There's a World Going On Underground

It's the centennial of New York's subway system, and Joshua Robin of Newsday rounds up some subway-themed reading, finding "a torpor of sentimentality all too common in books about New York City," an un-updated version of a decade-old book, and a powerful collection of photographs taken on trains and platforms over the last few years.

Meanwhile, at NYT, Randy Kennedy considers the reissue of Walker Evans' Many Are Called and declares, "It is hard to imagine a better way to celebrate the subway's centennial or to reconsider Evans, one of the 20th century's most influential photographers and artists." The Times gets full mileage out of Kennedy, their former subway columnist who collected his best articles a while back in Subwayland; he also contributed a day in the life piece last week.