chronicles a sketch book of New York, but this one rose above and never lost momentum for me despite existing without an arc. At times, it brought me to tears with its simple reflection of the beauty and chaos that is everyday life in New York. And then the extra layer of celebrity sighting--especially minor celebrities--add more fun on top. How many times can a person cross paths with Miranda July? Seriously, has anyone attempted to tackle that question? Even Miranda July hasn't! But this book might come the closest.

Oh duh, Humans of New York. This is like an unpretentious Humans of New York.

[Veselin Stefanov · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought it would be more inspirational, but nevertheless it's a very entertaining book. There are some small stories to the sketches and they make the fast, basic sketches so much more funnier.
Ultimately, for my taste, this is a coffee table book and a good conversation starter as long as you don't run into some Jason Polan fans.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't realize how many artists/musicians/celebrities live in New York City. I also enjoyed seeing what New Yorkers do on a day to day basis. Apparently, clippling your nails in the subway is a thing..who knew?

I can't to visit New York and see New Yorkers for myself.

[Chet Makoski · Rating 5 out of 5]

This first volume is a masterful sketch book that captures the people, places and spirit of New York City. Oh, to draw like this! But looking at the free style of Spokane, you see that perhaps you can “draw like this.” Do it! Find your own style with simple fluid lines.

[Châu · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author visited Taco Bell, MoMA, Russ & Daughters, Housing Works, Strand, Barnes & Noble a lot. He often spotted celebrities as well, but imo the most intriguing people he encountered were those clipping their nails on the train!

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Realistic vs Iconic representation: NYC in a nutshell

[Diane Madlon-Kay · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars

[E.B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me miss both New York City and Jason Polan’s drawings so much.

[Kristy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful to look at the line drawings of this New Yorker. His descriptions of the people have some real humor. It is too bad that he died at the age 37 from cancer in January 2020.

[Altary · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun sketchbook of the familiar New Yorkers in action. It's a large volume that covers many neighborhoods in the city.

[Lance · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nakakatuwa at nakakaaliw! Sinubaybayan ko ang blog ni Jason Polan noon. Nakakalungkot na maaga siyang namatay. Base sa mga nabasa ko, parang napakabait niyang tao.

[Syntaxx · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't mean to yuck anyone's yum but... this would have been better as an Instagram account. It didn't need to be a book.

[Daniel Guglielmo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Purchased at Uniqlo.
The perfectly modern and minimal book for your coffee table/centerpiece.
No text, all fun doodles of strangers around NYC.

[Michael Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

great idea. not overly impressed with the drawings.

[Kyle Hammond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Guess this one’s a picture book! Not what I was expecting but the pictures sure are pretty. Would recommend.

[Andreea · Rating 2 out of 5]

The guy is a collector. I expected a lot more from this book.
It was quite boring, felt unedited and a tad bit pointless.

[f · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found in Adidas shop in NY. Absolutely love it. RIP Jason Polan

[ash · Rating 2 out of 5]

the sketches were cute! i’ll probably forget about this book in 20 minutes

[Marina Santos · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best, most reverent books that I have ever read. Polan gave a huge gift to New York City and the world with his inimitable illustrations. My mom and I love the way that he draws movement and groups of people. Some of my favourite people that he drew were Yayoi Kusama, Patti Smith (twice!), Joan Didion, etc. EVERYBODY is in there. Also, I love so many of the NY randos he drew, like a guy in Taco Bell with a nacho on his forehead. He really captured the iconicity and eccentricity of New York, which after reading you KNOW is a city like no other (if you've visited, or only visited through the text). The world misses you, Jason. What a beautiful thing to leave behind!