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What Are You Reading Underground?

By

Jen Carlson

Published Jun 15, 2012

Modified Jun 15, 2012

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By

Jen Carlson

Published Jun 15, 2012

Modified Jun 15, 2012

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The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon via Underground NYPL

This is one of the best invasions of privacy we've seen (honestly!): the Underground NY Public Library is documenting what people are reading (real books, not Kindles) while on the subway. It's eye candy after years of visual documentation of subway eaters and subway nail clippers.

Some recent titles include: A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, by Mary Wollstoncraft; Truth, Reality, and the Psychoanalyst: Latin American Contributions to Psychoanalysis; Spiritual Writings by Leo Tolstoy Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky; and... Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. Not bad, New York!

This is all the current photography project of Ourit Ben-Haim, who says, "I’m fascinated by how we apply ourselves to stories and discourse... This library freely lends out a reminder that we’re capable of traveling to great depths within ourselves and as a whole." Also, it's just fun to see what people are reading on the subway?

Of course, this isn't unchartered territory, CoverSpy was doing this last summer.

Tagged

commute

Ourit Ben-Haim

reading

subway

underground nypl

Jen Carlson

Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.

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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

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