Conscience of the Eye

Richard Sennett’s books include The Corrosion of Character, Flesh and Stone, and Respect. He was the founding director of the New York Institute for the Humanities and now teaches sociology at New York University and at the London School of Economics.

"Sennett brings an immensely civilized perspective to the forms and patterns—the visual experiences—of cities, primarily New York City, interpreting how they shape, reflect, or, sadly, fail to reflect, the human beings who built and use them. . . . Provocative and learned."