"A Short Guide to the City" is a 1990 short story by American horror writer Peter Straub collected in Houses Without Doors. It blends and fuses two disparate literary forms: a self congratulatory travel brochure published by a city's Chamber of Commerce and a news report about the murderous killing spree of the "viaduct killer."
Read more about A Short Guide To The City: Plot Summary, Major Themes, Critical Response, References To Other Works
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“Give a scientist a problem and he will probably provide a solution; historians and sociologists, by contrast, can offer only opinions. Ask a dozen chemists the composition of an organic compound such as methane, and within a short time all twelve will have come up with the same solution of CH4. Ask, however, a dozen economists or sociologists to provide policies to reduce unemployment or the level of crime and twelve widely differing opinions are likely to be offered.”
—Derek Gjertsen, British scientist, author. Science and Philosophy: Past and Present, ch. 3, Penguin (1989)
“Across Parker Avenue from the fort is the Site of the Old Gallows, where 83 men “stood on nothin’, a-lookin’ up a rope.” The platform had a trap wide enought to “accommodate” 12 men, but half that number was the highest ever reached. On two occasions six miscreants were executed. There were several groups of five, some quartets and trios.”
—Administration in the State of Arka, U.S. public relief program. Arkansas: A Guide to the State (The WPA Guide to Arkansas)
“A city on th’ inconstant billows dancing;
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—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)