A BURGLAR’S GUIDE TO THE CITY
A Conversation with
Author Geoff Manaugh and Robert Krulwich (Radio Lab co-host)
Please note this event is now full and we are unable to accept additional reservations.
Tuesday, April 5th AT THE GENERAL SOCIETY LIBRARY and JOHN M. MOSSMAN LOCK COLLECTION.
Starts at 6:30 P.M. –
BOOK-SIGNING AND RECEPTION TO FOLLOW
Labor, Literature and Landmark Lecture Series, Winter to Spring 2016
Against the back drop of the General Society’s Lock Collection, Geoff Manaugh and Robert Krulwich will discuss Mr. Manaugh’s newly published book, A Burglar’s Guide to the City. In the book, Geoff Manaugh takes us on a tour of our built environment—from the micro (think of a single cylinder lock) to the macro (an entire grid of city streets, sewers, and subway tunnels), and everything in between—as seen from the perspective of those who wish to infiltrate it for criminal ends, and those tasked with stopping them.
Geoff Manaugh will describe his hands-on research for this book: he learned to pick locks with a group of amateur enthusiasts who pledge to never use their skills for harm. He interviewed former thieves (now reformed) and numerous law enforcement officials to glean their tricks of the trade. And he trawled the history books and headlines to give us some of the most interesting, outlandish, and often hilarious heist stories out there, including the exploits of George Leonidas Leslie, a professionally trained architect-turned-criminal who was perhaps the most successful and audacious bank robber of nineteenth-century New York.
Geoff Manaugh is the author of BLDGBLOG, one of the most acclaimed architecture and design sites on the Web. He has written for The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, and Dwell, among many other publications, and he has spoken about architecture and design around the world. Robert Krulwich is a radio and television journalist and is a co-host of the program Radiolab.
20 WEST 44th Street (BETWEEN 5TH AND 6th AVENUES), New York City
FREE ADMISSION
To register please contact The General Society at 212 840 1840, ext. 2 or email: [email protected]. Advance registration is necessary. www.generalsociety.org
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.
