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Paperback The Cement Project: In Search of Love Letters, Living History, and Lost Time in the Sidewalk Etchings of the City Book

ISBN: 159376250X

ISBN13: 9781593762506

Wet Cement: The Sidewalks of San Francisco (Soft Skull Press)

When presented with a patch of wet cement and a chance at immortality in the built environment of the city, what do you write? Love notes, political slogans, band names, and simple declarations of existence on a certain date; just about every kind of message is etched in the cement of the sidewalks of San Francisco. In The Cement Project , Lyle reveals the city as something other than a collection of streets and buildings: It is the convergence of all the ideas and aspirations of everyone who has ever lived there. The cement etchings, presented in an extensive collection of photographs, create a narrative that accompanies a walk down any street. The wet cement functions as a time-lapse photo, encapsulating the voices of decades of city dwellers. In the spirit of both Walter Benjamin and Jane Jacobs, the photographs of cement etchings are for Lyle a jumping-off point, triggering tales of lost legends, lost utopias, and lost love in a city that is constantly decaying, regenerating, and accumulating new layers of history--a fascinating meditation on the art of walking, reading, and remembering in an urban environment.

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Format: Paperback

Release Date: 12/1/2025

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